ACCC Chairman Sims has given a strong indication that he wants power to prosecute companies over unfair contract terms. In a recent speech, he lamented the lack of an offence for including unfair contract terms and the ACCC's inability to impose penalties if such terms are declared void in a civil...

In its last gasp under Prime Minister Turnbull, Parliament passed legislation to substantially increase penalties for breach of the Australian Consumer Law. For individuals who breach, the maximum penalty rises from $220,000 to $500,000 per breach. For companies that breach, the maximum...

The Federal Court has imposed a $2.25 million penalty on Heinz Australia for a claim that its 'Little Kids Shredz' products -containing almost 66 per cent sugar-were 'beneficial' for the health of young children. The Court decided that Heinz' nutritionists should have realised that such an...

The Federal Court has imposed a $3 million fine on Meriton for misleading/deceptive conduct, shown by them trying to 'frustrate' adverse reviews on 'Tripadvisor' about their serviced apartments . Its management were found to have directed staff to 'mask' email addresses of negative reviewers-as...

  Our Federal Court has decided that just because your iPhone or iPad was repaired by someone other than Apple, this doesn't mean that you lose the benefit of the ACL consumer guarantees. Apple had told at least 275 Australian customers, whose  i Phones were disabled after downloading...

2 heavy weight drug companies recently locked horns in the Federal Court over one company's claim that its pain-killer drug gave superior results to the other's. GlaxoSmithKline Aust took on Reckitt Benckiser Aust over its claim that its Nurofen (active ingredient ibuprofen) gave "faster and more...

The ex-CEO of Australian Bight Abalone (ABA), has been found guilty by the South Australian District Court on 17 counts of providing false or misleading information to ABA's Board and prospective investors, in particular relating to its abalone harvesting prospects. ABA was Australia's largest...

ACCC Chairman Rod Sims has warned Aussie business that his competition watchdog won’t protect them from competition, as they face the prospect of the arrival of Amazon in Australia. He was speaking on recent changes to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA), especially the revised s46,...

In proceedings brought by the ACCC, the Federal Court has found that Meriton Property Services Pty Ltd engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct in relation to reviews of its hotels on the TripAdvisor website by taking steps to prevent guests it suspected would give an unfavourable review from...

After what seems like an interminable period, the majority of competition law reforms recommended by the 2015 Harper Committee review were passed by Federal Parliament in late October. This follows on the passing of long awaited changes to the market power misuse regime, which took effect in August...