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The Australian Consumer Laws (ACL), bein

to the ''
Competition and Consumer Act 2010 The ''Competition and Consumer Act 2010'' (CCA) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia. Prior to 1 January 2011, it was known as the ''Trade Practices Act 1974'' (TPA). The Act is the legislative vehicle for competition law in Australia, an ...
'', is uniform legislation for consumer protection, applying as a law of the
Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
and is incorporated into the law of each of Australia's states and territories. The law commenced on 1 January 2011, replacing 20 different consumer laws across the Commonwealth and the states and territories, although certain other Acts continue to be in force.


History

The Australian Consumer Law was developed by agreement of the
Council of Australian Governments The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) was the primary intergovernmental forum in Australia from 1992 to 2020. Comprising the federal government, the governments of the six states and two mainland territories and the Australian Local G ...
. The ''
Competition and Consumer Act 2010 The ''Competition and Consumer Act 2010'' (CCA) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia. Prior to 1 January 2011, it was known as the ''Trade Practices Act 1974'' (TPA). The Act is the legislative vehicle for competition law in Australia, an ...
'' (referred to as Australian Consumer Law) was enacted into legislation by the ''
Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-gen ...
'' to provide a more robust framework of protection for consumer transactions within Australia. Historically the ''
States and Territories of Australia The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing po ...
'' were responsible for their own legislation protecting the sale of goods, known as the '' Trade Practices Act 1974'', where the Australian Consumer Law expands on provisions of the fair trading legislation in each state and territory to a national legislation covering the provision of goods and services, of a consumer based nature, within Australia.


Scope

The ACL has a broad definition as to who is a "consumer", and it includes anyone who acquires: :* goods or services that are priced at less than $100,000, or :* goods or services of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use or consumption (even if priced greater than $100,000), or :* a vehicle or trailer for use principally in the transport of goods on public roads. A person is still defined as a "consumer" if the good was acquired for purposes of re-supply or for the purpose of using or transforming it in trade or commerce. It accordingly extends protections relating to business behaviour, product safety and quality to businesses and farms with regard to the areas covered above. Certain provisions possess different scope in their application: :* Unfair terms are void, where they appear in standard form contracts signed with individuals "whose acquisition of the goods, services or interest is wholly or predominantly for personal, domestic or household use or consumption." :* All persons are prohibited from engaging in unconscionable conduct (beyond unfair terms in standard form consumer contracts) when dealing with persons (other than public listed companies) in the course of trade and commerce. These provisions are vigorously enforced. In December 2014, the
Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...
, on the application of the ACCC, issued a $10 million pecuniary penalty order against
Coles Supermarkets Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd, trading as Coles, is an Australian supermarket, retail and consumer services chain, headquartered in Melbourne as part of the Coles Group. Founded in 1914 in Collingwood by George Coles, Coles operates ...
in relation to two connected proceedings arising from payment demands by Coles to which it was not entitled by threatening harm to the suppliers that did not comply with such demands. In December 2021, the Federal Court found that the ACL prohibits class action waivers.


Administration

The ACL is administered and enforced jointly by the
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Tra ...
and the State and Territory consumer protection agencies, with the involvement of
Australian Securities & Investments Commission The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is an independent commission of the Australian Government tasked as the national corporate regulator. ASIC's role is to regulate company and financial services and enforce laws to pro ...
on financial services matters. The following matters are regulated federally, by virtue of the corporations power: :* the conduct of corporations; :* a supply or possible supply of goods or services by any person to a corporation (other than a listed public company); or :* an acquisition or possible acquisition of goods or services from any person by a corporation (other than a listed public company). Federal jurisdiction also extends to conduct outside Australia by bodies corporate incorporated or carrying on business in Australia,
Australian citizen Australian nationality law details the conditions in which a person holds Australian legal nationality. The primary law governing nationality regulations is the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, which came into force on 1 July 2007 and is appli ...
s, and persons ordinarily resident in Australia. All other matters subject to the ACL are handled by the States. Implementing identical consumer protection laws at Commonwealth and state/territory levels promotes consistency between jurisdictions. It will also make it easier for the Federal Parliament to amend the provisions which will then be reflected in the laws of the states and territories without the parliaments of each jurisdiction needing to debate and enact the amendments separately, although the states and territories reserve the right not to implement any amendments within their own jurisdiction.


List of implementing Acts


References


External links

* * {{Cite Legislation AU, Cth, reg, cacr2010374, Competition and Consumer Regulations 2010 - Parts 6 and 7 deal specifically with matters in the ACL Australian legislation Consumer protection legislation Consumer protection in Australia