Business responsibilities

ACCC takes JJ Richards to court over alleged unfair contract terms

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has instituted proceedings in the Federal Court against JJ Richards & Sons Pty Ltd (JJ Richards) alleging that eight clauses in its standard form small business contract are void because they are unfair under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).

JJ Richards is one of the largest privately-owned waste management companies in Australia and provides recycling, sanitary, and green waste collection services.

ACCC says Small Businesses just need a level playing field

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has taken action over the last six months to ensure small business have a level playing field, as revealed in the 14th edition of the ACCC’s Small Business in Focus report.

“The ACCC is committed to ensuring small businesses receive the protections of the new business-to-business unfair contract terms law, franchising and other industry codes,” ACCC Deputy Chair Dr Michael Schaper said.

Small business urged to review their payment surcharges

The ACCC is urging small business owners to start preparing now for the ban on excessive payment surcharges that will apply to all businesses across Australia from 1 September 2017.

The new law limits the amount that a business can charge customers for use of payment methods such as EFTPOS (debit and prepaid), MasterCard (credit, debit and prepaid), Visa (credit, debit and prepaid) and American Express cards issued by Australian banks. It came into effect for large businesses last year.

ACCC puts businesses on notice about 'made in' country of origin claims

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is urging businesses to review their country of origin labels now to ensure they comply with the Australian Consumer Law.

 “In particular, businesses should review any claims on their product labelling or advertising which suggests that the product was ‘Made in’ a particular country,” ACCC Deputy Chair Dr Michael Schaper said.

ACCC takes action against Apple over alleged misleading consumer guarantee representations

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has instituted proceedings in the Federal Court against Apple Pty Limited and its US-based parent company, Apple Inc., (together, Apple) alleging that Apple made false, misleading, or deceptive representations about consumers’ rights under the Australian Consumer Law.

Unfair contract terms under scrutiny

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has a number of in-depth investigations underway across a range of industries following the introduction of the new business-to-business (B2B) unfair contract terms laws in November 2016.

Delivering the keynote address at a UNSW forum on recent developments in competition and consumer law, ACCC Deputy Chair Dr Michael Schaper said the regulator would be taking enforcement action in relation to a number of companies over B2B unfair contract terms this year.

ACCC Releases Statement of Issues on Caltex's proposed acquisition of Milemaker

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has released a Statement of Issues expressing initial concerns about the proposed acquisition by Caltex Australia Petroleum (ASX:CTX) of a chain of 46 service stations in Victoria from Milemaker Petroleum.

The ACCC’s preliminary view is that the acquisition may substantially lessen competition for the retail supply of petrol in Melbourne.