Clifford Chance

Australian consumer protection law gets serious

2 March 2018

In August 2017, Consumer Affairs Ministers agreed to reforms to improve the operation of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). In response, the Government recently released exposure draft legislation and accompanying explanatory materials reflecting the agreed reforms.

The reforms seek to clarify existing terms, ease the evidentiary burden for litigants, enhance the ACCC's information-gathering powers, widen the scope of potential contraventions and significantly increase penalties to align with those in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA).

Contraventions of the ACL can have significant reputational impacts as well as now significantly increased risk of higher monetary penalties under the proposed amendments. Accordingly, corporations should consider the amended provisions and update their business risk assessment and compliance programs.

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