“Click here” and you may have just entered into a standard form contract to which the unfair contract terms (UCT) law in the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) apply.

The UTC provisions apply to business contracts where:-

  • at least one party to the contract is a ‘small business’
  • the contract is a ‘standard form contract’
  • A term is ‘unfair’

When do the UCT laws apply?

In summary, from 10 November 2023:-

  • A small business will be one which employs less than 100 people or has an annual turnover of less than $10 million;
  • A standard form contract will be defined as one pre-prepared by the party which has all or most of the bargaining power, used on multiple occasions and where there is little scope to negotiate terms; and
  • A clause may be presumed to be unfair if the same or a substantially similar term was found to be unfair in similar circumstances in a separate case.

There is no upfront price limitation and if a party basically has to “take it or leave it” it will be difficult to argue that it is not a standard form contract.  Read more