New unfair contract terms law—Draft guidance for consultation 26 March to 12 April
Date published:
26th March 2010
On 17 March 2010 the Trade Practices Amendment (Australian Consumer Law) Act (No.1) was passed as law. Under these laws there are provisions regulating unfair contract terms (UCT).
A term in a standard form consumer contract is unfair if:
it would cause a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations arising under the contract; and
the term is not reasonably necessary to protect the legitimate interests of the party who would be advantaged by the term; and
it would cause detriment (whether financial or otherwise) to a party if it were to be applied or relied on.
The UCT provisions will apply only to standard form consumer contracts—for example, contracts for the supply of goods or services to an individual whose acquisition is wholly or predominantly for personal, domestic or household use or consumption.
The UCT provisions will commence on 1 July 2010.
To assist businesses, legal practitioners, consumers and industry organisations understand the new unfair contract terms laws, national guidance has been developed. The draft publication Australian Consumer Law: A guide to unfair contract terms provides information on the types of contracts and contract terms which may be affected by these new laws.
To ensure that the development of guidance on unfair contract terms assists stakeholders to understand the requirements and obligations on business under the new laws, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) , the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and state and territory consumer protection agencies are now inviting stakeholder comment on the draft guide.
A copy of the draft guide and further information on how to provide comments to ACCC can be found at the end of this page.
The ACCC encourages interested parties to consider providing comments on the guidance, including recommendations that would better assist stakeholders understand the new obligations on business under these laws.
Specifically, the ACCC is seeking comment on the following questions:
Does the guide clearly outline the obligations on business arising from the new laws?
What types of information would better assist stakeholders understand the requirements on businesses arising from the laws?
What if any additional information would better assist stakeholders to understand the new laws?
All correspondence received will be treated as non-confidential information unless expressly requested. Submissions or comment will be subject to provisions within the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
How to lodge submissions
Submissions must be received no later than 12 April 2010.
The ACCC’s preference is for submissions to be submitted by email; however, applications by post will also be accepted and can be sent to: Guide to Unfair Contract Terms Consumer Strategies Australian Competition and Consumer Commission GPO Box 520 Melbourne VIC 3001 Email: unfaircontracts@accc.gov.au
No printed version of this publication is available.
An electronic version of this publication is available
at no cost.
