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(3)Scope or machinery

Who is outside the unfair conduct ban

Two exclusions take a customer outside the ban. One is a body corporate consumer. The other is a sale made while the customer is running a business. A person who relies on either exclusion must raise evidence for it in proceedings. The evidential burden is on that person.

Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026, Schedule 1, Part 1, item 7, section 28B(3) to (5)Starts 1 July 2027Part 1: unfair trading practices
The requirement

Check the status of the customer before treating the ban as engaged. A body corporate consumer is outside it. So is a sale made while the customer operates a business. The supplier must be able to prove the exclusion if challenged.

Who it binds. The supplier who wants the benefit of the exclusion. The regulator does not have to negate the exclusion first.

Operative term. consumer is a body corporate

What this means in practice

The two exclusions are narrow and factual. A body corporate can still be a consumer in ordinary language, but this section takes it outside the ban. A sale to a person who is carrying on a business is outside the ban when the sale happens while that business is being carried on. A mixed customer base needs a record of which status applied at the point of supply, not a general assumption that business customers are outside. The evidential burden matters: if the status is disputed, the supplier has to produce the evidence, so the contract, the account record and the onboarding answer should agree.

How to test it

Ask two questions at onboarding and at each renewal. Is the customer a body corporate? Is the sale being made in the course of the customer carrying on a business? Record the answer and the document that supports it. If the answer is unclear, do not assume the exclusion. Treat the customer as a consumer until the status is documented, because the supplier carries the burden of proving the exclusion in proceedings.

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.

  • Customer status recordThe entity type and business-use answer captured at onboarding, with the source document.
  • Contract recitalThe clause that records the business purpose, if the supplier relies on the business supply exclusion.
  • Account audit trailThe date and user who changed a customer status, with the reason.
  • Segmentation reportA count of consumer, body corporate and business accounts, reconciled to the billing system.
  • Dispute fileThe evidence pack used when a customer status was challenged, and the outcome.

What to do first

  1. Add an entity type and business purpose question to onboarding, with an evidence field.
  2. Reconcile the customer status in the contract, the billing record and the CRM once a quarter.
  3. Do not let a sales team reclassify a customer as business without a document behind it.

Questions

Does the exclusion cover a small business customer?
The text excludes a sale made while the customer operates a business, without a size threshold. The subscription rules have their own small business test in section 48G; do not read that test into section 28B.
Who proves the exclusion?
The person who wishes to rely on it bears an evidential burden in the proceedings. In practice that is the supplier.

Related sections

s 28B(1): The bans 28B(2): The tests 48A(2): Drip pricing duty