Byline: Ian Rosenfeld

On 2 July 2026, the Federal Government passed the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026 which adds new contraventions to the Australian Consumer Law (in Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)) (ACL), being a:

1. general prohibition on unfair trading practices towards consumers;
2. contravention against drip pricing;
3. requirement for information statements to be provided with subscription contracts; and
4. requirement for subscription contracts to include a clear and easy method for termination.

These new sections will come into effect on 1 July 2027. In this article, we explain each of these new sections and outline what your business can do to start preparing for these changes.

On 1 July 2026, amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) (AML/CTF Act) took effect.

It is common practice for businesses to have a set of standard form terms and conditions that apply to all their business agreements for the supply of goods or services. This is a good practice, but only when it is implemented properly.

At the start of this year, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) commenced its first-ever compliance sweep of privacy policies to ensure they comply with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). Whether your business will be part of this compliance sweep or not, you should review your privacy policies and ensure that they are up to date and compliant with the APPs.

In August, Australia’s second-largest internet provider iiNet announced a cybersecurity attack had occurred, exposing the email addresses and phone numbers of hundreds of thousands of its customers. While this was a terrible incident for the customers involved, it serves as a reminder to other businesses of the need to prevent and be prepared for data breaches.

On 10 December 2024, the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 (Cth) received Royal Assent introducing significant amendments to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the Australia Privacy Principles (APPs).

In today’s uncertain economic climate, marked by inflation and high interest rates, many industries are struggling with clients who are late on payments. The transport and logistics sector is no exception. However, these companies may mitigate their risks by including contractual liens in their service agreements.

As a transport and logistics operator, while you cannot exclude all liability, you can limit your liability.

Trying to exclude all liability is extremely high-risk, if not impossible.

The Unfair Contract Terms (UCT) regime has been updated to broaden its application and impose penalties for breach and has been in effect since 9 November 2023.

All too often, we come across situations where businesses fail to properly protect their brands which include trading names and logos.

This article was first published on 29 June 2021 by AMTIL.

Regardless of how you promote products and services to consumers, it is critical to ensure that all product packaging, advertising materials and marketing collateral complies with Australian Consumer Law (ACL), explain Ian Rosenfeld, Emma Simpson and Ian Liu.

As Privacy Awareness Week 2021 draws to a close, Rigby Cooke Lawyers are sharing the results of research recently undertaken by Kantar Australia on behalf of the firm, and what this means for businesses.

On 22 June 2020, the Australian Federal Government passed legislation setting out a legal framework for the introduction of a Director Identification Number (DIN) regime for directors.

It is a common misconception that ‘personal information’ is a reference to sensitive information like health, medical or financial information. This is not true. Personal information captures any information about an identifiable person. 

• Privacy Awareness Week – an opportunity for all organisations to ‘Reboot your privacy’
• Organisations are responsible for the actions of their employees – this calls for innovation when ensuring the security of personal and confidential information in the “home office”
• To be effective, privacy and security arrangements must include appropriate training, clear and documented policies and procedures and management oversight.

Governments and, increasingly big companies, are using tender processes (including Request for Proposals and Request for Tenders) to award contracts to Australian manufacturers.

Contracts to provide transport or logistics services are vital to business success, but if not well negotiated, can have serious or even fatal consequences for the transport or logistics provider.

Governments and, increasingly big companies, are using tender processes (including Request for Proposals and Request for Tenders) to award contracts to transport and logistics companies.