Competition and Consumer Act 2010

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Quick read

For SMEs, this law shows up in website terms, refund policies, advertising claims, subscription settings, unfair contract terms and customer complaint handling.
The best business explanation should connect the Act to trading documents and everyday sales practices.

Likely relevant if

Consumer-facing businesses selling goods or services
Online stores, SaaS platforms and marketplaces
Businesses using standard form customer or supplier contracts

Check first

Avoid misleading or deceptive conduct in advertising and sales claims.
Handle consumer guarantees, refunds and remedies correctly.
Review standard form contracts for unfair contract terms.

What this Act does in real business life

The Competition and Consumer Act is one of the laws most small businesses touch without realising it. It contains the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), which sets rules for how businesses sell, advertise, write standard terms, handle refunds and deal with customers.

For a founder or operator, the Act is less about reading the legislation cover to cover and more about understanding the everyday moments where risk appears: a sales page, a refund email, a subscription renewal, a franchise disclosure document, a supplier template, or a "limited time" promotion.

Does this apply to your business?

Most customer-facing businesses should assume the ACL applies. It can also protect small businesses when they are on the receiving end of standard form contracts, which is why this Act is relevant on both sides of the transaction.

Practical sense check

You sell products, subscriptions, services, courses, software or memberships to Australian customers.
You advertise prices, savings, performance claims, guarantees or testimonials.
You use website terms, online shop terms, SaaS terms, customer contracts or supplier templates.
You sell through a franchise, dealership, distribution, marketplace or platform model.
You rely on automated renewals, cancellation rules, deposits, credits or refund policies.

Advertising and sales claims: the overall impression matters

The ACL does not only catch outright lies. It catches conduct that creates a misleading overall impression. That means a technically true sentence can still be risky if the headline, imagery, omissions or fine print lead customers to the wrong understanding.

Claim area	What to check before publishing
Price and discount claims	Can you prove the previous price, the saving, and that the final payable price is clear?
Performance claims	Do you have evidence for claims about speed, quality, outcomes, durability or results?
Availability claims	Is the stock level, delivery timeframe or limited offer genuinely available as represented?
Comparisons	Are you comparing like-for-like, and can you substantiate the comparison?
Testimonials and reviews	Are they genuine, current, and presented without cherry-picking a false impression?

Consumer guarantees and refund policies

Consumer guarantees are automatic rights customers get when they buy many goods or services. For goods, this includes things like acceptable quality, matching the description and being fit for a disclosed purpose. For services, this includes due care and skill, fitness for purpose and supply within a reasonable time if no date is agreed.

Your refund policy can add extra goodwill rights, but it cannot remove the ACL rights that already exist.

Key points

Do not use blanket "no refunds" language.
Train customer support not to tell customers they have no rights after a warranty expires.
Separate a change-of-mind policy from ACL remedies for faults or misdescribed goods and services.
Make cancellation and subscription settings easy to understand before checkout.

Unfair contract terms: review the template before it scales

The unfair contract term rules apply to standard form consumer contracts and small business contracts. Since 9 November 2023, proposing, using or relying on an unfair term can attract penalties. This is a big deal for businesses that use one-to-many templates: SaaS terms, supply agreements, franchise documents, marketplace rules, membership terms and online checkout terms.

Sense check

Can you change price, scope, features or key terms without a fair process?
Can you terminate, suspend or renew in a way the customer cannot realistically challenge?
Are indemnities, liability caps or exclusions heavily one-sided?
Can you keep deposits, credits or fees in situations that would surprise the customer?
Is the customer bound by terms they cannot easily see before signing or buying?

Documents and workflows to review

Website and online shop terms
Check refund language, disclaimers, limitation clauses, shipping statements, subscription terms and checkout disclosures.
Sales and advertising approvals
Keep evidence for claims, especially price comparisons, customer outcomes, product performance and urgency claims.
Customer support scripts
Make sure support staff understand consumer guarantee rights and do not overstate warranty limits.
Standard form contracts
Review one-sided termination, variation, indemnity, auto-renewal, dispute and payment clauses against the unfair contract term rules.

Key takeaways

The Act is an operating law, not a shelf law: it affects the words and workflows customers actually see.
The safest pages and templates are clear, substantiated and consistent with how the business really operates.
A contract review should include the sales journey, not just the PDF.

Plain-English glossary

Australian Consumer Law (ACL): The national consumer protection law in Schedule 2 of the Act, covering guarantees, misleading conduct and unfair terms.
Consumer guarantee: Automatic guarantees - such as acceptable quality and fitness for purpose - that apply to most goods and services and cannot be excluded.
Unfair contract term: A standard-form term that causes significant imbalance, is not reasonably necessary, and would cause detriment if relied on.

Common questions

Can I say 'no refunds'?

No. Consumer guarantees give customers rights to remedies for faulty or misdescribed goods and services, and blanket 'no refund' statements can be misleading.

What makes an advertising claim risky?

Any claim you cannot substantiate, or that creates a false overall impression - including fine-print disclaimers that contradict a headline claim.

Do unfair contract term rules apply to my contracts?

They apply to standard-form consumer and small-business contracts. Since recent reform, including an unfair term can attract penalties, so review your templates.

How Sprintlaw can help

Website Terms Online Shop Terms

Update history

Reviewed1 Apr 2026

Unfair trading practices Bill added to tracker

A Treasury Bill proposes changes to the Competition and Consumer Act for unfair trading practices, transaction-based charges and subscription contract information and cancellation.

Amendment28 Mar 2026

ACCC penalty increase added to Competition and Consumer history

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Act 2026 amended the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 from 28 March 2026.

Amendment12 Nov 2015

Small-business unfair contract terms history added

The 2015 Act extended unfair contract term protections into many small-business standard form contracts through Australian Consumer Law and ASIC Act amendments.

Reviewed1999 Act

Competition Policy Reform (Northern Territory) Act 1999 history added

Northern Territory Legislation records the Competition Policy Reform (Northern Territory) Act 1999 as Act 47, assented on 10 November 1999.

Reviewed1995 Act

Competition Policy Reform (Victoria) Act 1995 history added

Victorian Legislation lists the Competition Policy Reform (Victoria) Act 1995 as an in-force Act with current version metadata.