Refusing to supply consumers

In general, businesses may decide for themselves with whom they wish to deal. The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 does not give anyone an absolute right to be supplied, whatever the circumstances. There is no automatic right to be supplied and there is no obligation on a business to justify its decision to refuse supply.

However, there are a limited set of circumstances where refusing to sell goods to a customer can be illegal.

When is refusing to deal with a customer illegal?

There are only a few circumstances that make a refusal to deal illegal under the Competition and Consumer Act. Generally, these situations only arise where your refusal to sell goods or services to someone is done for an anti-competitive reason. As stated above, these circumstances are generally limited to business-to-business transactions and are generally unlikely to occur in normal retail selling.

Sometimes refusal to deal is prohibited outright, other times it is subject to a competition test.

Where to find further information

For more information on refusal to deal, refer to the ACCC's Refusal to Deal guide.