Australian General Consumer Laws effective 1 January 2011

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General Laws

The following summary is based on a Draft guide available from www.consumerlaw.gov.au and may be subject to change.

Misleading or deceptive conduct

It is unlawful for a business to make statements in trade or commerce that:

●are misleading or deceptive

●would be likely to mislead or deceive

Failure to disclose relevant information, promises, opinions and predictions can also be misleading and deceptive.

Businesses cannot rely on small print and disclaimers as an excuse for misleading and deceptive conduct.

Penalties:

●Misleading and deceptive conduct may lead to civil remedies including injunctions, damages, compensatory orders, orders for non-party
consumers, non-punitive orders, adverse publicity and disqualification orders.

●Fines and criminal sanctions do not apply, but penalties may apply if the conduct breaches the ACL in other ways

False or misleading representations

It is unlawful to make false claims or misleading claims or representations about the supply or possible supply of goods or services; or when promoting the supply or use of goods or services.

It is also unlawful to make false and misleading representations about testimonials, requirements to pay for guarantees, conditions and warranties for goods and services, the sale or grant of an interest in land, the availability, nature or the terms and conditions of employment, the profitability, risk or other material aspect of any business activity that requires work or investment by a person.

Penalties up to $220,000 for an individual and 1.1 million for a body corporate. Civil penalties for the same amount apply.

Representations about country of origin

Businesses must not make false or misleading representations about the country of origin of goods.

A representation about country of origin includes words, a picture or both, either:

●attached to the goods - for instance, on a label

●in promotional material linked to the goods

Claims about country of origin include:

●‘made in’ a specified country

●‘produce of’, ‘product of’ or ‘produced in’ a country

●use of a prescribed logo

●claims that goods, or ingredients or components were ‘grown in’ a country

Penalties up to $220,000 for an individual and 1.1 million for a body corporate. Civil penalties for the same amount apply.

Information standards

Information standards regulate the type and amount of information provided to consumers about goods and services.

An information standard for goods or services can:

●require particular information to be provided, or not

●set the form or manner of this information

●give a certain meaning to information

Supplying goods and services that do not comply with an information standard is an offence.

Penalties up to $220,000 for an individual and 1.1 million for a body corporate. Civil penalties for the same amount apply.

For more specific information, refer to the Australian Consumer Law website