

However suppliers of goods and services to consumers in Category 1, (i.e. 11Ĭontracts that purport to exclude the operation of the consumer guarantees are void under section 64 of the ACL. If a person acquires goods or services as a “consumer” and the supplier breaches a relevant consumer guarantee, the consumer has certain rights under the ACL which may, depending on the circumstances, include repair or replacement of the goods, obtaining a refund, cancelling a service and/or obtaining compensation for damage and loss (including in some circumstances consequential loss). 9 For services, these are that the services are provided with due care and skill fit for purpose and are delivered within the stated time or if no time stated, within a reasonable time.
ACL MEANING FREE
These are that goods will be of acceptable quality fit for purpose comply with their description correspond with the sample or demonstration (if given) comply with any express warranties have clear title free from securities and come with undisturbed possession. There are 9 consumer guarantees that apply to goods and 3 consumer guarantees that apply to services. These are commonly known as statutory consumer guarantees. The ACL gives “consumers” certain statutory rights against suppliers of goods and services. The Review proposed that the $40,000 threshold be increased to $100,000 to broadly account for inflation since the threshold was set in 1986.” 8 Why is this important? As a result, the scope of purchases protected by the ACL had diminished, and it was decided that the definition was no longer fit for purpose. The review found that “the extent of consumer and small business protection provided by the ACL had eroded over time, as the real value of the monetary threshold of $40,000 in the ACL’s definition of ‘consumer’ declined. The changes have been anticipated since 2018 following recommendations by the Australian Consumer Law Review. These changes take effect from 1 July 2021.
The Regulations have also increased the threshold amount in section 12BC(3)(a) of the Australian Securities Investment Commission Act (Cth) 2001 (which contain similar consumer protection provisions for financial products and services) from $40,000 to $100,000. On 9 July 2020, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Acquisition as Consumer-Financial Thresholds) Regulations 2020 ( Regulations) increased the monetary threshold for determining whether a person acquires goods or services as a “consumer” under section 3(1)(a) of the ACL from $40,000 to $100,000. We have previously discussed the different categories of consumers under section 3 of the ACL in this article. 4Ī person is not a “consumer” however if they acquire goods for the purpose of resupply or to use up or transform in the process of production or manufacture, or in the course of repairing or treating other goods or fixtures on land.
