Skill

legalcode-au-unfair-contract-terms

Review contracts for unfair terms under Australia's unfair contract terms (UCT) regime — Australian Consumer Law (ACL) ss 23–28 and ASIC Act ss 12BH–12BK. Covers standard form contract determination (ACL s 27 six-factor test, rebuttable presumption), consumer and small business contract thresholds (post-9 November 2023: ≤100 FTE employees OR <$10M turnover, no ACL price cap), the three-limb unfairness test (significant imbalance, not reasonably necessary, detriment), transparency as an aggravating factor (ACL s 9), s 25 grey list screening (14 illustrative categories), exempt terms (main subject matter, upfront price, legally required terms), civil penalty regime ($50M per contravention, effective 9 November 2023), ACCC 2025–26 enforcement priorities (automatic renewal, cancellation terms, subscription traps), and ASIC's parallel jurisdiction over financial products and services. Generates UNFAIR / BORDERLINE / LIKELY FAIR findings with clause-level redlines, the legitimate business justification defence, remediation language, and ACCC/ASIC enforcement risk scoring. Key cases: Karpik v Carnival plc [2023] HCA 39, ASIC v PayPal Australia [2024] FCA 762, ACCC v Fujifilm [2022] FCA, Tomasso v IG Markets [2025] WASC, ACCC v Mable Technologies (2025 undertaking). Use when reviewing any standard form consumer or small business contract for Australian UCT compliance — including SaaS agreements, subscription contracts, financial services terms, insurance contracts (post-5 April 2021), franchise agreements, services contracts, platform terms, and any terms and conditions used at scale in Australia. Jurisdiction: Australia (national — ACCC and ASIC enforcement).