Australian Consumer Law (Competition and Consumer Act 2010, Sch 2)
Prohibits misleading or deceptive conduct online, and sets rules for online sales, reviews and subscriptions. Relevant where AI features or chatbots make representations to customers.
ACCC and state/territory regulators
General information, not legal advice
Australian Digital Duty of Care obligations are subject to legislation and service applicability; this platform does not certify compliance. Digital Care provides tools and records to support your own risk management. It is not legal advice.
The text below is explanatory guidance, not a reproduction of legislation. The official complete text and commencement information control. These steps support your work; they do not guarantee that an obligation is met.
Does it apply to your business?
Relevant conduct in trade or commerce is covered. Consumer guarantees and unfair-contract-term provisions have specific transaction, contract and party tests; not every business transaction is treated identically.
A Digital Care assessment does not determine whether a representation or contract term is lawful, nor replace independent advice about customer remedies.
Detailed guidance
The Australian Consumer Law is Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and is also applied through state and territory legislation. It regulates misleading conduct, representations, consumer guarantees and other consumer protections.
Online pages, reviews and AI-generated customer statements can create representations. Assess the overall impression, including omissions and qualifications; a disclaimer does not necessarily fix a misleading main claim.
ACL sections 18 & 29
Accurate claims
Avoid misleading or deceptive conduct and specified false or misleading representations about goods or services. Substantiate price, capability, performance and endorsement claims, including those produced by AI or third-party marketers.
ACL sections 54–62
Consumer guarantees
Meet applicable guarantees for goods and services and provide appropriate remedies. Do not use refund policies or terms to exclude statutory rights. The remedy depends on the guarantee, failure and circumstances.
ACL sections 23–28
Unfair contract terms
Review standard-form consumer and small-business contracts against current coverage tests. Assess whether a term causes significant imbalance, is reasonably necessary to protect legitimate interests and would cause detriment if relied on.
Online representations and price presentation
Reviews, automation and subscriptions
Check reviews, unavoidable charges and subscription terms for misleading impressions. There is no blanket ACL rule requiring every AI interaction to be disclosed, but transparency may be necessary where presentation or silence misleads.
Digital Care action checklist
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Review product pages, prices, subscriptions, reviews and chatbot outputs. Identify representations that could mislead customers and any applicable consumer guarantees.
Keep a record: Customer-journey review covering AI and online interactions.
Substantiate claims, present unavoidable charges clearly, remove false reviews and review potentially unfair standard-form terms. Obtain legal advice for contract questions.
Keep a record: Claim-verification and terms-review actions.
Save current pricing and terms, substantiation for claims and complaint-resolution procedures. Check that refund statements do not exclude statutory consumer rights.
Keep a record: Dated page captures, claim substantiation and remedy process.
Check common questions and misleading edge cases, including prices, capabilities and refund rights. Record human escalation and verify the corrected live experience.
Keep a record: AI test results and a dated customer-experience self-review.
Where your plan does not include the risk register or file evidence, retain those records securely outside Digital Care and reference them in your self-review. Legal notifications and technical controls must be completed through the appropriate external channels.
Official full text & sources
Read the complete instrument on the official publisher’s website, including amendments, definitions, exemptions and commencement notes. Official sources may change after this guidance was reviewed.