The Law Handbook 2024

704 NOTE The law in this chapter is current as at 1 September 2023. Introduction The Australian Consumer Law ( ACL ) creates a set of minimum standards, called consumer guarantees, that apply when a consumer buys goods or services from an Australian supplier, manufacturer or importer. The consumer guarantees are statutory implied conditions (essential terms) or warranties (inessential terms) of the contract. NOTE The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) is schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). It is administered by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commisssion (ACCC). There is a lot of information on consumer guarantees on the ACCC site at www.accc.gov.au There are parallel statutory warranties in s 12ED of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth) (‘ ASIC Act ’) that financial services will be provided with due care and skill, and that they will be fit for their purpose. These are administered by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). When a consumer buys goods, the seller (the ‘supplier’ ) is required by the ACL to provide a ‘consumer guarantee’ that: • the goods are acceptable quality and that any goods are fit for any disclosed purpose; • the goods match their description, sample or demonstration model; • the consumer has title to the goods, undisturbed possession of the goods, and there are no undisclosed securities. When a consumer buys goods, the manufacturer is required by the ACL to guarantee that: • the goods are acceptable quality; • the goods match their description; • it will honour any express warranty; • it will provide repairs and spare parts for a reasonable time. When a consumer buys services, the service provider guarantees that: • the services will be provided with due care and skill; • the services will be fit for any specified purpose; • the services will be provided within a reasonable time. If the goods or services fail to comply with one of the consumer guarantees, the consumer may have access to a number of remedies, including repair, replacement, refund, compensation or cancellation of the contract. These remedies apply in addition to any remedy under contract or an express warranty. The ACL is set out in schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) and has applied since 1 January 2011. Different laws apply to goods and services purchased before 2011. NOTE The ACCC, ASIC and the state and territory consumer protection agencies have jointly published Consumer Guarantees: A Guide for Consumers (2021 edn), which assisted in the writing of this chapter. This guide is available on the ACCC’s website (www.accc.gov.au) . When do the consumer guarantees apply? Definitions Generally, the consumer guarantees only apply to the supply of goods and services to a consumer in ‘trade and commerce’. Remedies can be sought against the supplier and/or, in some cases, the manufacturer. Therefore, it is necessary to define the terms ‘goods’, ‘services’, ‘consumer’, ‘supplier’, ‘manufacturer’ and ‘trade or commerce’. 7.3 Consumer guarantees Contributor: Paul Latimer, Adjunct Professor, Swinburne Law School; Volunteer Lawyer, Fitzroy Legal Service