Australian Consumer Law

On 1 January 2011 a single, national consumer law: The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) commenced. The ACL is a cooperative reform conducted by the Australian, State and Territory governments, through the Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs (MCCA) and replaces previous Commonwealth, State and Territory consumer protection legislation. The Trade Practices Act 1974 has been replaced with the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

The new ACL includes:

national unfair contract terms law covering standard form contracts
national product safety law and enforcement system
new consumer guarantees ensuring rights when purchasing goods and services, replacing existing laws on conditions and warranties
simple rules for lay-by agreements
laws for unsolicited consumer agreements, which replaces the existing door-to-door sales and other direct marketing legislation
new enforcement powers and penalty provisions (there is joint enforcement of the law by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission [ACCC] and the state and territory consumer affairs agencies).

Related information and resources

Australian Consumer Law Schedule 2 [577kb/271 pages]

A range of resources has been developed to help businesses and consumers understand the new laws and is available at www.consumerlaw.gov.au

Training

Consumer Guarantees - Training Videos A series of videos developed to answer questions on the Australian Consumer Law for business and consumers.

Free publications and guides

Avoiding unfair business practices: a guide for businesses and legal practitioners - HTML version [213kb /24 pages]
Avoiding unfair business practices: a guide for businesses and legal practitioners - PDF version [1.9mb /24 pages]
Consumer guarantees: a guide for businesses and legal practitioners - HTML version [289kb / 40 pages]
Consumer guarantees: a guide for businesses and legal practitioners - PDF version [2.6mb / 40 pages]
Product safety: a guide for business and legal practitioners - HTML version [204kb / 24 pages]
Product safety: a guide for business and legal practitioners - PDF version [2.2mb / 24 pages]
Sales practices: a guide for business and legal practitioners - HTML version [238kb / 32 pages]
Sales practices: a guide for business and legal practitioners - PDF version [2.4mb / 32 pages]
A guide to the unfair contract terms law [435kb / 33 pages]
A guide to the unfair contract terms law - HTML version [200kb / 28 pages]
Compliance and enforcement: How regulators enforce the Australian Consumer Law - HTML version [124kb /16 pages]
Compliance and enforcement: How regulators enforce the Australian Consumer Law - PDF version [1.7mb /16 pages]

You will need a PDF viewer such as Adobe Reader installed on your computer to view PDF documents. Please contact us if you have difficulty viewing or printing the document.

Order printed copies of these guides by emailing consumer.affairs@justice.tas.gov.au

Updates

ACL Update October 2010 Posted 11/10/10

ACL Update November 2010 Posted 8/11/10

ACL Update December 2010 Posted 20/12/2010

ACL Update February 2011 Posted 28/3/2011

On 1 January 2011 the Trade Practices Act 1974 was renamed the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 replacing previous Commonwealth, State and Territory consumer protection legislation with a national consumer law: The Australian Consumer Law (ACL). Please ring 1300 65 44 99 if you require assistance.