Alex is Sprintlaw's co-founder and principal lawyer. Alex previously worked at a top-tier firm as a lawyer specialising in technology and media contracts, and founded a digital agency which he sold in 2015.
Contents
If you run a small business, you’ve probably seen disclaimers everywhere - on websites, invoices, email footers, social posts, proposals, and even at the bottom of “free advice” blog articles.
But when it comes to your own business, it’s not always obvious how to write a disclaimer that actually helps. What should it say? Where should it go? And how do you make sure it doesn’t accidentally create more risk?
A good disclaimer is a risk-management tool. It helps set expectations, clarify limits, and reduce misunderstandings before they turn into disputes. That said, a disclaimer isn’t a magic shield. It won’t let you ignore the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), and it won’t fix unclear processes or poor contracts.
Below, we walk you through how to write a disclaimer for your Australian startup or SME, with practical examples, common pitfalls, and tips for getting the wording right.
What Is A Disclaimer (And What Can It Actually Do For Your Business)?
A disclaimer is a statement that clarifies the limits of your responsibility, the scope of what you’re providing, or how someone can use your content, product or service.
Most small business disclaimers try to do one (or more) of the following:
- Set expectations (for example, “information only, not advice”).
- Limit reliance (for example, “don’t rely on this without getting your own advice”).
- Limit liability (for example, “we’re not responsible for indirect loss”).
- Clarify risk (for example, “use at your own risk”).
- Disclose important information (for example, “results may vary”).
What A Disclaimer Can’t Do (Important)
This is where many businesses get caught out: you can’t “disclaim away” laws that still apply to you.
For example, if you sell to consumers, the Australian Consumer Law gives customers non-excludable consumer guarantees in many situations. If your disclaimer says “no refunds” or “no warranty under any circumstances”, that doesn’t automatically make it enforceable.
Similarly, if you’re collecting personal information online, a disclaimer won’t replace the need for a proper Privacy Policy that explains how you collect, use and disclose that information.
Disclaimers Vs Terms And Conditions: What’s The Difference?
Disclaimers and Terms & Conditions often work together, but they’re not the same:
- Disclaimers are typically short statements that highlight key limits or warnings.
- Terms & Conditions are the full “rules of the relationship” (payment, delivery, cancellations, liability clauses, dispute processes, etc.).
In practice, your disclaimer should align with your broader documents like your customer contract, website terms, and policies. If your disclaimer says one thing and your terms say another, that inconsistency can create confusion (and risk).
How To Write A Disclaimer: A Step-By-Step Approach
If you’re searching for how to write a disclaimer, you’re usually trying to solve a specific business problem: “How do we reduce misunderstandings and protect ourselves if something goes wrong?”
Here’s a practical process that works well for most Australian small businesses.
Step 1: Identify The Risk You’re Trying To Manage
Start with the real-world scenarios that could lead to complaints, refunds, disputes, or reputational harm.
For example:
- You provide general information online and customers treat it as tailored advice.
- You sell products and customers assume results are guaranteed.
- You provide services and a client expects you to be responsible for third-party outcomes.
- You publish content and someone relies on it to make financial decisions.
Write down the top 3–5 risks you want your disclaimer to address. If you try to address everything, you’ll end up with a disclaimer that nobody reads.
Step 2: Decide Where The Disclaimer Will Appear
Your wording should match the context. A disclaimer on a website blog post looks different to a disclaimer on a quote, invoice, or service page.
Common places SMEs use disclaimers include:
- Website footer or “Legal” page
- Checkout pages and booking forms
- Proposal/quote documents
- Email footers (especially for professional services)
- Product labels or packaging inserts
- Social media captions (particularly for health, wellbeing and performance-related content)
As a general rule, the disclaimer should appear before the customer acts on the information (or before they commit to purchase). If it’s hidden away after the fact, it may be less effective.
Step 3: Use Plain English (Not Legal Jargon)
Disclaimers work best when people actually understand them.
Aim for:
- Short sentences
- Clear headings (if it’s a longer disclaimer)
- Simple words (for example, “we’re not responsible for…” instead of “liability is hereby excluded…”)
If your disclaimer feels like it was copied from somewhere else (or written for a big corporation), it’s often a sign it needs tightening up for your actual business model.
Step 4: Be Specific About What You’re Limiting
Vague disclaimers are easy to ignore - and harder to rely on.
