What the ACCC does

  • We provide general guidance to businesses and consumers about consumer law.
  • We accept reports from people about possible issues under consumer law, including false or misleading claims. You can report an issue affecting your business to the ACCC.
  • We use reports we receive to inform our education, compliance and enforcement work.
  • We investigate repeated and ongoing consumer problems.

What the ACCC can't do

  • We don’t provide legal advice.

  • We don’t resolve individual disputes between consumers and businesses.

Claims

False or misleading claims

Businesses shouldn't try to gain an unfair advantage by making misleading claims about their products or services.

Country of origin claims

When buying goods, consumers may be influenced by claims about where a product was grown, produced or made. Claims must be true, accurate and based on reasonable grounds.

Country of origin food labelling

Businesses that sell or supply food for retail sale in stores, markets, online or from vending machines will likely need to comply with the Country of Origin Food Labelling Information Standard 2016 (Standard).

Environmental and sustainability claims

Consumers buying products that claim environmental benefits should be able to trust the claims made. Misleading, false or deceptive environmental claims are against the law.

Organic claims

Consumers purchasing organic products should be able to trust the claims made. Misleading, false or deceptive organic claims are against the law.

Where special rules apply

Gift cards and discount vouchers

Gift cards and discount vouchers are an alternative to cash to buy products or services. Businesses that supply gift cards and vouchers must meet some specific requirements.

Online promotional techniques

Online reviews for product and services

It’s against the law for a business to create fake or misleading reviews or to arrange for others to do so. Businesses can avoid misleading consumers by following a few guidelines.

Social media promotions

Businesses must not make false or misleading claims when promoting themselves on social media.

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Visit our small business page

Visit our small business page to access the small business toolkit and other key topics. You can also sign up to our information networks to keep up with all the latest news and events.

Access small business guidance

ACCC action on advertising and claims

Misleading and high pressure unsolicited sales practices widespread

An ACCC review of door-to-door selling, telemarketing and other unsolicited sales practices has found that businesses are frequently engaging in high pressure sales practices and breaching existing consumer safeguards and consumers are often misled during the sales process.
See media releases on advertising and promotions