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ARTICLE · 04 DECEMBER 2016

Six points to keep in mind if your contracts contain automatic renewal terms

Corrs Chambers Westgarth
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Automatic renewal terms are now in the sights of the ACCC.

AustraliaCorporate/Commercial Law
Eddie Scuderi
Eddie Scuderi
James Cameron
James Cameron
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Automatic renewal terms are now in the sights of the ACCC under new laws which extend the unfair contract term provisions of the Australian Consumer Law (UCT provisions) to small business contracts. While automatic renewal terms may still be used, extra care must be taken in drafting them.

If you use standard form contracts to supply goods or services to small businesses and those contracts contain automatic renewal terms, here are six points to keep in mind:

  1. The ACCC has already taken action against a business that used an unfair automatic renewal term in a consumer contract.
  2. The terms of your contracts could be subject to the UCT provisions if they are used in standard form small business contracts.1

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