Abstract: Analysis and evaluate the importance of Australian Consumer Law in protecting consumer rights in Australia. Explore the issues relating to unfair contracts and discuss whether the law has moved to over protect consumers.January 2011 marked the beginning of a new consumer protection law in Australia called the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). Being the single national consumer protection law it is a part of the Plan for the National Partnership Agreement to deliver a seamless national economy.With the increasing demand in competition in consumer laws the new Australian Consumer Law 2011 or (ACL) has taken over from the earlier Commonwealth Trade Practices Act and State and Territory Fair Trading Acts. This new legislation is designed to be all about safe products, fair contracts and legitimate sale practices. The unique part about this new Australian Consumer Law is that it lays the ground rules nationally and is available to every australian no matter where they reside or work. These laws not only benefit the australian consumers but it also helps businesses. This states that the government has now one book of rules to adhere to nationwide instead of the numerous diffferent state and territory acts. This can be seen as a great advantage for companies that serve consumers across state.
Protecting consumer rights is essential in maintaining the fair practices towards consumers offered by various businesses. With the implementation of the new Australian Consumer Law (ACL), trader rights and consumer rights have become more transparent therby increasing surety for all. One key element about the legislation is that it does not only apply to products and services used in households, but it also deals with all goods and services for any other reasons inclusive of business use for goods costing upto $40,000. So what this means is that consumers now have more rights in their favor in the event of false, deceptive or misleading business practices. The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) will also help smaller businesses in having a clear picture of what their rights are when working with alternative businesses for regular purchases. This will not only help smaller businesses grow faster but will also assist them in expaning across australia. The new Australian Consumer Law (ACL) can been seen to be important with coverage of some key areas such as Unfair Contract terms, safety of consumer products, gurantees and refund rights, and business practices including telemarketers and door to door salesmen. Unfair contract terms will protect consumers and business owners so that both the parties have equal rights when engaged in a contract. This leads to fair business practices and does not leave one party with the burden in preceedings concerning the contract. Earlier fair trade practices allowed business to call consumers at any given time. This has changed to specific calling times that telemarketers will be able to contact their consumers. The same is seen for door to door slaesmen as well. The new Australian Consumer Law (ACL) has significant penalties in the occurrence of a breach in the legislation. These penalities are expected to deliver a better compliance stimulus.
Under the new Australian Consumer Law (ACL), suppliers and manufactures must gurantee consumers that all products and services delivered are of the same quality as promised to the consumer, match any description and must honour the guarantee of express warranty. Consumers on the other hand must be well aware of the terms and conditions that they are legally bound to follow. The new laws in relation to unfair contract terms leaves consumers with more protection when entering into Standard Form Contracts. These contracts cannot be negotiated and are made by one party before any talks related to the transaction occured. It is the dependant on the consumer whether he/she chooses to accept it oe deny it. Standard Form Contracts are usually already printed out and are all