Instead of a blanket “we are not liable for anything”, try clarifying:
- What the information is (general only, not advice)
- Who it’s for (for Australian customers, for example, or a general audience)
- What it doesn’t cover (third-party services, results, external links)
- What the customer should do (get tailored advice, check suitability, use as directed)
Step 5: Make Sure It Matches Your Actual Business Practices
This part is often overlooked. If your disclaimer says “results may vary” but your ads promise guaranteed outcomes, that mismatch can raise concerns under misleading or deceptive conduct rules.
Similarly, if you say “no cancellations” but your customer-facing team regularly approves cancellations, you might unintentionally create a pattern that customers expect.
It’s worth aligning your disclaimer with the rest of your customer-facing approach, including your cancellation and refund processes (and the wording in your terms).
Common Types Of Disclaimers For Australian Startups (With Practical Examples)
There’s no single “perfect” disclaimer. What you need depends on what you sell, how you market, and how customers interact with your business.
Below are common disclaimer categories that Australian startups and SMEs use, with example wording you can adapt (as a starting point).
Website General Information Disclaimer
When you need it: If you publish blogs, guides, FAQs, downloadable resources, or educational content.
Example:
The information on this website is general in nature and provided for information purposes only. It is not legal, financial or other professional advice, and does not take into account your specific circumstances. You should consider whether the information is appropriate for you and seek independent advice where necessary.
If you’re in a regulated or advice-heavy space, it’s often better to tailor this wording to your industry rather than using a generic version.
Professional Services Disclaimer (Consultants, Coaches, Agencies, Advisors)
When you need it: If you provide strategy, marketing, business consulting, coaching, bookkeeping support, or other services where clients may treat your guidance as “guarantees”.
Example:
We provide services based on the information you provide and our experience. Any examples or results shown are illustrative only and outcomes will vary depending on your circumstances. We do not guarantee any particular result.
In many cases, this disclaimer should sit alongside a well-drafted client agreement or service terms so the scope, deliverables, and limitations are consistent across the relationship.
Ecommerce Product Disclaimer (Performance/Results May Vary)
When you need it: If you sell products where customers might expect a specific outcome (for example, wellbeing-related products, skincare, supplements, performance accessories, or training programs).
Example:
Individual results may vary. Product information is provided as general information only and is not intended as medical advice. If you have a medical condition or are taking medication, you should consult a qualified healthcare professional before use.
If you’re making claims about what a product does, it’s worth being extra careful that your marketing, labels and disclaimers are aligned, and that you’re not overstating performance.
External Links Disclaimer
When you need it: If your website links to third-party websites, tools, or resources.
Example:
This website may contain links to third-party websites. We do not control or endorse those websites and are not responsible for the content, availability, or privacy practices of third parties.
Errors, Omissions And Updates Disclaimer
When you need it: If you publish content that could become outdated (prices, legal information, product features, schedules).
Example:
We make reasonable efforts to ensure information is accurate and up to date, however we do not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Information may change without notice.
Testimonials Disclaimer
When you need it: If you use testimonials, case studies, or “before and after” content.
Example:
Testimonials reflect individual experiences and are not a guarantee that you will achieve the same results. Outcomes depend on a range of factors including your effort, circumstances and external conditions.
This can be particularly important for service providers and online education businesses where expectations can quickly escalate if testimonials read like promises.
Key Legal Issues To Watch In Australia (So Your Disclaimer Doesn’t Backfire)
Disclaimers are useful, but they can also create risk if they’re poorly drafted or inconsistent with Australian law.
Here are the key legal issues we often see for small businesses.
Australian Consumer Law (ACL) And “No Refund” Statements
If you sell goods or services to consumers, the ACL may give customers rights that can’t simply be excluded by a disclaimer. That includes consumer guarantees about acceptable quality, fitness for purpose, and due care and skill (depending on what you sell).
This doesn’t mean you can’t manage expectations. It means your wording needs to be careful and accurate.
For example, if you want to discuss warranties and expectations around product life, it’s important to understand how consumer guarantees work in practice, including common misconceptions around “fixed” warranty periods such as the idea of an Australian Consumer Law warranty.
Misleading Or Deceptive Conduct Risk
If your disclaimer contradicts your advertising, customers (and regulators) will often focus on the overall impression created by your marketing and sales process - including what a customer actually relied on.
Examples of risky situations include:
- Ads say “guaranteed results”, disclaimer says “results may vary”.
- Sales page says “cancel anytime”, terms say “no cancellations”.
- Product listing says “fits all models”, disclaimer says “check compatibility”.
The best approach is to align your marketing claims, website content, and contract terms so they tell the same story.
