PrivacyRules Australian law firm member Macpherson Kelley published an interesting article on Australia’s Unfair Contract Terms regime (UCT) which has been significantly expanded in respect of ‘small businesses’. The changes were passed by Parliament on 28 October 2022, received Royal Assent on 9 November 2022 and will come into effect on 9 November 2023.
In this article Macpherson Kelley detailed the changes you can expect and the many action items your business will need to consider to remain compliant.
The key changes brought in by the amendments to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA) are:
- wider scope of application – the UCT laws apply to significantly more businesses and transactions;
- wider scope of consequences resulting from a breach – the Courts have been given significantly more broad and far-reaching powers; and
- higher penalties – a five-fold increase, and more.
Read Macpherson Kelley’s article to know more on the Unfaire contract terms application, consequences of breach as well as the penalties.