You must be aware of your rights and responsibilities according to fair trading laws.
Competition and Consumer Act
The main federal law, the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA) (formerly known as the Trade Practices Act 1974), ensures that trading in the marketplace is fair both for your business and your customers.
The CCA deals with almost all aspects of the marketplace: dealings with suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, competitors and customers. The CCA covers unfair market practices, industry codes of practice, mergers and acquisitions of companies, product safety, collective bargaining, product labelling, price monitoring, and the regulation of industries such as telecommunications, gas, electricity and airports.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) promotes good business practices for a fair and efficient marketplace. It provides businesses with information about federal competition, fair trading and consumer protection laws and is responsible for administering the CCA.
Australian Consumer Law
On 1 January 2011, the national Australian Consumer Law (ACL) came into effect. The ACL replaced a number of federal, state and territory laws around fair trading and consumer protection. It means that businesses around Australia will operate under a single, national consumer law. It is part of the CCA and will be jointly administered by the ACCC and the State and Territory consumer protection agencies.
Key changes under the ACL include:
- suppliers and manufacturers must honour new consumer guarantees that automatically apply to goods and services
- new restrictions on door-to-door sales and other face-to-face marketing
- new requirements for contracts, including information about cooling off and bans on unfair contract terms
- a national product safety law and enforcement system.
State competition codes
Each state and territory also has its own competition codes, with consumer protection provisions much the same as those in the CCA.
State and territory fair trading offices can give general advice on your business rights and obligations under competition codes. However, if you’re unsure how competition codes apply to your particular situation, then you are encouraged to obtain independent legal advice.