Unfair Contract Terms (UCT) Risks In Standard Terms
Many disclaimers end up being copied into “standard form” terms and conditions. If those terms are used for lots of customers (and not negotiated), they may be assessed under unfair contract term rules (particularly for small business contracts and consumer contracts).
This is one reason it’s worth getting your disclaimers and limitation of liability clauses reviewed together, so the overall approach is balanced and more likely to hold up.
Where your disclaimer links closely to liability wording, it may also be worth thinking about how you draft limitation of liability clauses more broadly, including the way limitation of liability clauses are typically structured in Australian contracts.
Privacy And Data Handling Disclaimers Aren’t Enough On Their Own
Some businesses use a disclaimer like “we respect your privacy” and stop there. Unfortunately, that won’t cover your obligations if you collect personal information through forms, bookings, subscriptions, cookies, or analytics.
A clearer and more compliant setup usually includes:
- a Privacy Policy (how you collect/use/disclose personal information)
- website terms
- where relevant, a separate collection notice or consent wording at the point you collect information
Industry-Specific Disclaimers (Health, Fitness, Financial, Education)
If you operate in a space where customers might treat your content as professional advice (health and wellbeing, fitness programming, investing/financial education, or professional training), disclaimers are often essential.
But they must be paired with clear service scope and careful marketing language. You’re usually trying to draw a clear line between:
- general education
- individual advice
- regulated services (where licensing or registration may apply)
If your business is scaling quickly, or you’re unsure where that line sits, getting advice early can save a lot of rework later.
How To Use Disclaimers Alongside Your Other Legal Documents (So Everything Works Together)
For most SMEs, a disclaimer works best as one part of a broader legal “system”, rather than a standalone paragraph you paste into a footer and forget about.
Here’s how disclaimers commonly fit into your overall legal documents.
Website Terms And Customer Terms
If you sell online or market online, your website terms and customer terms (sometimes combined) usually carry the heavy lifting around:
- payments and late fees
- delivery and timing
- cancellations and refunds
- intellectual property rules (who owns content)
- liability and indemnities
Your disclaimer should reinforce these points, not contradict them.
Service Agreements And Statements Of Work
If you provide services, a client-facing disclaimer often needs to align with your service agreement, including deliverables, exclusions, dependencies (for example, client approvals), and deadlines.
If you provide services to businesses, it’s also common to align disclaimers with your invoice/payment wording and any variation processes, so there’s no confusion about what’s included.
Email Disclaimers
Email disclaimers are common in professional services (for example, consultants, agencies, HR providers, and businesses handling confidential material).
They can be useful for:
- confidentiality notices
- virus and security warnings
- clarifying “information only”
Just keep expectations realistic: email disclaimers usually won’t override a properly formed contract, but they can help reinforce your position when communications are informal.
If you’re also trying to protect sensitive information, it may be worth using confidentiality agreements in parallel, such as a Non-Disclosure Agreement when you’re sharing pricing models, supplier terms, or product plans with third parties.
Employment And Internal Policies
If your staff communicate publicly (sales, customer support, social media managers), disclaimers can also be part of your internal risk controls.
For example, you might include guidelines about how employees describe products, what they can promise, and how they respond to complaints. Where you’re growing your team, it’s a good idea to have the basics documented properly, including an Employment Contract that aligns with your expectations and compliance requirements.
When A Disclaimer Isn’t Enough: Consider A Tailored Contract
If customers are paying you real money for real outcomes, a disclaimer alone is usually not the best tool.
In that case, a tailored set of terms (or a customer contract) will give you much stronger protection and clearer commercial outcomes than relying on a short disclaimer.
And if your business has co-founders, investors, or a more complex structure, you’ll also want to make sure your internal governance is clear - for example, through a Company Constitution (and other supporting documents where relevant).
Key Takeaways
- A disclaimer helps manage risk by setting expectations and clarifying the limits of your responsibility, but it won’t override Australian laws (especially the Australian Consumer Law).
- When you’re working out how to write a disclaimer, start by identifying the specific misunderstandings or disputes you’re trying to prevent, then tailor the wording to that context.
- Disclaimers work best when they’re clear, specific, and placed where customers will actually see them before they act or buy.
- Avoid blanket “no liability” or “no refunds” language - it may be misleading or unenforceable, and can create problems under consumer and unfair contract term rules.
- Your disclaimer should align with your broader legal setup (terms and conditions, customer contracts, privacy documents, and internal policies) so everything tells the same story.
If you’d like help drafting or reviewing a disclaimer for your small business, you can reach us at 1800 730 617 or team@sprintlaw.com.au for a free, no-obligations chat.
