Insights

Considered analysis, not just commentary. Insights from Camber Law & Advisory on corporate, commercial and intellectual property law.

Unfair Trading Practices: What Founders Must Fix

From 1 July 2027, Australia will have a new law governing how businesses sell to consumers.

The Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026 (Cth), passed by Parliament in July 2026, catches conduct that manipulates people or distorts the way in which they make purchasing decisions, from hidden fees and buried terms to cancellation flows built to trap. It is broad, principle based and aimed squarely at tactics many businesses treat as standard practice.

If you sell to individuals, whether through a subscription, an app or at the checkout, you need to be aware of the changes.

What counts as an unfair trading practice

A business engages in unfair trading practices if the conduct:

manipulates the consumer, or unreasonably distorts the environment in which they make (or are likely to make) a decision; and
causes, or is likely to cause, detriment to the consumer (financial or otherwise).

The legislation also sets out examples which may amount to unfair trading practices (called a ‘grey list’). This gives businesses an idea of where the regulator will be looking:

impeding a consumer’s ability to exercise legal rights or seek remedies;
failing to disclose material information;
disclosing it in a way that is complex, unclear, ambiguous, untimely or overwhelming; and
creating an environment, including through design elements in digital interfaces, that places the consumer under unreasonable pressure in relation to, or obstructs them from, making or fulfilling their decision.

For founders, the last two are the ones to watch out for. Burying key terms and designing interfaces that push people toward a choice, are exactly the tactics now under scrutiny.

Who is captured

The prohibition covers conduct directed at consumers, meaning individuals who are not acting in the course of a business. If you sell to individuals, you are the supplier the law is aimed at.

Pure business to business dealings sit outside the regime for now, though Treasury is consulting on extending protection to small businesses and franchisees. You can read more about the consultation here.

Penalties

Penalties are the most serious in the Australian Consumer Law. For a company, the maximum is the greater of:

$100 million;
three times any benefit gained; or
30% of turnover for the breach period.

For most founders the real risk is not the maximum penalty, rather it is an ACCC investigation, a mandated compliance program and being publicly named and shamed for unfair trading practices.

Where founders are most exposed

Alongside the general prohibition, the legislation sets specific rules in two areas where consumer harm is common.

Subscriptions

If customers sign up and are billed automatically, the subscription rules apply. Broadly, you must:

disclose the key terms (in the form of a disclosure statement) before sign up, including price, renewal and how to cancel;
send reminders during the contract, including before a renewal or before an introductory rate steps up to full price; and
provide an easy, straightforward way to cancel.

If a customer can sign up online, they must be able to cancel online, even if they first joined by phone or through a salesperson. Gone are the days of having customers call to cancel and going through endless support queries. Leaving should be about as easy as joining.

Pricing and hidden fees

When you advertise a base price, any mandatory charge payable alongside it must be shown clearly and close to that price, each time the price appears.

This includes compulsory fees that are payable alongside the price but are not part of it, including non-optional delivery fees, for example from an online only retailer. Taxes and payment surcharges are treated separately and offers made only to business customers sit outside these pricing rules (for now!).

What to do now

To prepare before 1 July 2027:

review your sales and marketing for anything that could read as manipulation, or as hiding material terms;
check that advertised prices include, or clearly explain, every compulsory fee;
make sign up honest and cancellation easy, with an online exit for anyone who joined online; and
treat the ‘grey list’ as an indication of regulatory focus, not a complete list of what is banned.

While the commencement on 1 July 2027 gives you time to fix your contracts and practices, time will get away from you quickly. If you are trying to work out what the unfair trading practices reforms mean for your business, Camber Law & Advisory can help you review your sales practices and customer journey and get on the front foot to make the required changes. Get in touch to book a consultation.

Disclaimer

The content on our website is intended only to provide a summary and general overview on matters of interest. It’s not intended to be comprehensive, nor to constitute legal advice. You should always obtain legal or other professional advice, appropriate to your own circumstances, before acting or relying on any of that content.

Although we aim to ensure the content on this website is up-to-date, there may be delays, errors or omissions that could affect its currency or accuracy. There may also be historical articles and other content on the website which, though current at the time of writing, no longer reflect the present state of the law or industry practice.