Starts 1 July 2027/C2026A00064/Read from the authorised Act/Not legal advice; does not certify
Competition and Consumer CheckerThe Act, section by section
Section 28B(1)Held as a control

The ban on unfair trading practices

From 1 July 2027 a person must not engage in unfair trading practices in trade or commerce with a consumer. The ban is a new Part 2-4 of the Australian Consumer Law. A pecuniary penalty can follow a contravention, and the two-limb test in subsection (2) decides what conduct is caught.

Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026, Schedule 1, Part 1, item 7, section 28B(1)Starts 1 July 2027Part 1: unfair trading practices
The requirement

Do not use conduct connected with a sale, or an offer of sale, of goods or services to a consumer that meets the unfair trading test. The prohibition is separate from the existing misleading conduct and unconscionable conduct provisions.

Who it binds. Any person trading or doing business who sells, or offers to sell, goods or services to a consumer, including a company, an individual, a partnership and a trustee.

Operative term. engage in unfair trading practices

What this means in practice

The prohibition is principles based, so it is not a list of banned tactics. A product team has to be able to show why a flow, a message or a default is not manipulative and does not distort the decision setting. The practical work is a documented review of the journeys where a consumer decides, pays or cancels, with the reason for each design choice recorded. A team that can only say "the flow converts well" has no answer to the test. A team that can point to the choice architecture, the alternatives shown and the absence of pressure has one.

How to test it

Read the conduct against the two limbs before you ship it. Ask whether the design, wording or timing could manipulate a reasonable consumer, or unreasonably distort the setting in which the decision is made. Then ask whether it could cause financial or other detriment. If both answers are plausible, treat the conduct as caught until a lawyer says otherwise. The evidential burden for the body corporate and business supply exclusions sits on the supplier, not on the regulator.

Evidence to keep

The Act does not prescribe these records. They are the artefacts our reading says a regulator or auditor may ask for; keep the ones that fit your business and the provision.

  • Design recordA dated review of each consumer decision point, naming the design choice, the alternative and the reason for it.
  • Decision logA record of who approved a pricing, cancellation or consent flow, and what they were told about its effect.
  • Complaint themesComplaints, chargebacks and contact centre notes about pressure, confusion or blocked exits, with the fix and the date.
  • Test resultsUsability or consumer testing that shows the flow can be understood without a prompt or a nudge.
  • Governance minuteA board or executive minute adopting the unfair conduct standard and the escalation route.

What to do first

  1. Map every point where a consumer decides, pays, renews or cancels, and give each one an owner.
  2. Write a one-page conduct standard for those points, with examples of pressure and obstruction that are not allowed.
  3. Keep the review record with the release, so the reason for the design survives staff changes.

Questions

Does the ban replace the existing unfair practices rules?
No. Section 28B(7) says Part 3-1 of the Australian Consumer Law is not limited by implication. The new Part sits alongside misleading conduct, unconscionable conduct and the other existing prohibitions.
Who can be penalised?
A person who contravenes the prohibition. The Act adds Part 2-4 to the penalty and enforcement settings, so a body corporate, a listed corporation and an individual each face the settings that apply to them.

Related sections

s 28B(2): The tests 28B(6): Exampless 48F(1): Exit method