By John Stavris, Special Counsel

Friday, 17 July 2026

On 2 July 2026, Parliament passed the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026, introducing a new unfair trading practices regime into the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). The new laws will commence on 1 July 2027, giving businesses a limited window to review and update their consumer facing practices. Given the breadth of the changes and the amount of other stresses and priorities coming in the next 12 months for business, including the long awaited privacy law updates, this time will fly.

The ACL reforms represent one of the most significant developments in Australian consumer law in recent years. While much of the attention has focused on subscription traps and hidden fees, the most substantial change is the expected introduction of a new prohibition targeting conduct that manipulates consumers or distorts consumer decision making.

This development has been anticipated for some time. In some of our earlier articles, including Dark Patterns & Digital Deception – A Threat to Consumer Rights or Just Digital Marketing?, we discussed the growing regulatory focus on behavioural design, customer journeys and online practices intended to influence consumer behaviour. Those concerns have now been formalised in legislation.

Why were the reforms introduced?

Australia already has extensive consumer protection laws. The ACL prohibits misleading or deceptive conduct, unconscionable conduct and a range of specific unfair practices and extends to capture any conduct that has an Australian connection. However, recent developments in technology and digital commerce exposed perceived gaps in the existing framework. Regulators were concerned that some practices were capable of causing consumer detriment without necessarily being misleading, deceptive or unconscionable.

These new provisions operate alongside existing prohibitions and are intended to capture conduct that may not otherwise contravene the current law.

Unfair Trading Practices

From 1 July 2027, businesses who, in connection with the supply of, or an offer to supply, goods or services to an Australian consumer, may contravene the ACL where their conduct:

• manipulates a consumer; or
• unreasonably distorts the environment in which a consumer makes, or is likely to make, a decision,

and that conduct causes, or is likely to cause, detriment (whether financial or otherwise) to the consumer.

The new prohibition is directed at consumer transactions and does not apply where the consumer is a body corporate or where the supply is acquired in the course of carrying on a business. Although the legislation has now passed, Treasury continues to consult on whether additional protections should be extended to small businesses.

Very importantly, the legislation does not merely regulate what businesses tell consumers, it also targets how information is presented and how consumer decisions are influenced.

The legislation expressly identifies examples of conduct that may constitute unfair trading practices, including:

• impeding consumers from exercising legal rights or remedies;
• failing to disclose material information;
• presenting information in a complex, unclear, ambiguous, untimely or overwhelming manner; and
• creating digital environments that place consumers under unreasonable pressure or obstruct them from making or acting on decisions.

For many businesses, these provisions will place increased burdens on them regarding their website design, mobile applications, checkout processes, customer journeys and behavioural marketing techniques. Given the rise in the use of dark patterns and the commonality of these in global website platform design (especially online shopping platforms), it is important to reiterate that Australia-facing limbs of these sites will have to comply with the new laws. We should expect to see a lot of Australian businesses and their foreign counterparts selling into Australia updating the online storefronts.

Subscription Businesses Face Significant Compliance Obligations

For many organisations, the subscription contract reforms may bring the most substantial operational changes.

The legislation introduces a new framework regulating a broad range of subscription arrangements, including recurring services, automatic renewals, free trials and discounted introductory offers.

Among other things, businesses may be required to:

• provide clear information before a customer enters a subscription contract;
• disclose information regarding payment obligations, renewal arrangements and cancellation rights;
• provide prescribed notifications during the life of a subscription;
• ensure customers have an easy and straightforward way to cancel; and
• provide an online cancellation option where customers can subscribe online.

Relevantly, some of these subscription protections extend beyond consumers and apply to certain small businesses entering standard form subscription contracts. The new legislation will capture eligible businesses with fewer than 100 employees or annual turnover below $10 million.

Businesses offering software subscriptions, memberships, media subscriptions, online platforms, recurring services and similar products should begin reviewing their processes now.

Stronger Protections Against Hidden Fees

The reforms also introduce new requirements targeting what is called “drip pricing” or component pricing.

Businesses displaying a base price for goods or services will be required to provide prescribed information regarding applicable transaction based charges, including whether the charge applies, how it is calculated and whether it has already been included in the displayed price. The information must be displayed prominently, clearly and in close proximity to the advertised price.

While pricing transparency obligations already exist under the ACL, these reforms create more specific requirements directed at mandatory transaction based charges and hidden fees that emerge during the purchasing process.

Penalties

The penalties for contravening the new regime are significant. Corporations may face penalties of up to $100 million per contravention, or potentially more where the benefit obtained from the conduct or the business’ turnover exceeds that amount. Individuals may face penalties of up to $2.5 million. Significantly, a business cannot simply avoid liability by arguing that it did not intend to break the law, did not know its conduct was unlawful, or had compliance systems in place. This makes early compliance planning critical.

What Should Businesses Be Doing Now?

Although the legislation does not commence until 1 July 2027, many businesses will require substantial lead time to review and update systems, interfaces and customer processes.

Businesses should consider:

• auditing customer journeys and user interfaces;
• reviewing websites and mobile applications for potential “dark patterns”;
• assessing checkout processes and pricing disclosures;
• reviewing subscription, renewal and cancellation pathways;
• assessing marketing automation and behavioural targeting practices;
• updating consumer-facing subscription (and cancellation) terms and conditions;
• implementing internal approval processes for new consumer-facing products and interfaces; and
• obtaining legal advice to identify areas of exposure before the new regime commences.

Looking Ahead

These reforms reflect a broader shift in regulatory thinking. Increasingly, regulators are focusing not only on what businesses say to consumers, but also on how consumers are guided, influenced and persuaded throughout the purchasing process.