Demetriou company accused of unconscionable conduct by ACCC

[TRIGON 4,718]

In business we supply to the education industry (amongst others) and had a connection put me in touch with them re possible collaborations. Didn't take too much due diligence to make a 'no go' call on them. Pleased to hear that the regulators are stepping in.

[Sir Why You Little 34,493]

1 hour ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

I notice that the link in the opening post now goes to a somewhat different article and the para's in "quotes" have been removed from the story and it is much 'softer'.  The first article is no longer available on The Age website...ah, the beauty of the internet...unpleasant things just disappear into the ether!

I also notice that the story has not appeared on the AFL website, which occasionally has stories about AFL 'personalities'.

The cynic in me wonders if powerful forces went to work on The Age and the journalist over the last 24 hours to temper the story!!  Like, 'lets bury it as fast as we can!!  Expecially if 'Acquired Learning' sponsors Carlton and we all know which high ranking AFL Commissioner was premiership captain of. 

Yes, I'm cynical but I just don't trust anyone at or connected with the AFL. 

George Orwell was right. 

Rewrite yesterdays papers....

1984

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,410]

1 hour ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

I notice that the link in the opening post now goes to a somewhat different article and the para's in "quotes" have been removed from the story and it is much 'softer'.  The first article is no longer available on The Age website...ah, the beauty of the internet...unpleasant things just disappear into the ether!

I also notice that the story has not appeared on the AFL website, which occasionally has stories about AFL 'personalities'.

The cynic in me wonders if powerful forces went to work on The Age and the journalist over the last 24 hours to temper the story!!  Like, 'lets bury it as fast as we can!!  Expecially if 'Acquired Learning' sponsors Carlton and we all know which high ranking AFL Commissioner was premiership captain of. 

Yes, I'm cynical but I just don't trust anyone at or connected with the AFL. 

I don't know what's changed but maybe defamation lawyers have been engaged and The Age has had to be more cautious. As, perhaps, should posters here, too.

[AllMyTeamsAreWank 563]

It wouldn't be surprising to see Acquire go the way of Vocation who were the golden child of vocational education, now gone into liquidation. The other big name about to disappear onto the scrap heap leaving thousands of students in limbo is ACN, who are also massive. They've been getting dragged through the courts because of their dodgy RTO, Phoenix Institute, and have had trading suspended on the ASX. 

Their days are numbered I think. 

[Lucifers Hero 37,072]

31 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

I don't know what's changed but maybe defamation lawyers have been engaged and The Age has had to be more cautious. As, perhaps, should posters here, too.

Not sure which part of my post was problematic, LDvC so perhaps the moderators can make the call on whether to delete.

On the note of The Age lawyers, I would hope for their sake that their army of lawyers review all articles before they get onto the website.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,410]

12 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Not sure which part of my post was problematic, LDvC so perhaps the moderators can make the call on whether to delete.

On the note of The Age lawyers, I would hope for their sake that their army of lawyers review all articles before they get onto the website.

I wasn't being specific about any particular posts, but there have been a number on here that have made claims about dodgy practices of operators who have been named without linking to factual information.

What processes The Age and its owner Fairfax now uses to check for defamation in any of its articles I don't know.  A long time ago though, I believe (but can't confirm) that Fairfax might have used a lawyer by the name of Adrian Anderson to do this. Yes, that Adrian Anderson. 

[jackaub 1,402]

Again and again the government sets up service delivery models that are either flawed, poorly regulated or simply stupid.

Education is just one of many that have been ripped off. The people advising the government should be sacked and exposed

The treasurer wonders why nobody wants to pay tax.If you give it to them it will be wasted and re alloacted to the rip off merchants. These governments are fools and are wasting valuable resources.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,410]

20 minutes ago, jackaub said:

Again and again the government sets up service delivery models that are either flawed, poorly regulated or simply stupid.

