B2B focus: ACCC tests small business protections in new unfair contracts regime

Amendments to the unfair contracts regime have been brought into fresh focus this month, with the ACCC commencing its first two enforcement actions under the amended legislation.

Changes to the Australian Consumer Law, which came into effect on 12 November 2016, extended unfair contract term protections to "small business contracts". As a consequence, protections from unfair contract terms in standard form contracts which were once reserved for consumers are now afforded to small businesses.

The amended regime covers standard form contracts in a business to business context where one of the businesses employs less than 20 people and the up-front price payable is up to $300,000 or, if the contract runs for more than a year, up to $1 million.