Changes to national consumer law and the ASIC Act a year ago outlawed unfair contract terms for the first time, putting companies at risk of significant fines as they scrambled to comply.
The economy-wide change had been in the works for years, even featuring in the ACCC's report on digital platforms in 2022, which called for an expansion of unfair contract terms laws.
A year later, the measures have been a win for startups. But they have left large law firms frustrated by a lack of clarity they had expected to come from an ACCC enforcement wave.
That's despite a range of cases brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission against PayPal, Auto & General Insurance and HCF Life. In the HCF lawsuit, the court found a "pre-existing condition" term was likely to mislead consumers.
