Australian Consumer Law Reform Process: Phase 1 Begins!

Consumer protection provisions have been significantly expanded with the Senate passing the Trade Practices Amendment (Australian Consumer Law) Bill (Cth) (2009) (ACL Phase 1) on 17 March 2010. ACL Phase 1 amends the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (TPA) and the ASIC Act 2001 (Cth) by introducing new investigative and enforcement powers, new civil penalties and a national unfair terms regime. The civil penalties and enforcement powers take effect from 15 April 2010 and represent the first instalment of the ACL reform process. The unfair contract provisions will apply from 1 July 2010 with the remainder of the ACL reforms expected to be in place by 1 January 2011.

The new enforcement powers and civil penalties change the regulatory environment for Australian businesses significantly. The passing of ACL Phase 1 is the first step in giving effect to what Craig Emerson MP describes as "the most far-reaching consumer law reforms in at least a generation".