Changes to the Australian Consumer Law affecting retail leases

The protection against unfair contractual terms previously provided to Australian consumers under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) has been extended to certain kinds of small business under the Treasury Legislation Amendment (Small Business and Unfair Contract Terms) Act 2015 (Cth). One area that will be significantly affected by this change is retail leases and the use of certain standard terms in leases.

The changes affect any contract where:

• At least one party to the contract is a business that employs fewer than 20 persons;
• The upfront price payable does not exceed $300,000 or if the contract has a duration of more than 12 months and the upfront price payable is not greater than $1 million; and