The chief executive of the Consumer Action Law Centre, Carolyn Bond, said the biggest concern for consumers regarding pay-day loans was that borrowing money on a short-term basis with high interest rates created a cycle of debt they were unlikely to be able to escape.
''Given that many of these consumers are living from day to day with their expenses, it is likely they are already in financial difficulty and there is a great risk that their financial problems will only get worse as the interest charges are very hard to keep on top of.''
The federal opposition has previously expressed its support for cracking down on unfair pay-day lenders and the states and territories have deferred to the federal government to create new national watchdog powers.