The New South Wales State government agencies and the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) have detailed plans in place to ensure that the visitors to the games are not overcharged for goods and services. According to Sue Graham, a spokesperson of SOCOG, ``The Department of Fair Trading already has a consumer help line in place during business hours to assist with enquiries about perceived misrepresentation and overcharging.'' During the period leading up to the Games, this service will operate 24 hours a day and will include a rapid-response team of inspectors to follow up inquiries.

``There is no price-control legislation in New South Wales but the Minister for Fair Trading has the authority to name traders believed to be exploiting visitors,'' says Graham. It isbelieved that the intense competition among traders in Sydney will ensure prices for goods and services offered during the games remain competitive.

``At the various Olympic sites --Homebush, Darling Harbour, Penrith Lakes -- all vendors have to have their prices approved by SOCOG. This will apply as much for merchandise as for food products,'' adds Graham.

With the high demand for accommodation during the Games, hotel prices will be higher than normal in Sydney, but for the 20,000 rooms secured by SOCOG for Olympic officials, the members of the International Olympic Committee and media, the prices have been capped by an agreement with the city's hoteliers.

The Australian Hotels Association has signed the SOCOG rooms deal. The deal creates an Olympic rate that the hotel is legally bound to. If a hotel has signed the SOCOG arrangement, then it cannot charge a higher rate to the public for any other remaining rooms it may have. In most cases, the Olympic room rate will be below the existing rates, whichare now charged for peak days such as the New Year's eve.

In case the hotels are still out of your reach, you can always crash out in the Pubstay or the pub-style accommodation after a tiring day during the games. Such rooms will be available in the Sydney Metropolitan area. Pubstay offers local and international tourists the real Australia with tales of poets, bushrangers, local legends and writers reverberating through their histories. There are 90 Pubstay member hotels in 10 regions of New South Wales. So even if your favourite star fails to win a gold medal you can always come back with Olympic bush tales for posterity.