Education is just one of many that have been ripped off. The people advising the government should be sacked and exposed

The treasurer wonders why nobody wants to pay tax.If you give it to them it will be wasted and re alloacted to the rip off merchants. These governments are fools and are wasting valuable resources.

Jackaub channeling Kerry Packer:

"Anybody in this country who does not minimise his tax wants his head read. I can tell you as a government that you are not spending it so well that we should be donating extra." 

[Mach5 4,482]

3 hours ago, AllMyTeamsAreWank said:

Which part? Much of what RTOs and brokers like Acquire have been doing is in violation of regulations, namely inducements and hard sell tactics. 

My comment was more in response to WJ's fair observation that Acquire had not yet been found guilty of anything illegal.
That may still eventuate, and I'd be very surprised if it didn't.

[Akum 2,660]

3 hours ago, AllMyTeamsAreWank said:

Which part? Much of what RTOs and brokers like Acquire have been doing is in violation of regulations, namely inducements and hard sell tactics. 

True, but who's going to call them for it? Part of the problem is that monitoring & accountability etc has been virtually non-existent until recently.

You are probably aware too of the potential to link it with other scams. The rewards are potentially huge, and the chance of being caught has been tiny.

The virtues of deregulation!

[AllMyTeamsAreWank 563]

4 minutes ago, Akum said:

True, but who's going to call them for it? Part of the problem is that monitoring & accountability etc has been virtually non-existent until recently.

You are probably aware too of the potential to link it with other scams. The rewards are potentially huge, and the chance of being caught has been tiny.

The virtues of deregulation!

They have been getting monitored pretty closely over the last 12 months by ASQA. Quite a few places have been doing dodgy stuff have had their VET FEE-HELP licences pulled because of these tactics. The big players have managed to get away with it, but it's changing pretty fast. The Senate introduced changes in August this year banning inducements as a direct result and more regulations have been passed recently. It's baffling it's taken this long to be honest. 

[Akum 2,660]

1 hour ago, AllMyTeamsAreWank said:

They have been getting monitored pretty closely over the last 12 months by ASQA. Quite a few places have been doing dodgy stuff have had their VET FEE-HELP licences pulled because of these tactics. The big players have managed to get away with it, but it's changing pretty fast. The Senate introduced changes in August this year banning inducements as a direct result and more regulations have been passed recently. It's baffling it's taken this long to be honest. 

Couldn't agree more.

[Mach5 4,482]

On 12/18/2015 at 2:44 PM, AllMyTeamsAreWank said:

They have been getting monitored pretty closely over the last 12 months by ASQA. Quite a few places have been doing dodgy stuff have had their VET FEE-HELP licences pulled because of these tactics. The big players have managed to get away with it, but it's changing pretty fast. The Senate introduced changes in August this year banning inducements as a direct result and more regulations have been passed recently. It's baffling it's taken this long to be honest. 

Is it baffling?

The government introduces a scheme involving poorly regulated subsidies for services rendered, and a litany of organisations take advantage of it until public acceptance/ignorance wears thin. Then we move onto the next. 
Par for the course really.

[beelzebub 22,225]

41 minutes ago, Mach5 said:

Is it baffling?

The government introduces a scheme involving poorly regulated subsidies for services rendered, and a litany of organisations take advantage of it until public acceptance/ignorance wears thin. Then we move onto the next. 
Par for the course really.

That....and vested interests

[wackojacko1 10]

It's not demetrious company. It's his nephews and 2 mates.  31 y.o boys from de la salle worth over 70 million each

[Mach5 4,482]

10 hours ago, wackojacko1 said:

It's not demetrious company. It's his nephews and 2 mates.  31 y.o boys from de la salle worth over 70 million each

Wealth acquired entirely ethically and legally, I'm sure.

[Cards13 9,117]

Another story on that industry.

 

http://m.theage.com.au/national/education/how-to-sell-a-dodgy-diploma-whistleblower-speaks-out-20151222-glttm6.html