Importer of hair care products found to have misled consumers; Aussie app economy booming; Midday Roundup

An importer of hair care products has been found by the Federal Court to have made false and misleading representations about one of its hair straightening products.

 Dateline Imports said its Keratin Complex Smoothing Therapy product was made up of at least 35% natural keratin, however the court found it contained less than 7% in proceedings brought forward by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

 ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said consumers should not be misled by manufacturers.

 “It is important for consumers to be able to reply on representations by manufacturers about the composition and benefits of their products,” she said. “Especially personal products where the consumer is unable to assess these claims.”

 The ACCC also alleged Dateline Imports made false representations when it stated the Keratin Complex Smoothing Therapy hair straightening product did not contain formaldehyde, however the court did not hold up these allegations.

 The ACCC said it was disappointed due to safety concerns for consumers and would be considering the judgement.

 Aussie app economy booming: report

 Australia’s ‘app economy’ of mobile app developers and other supporting staff is one of Australia’s fastest growing employment sectors, according to a report from the Progressive Policy Institute.

 The report shows Australia has 140,000 people employed in the app economy, with employment in the Australian computer systems design industry rising by more than 38% since 2008.

 The top state for app employment was New South Wales, with 77,000 App Economy jobs, but every state had some App Economy employment.

 The report also found Australia stacks up well against the US and the UK when it comes to App Economy employment per capita.

 Shares down on open

 The S&PASX200 benchmark was down 81.3 points to 5551.6 points at 12:19 AEST. On Thursday, the Dow Jones closed down 1.88%, falling 317.06 points to 16,563.30 points.