Unfair Trading Practices Act 2026 | Unfair Trading Australia

Recorded status

Source comparison: 2026-09-14. Later developments require a fresh source review. A missing update is not evidence that no later document exists.

Enacted Act, Gazette, Register and recent ACCC material compared. No dedicated regulations or final guidance identified in the official locations checked; this is not proof of absence or a complete current ACL compilation review.

Legislation: Enacted
Commencement: 2027-07-01
Regulations: Regulation pending
Guidance: Guidance pending

Status data · Status and updates

Statements and evidence

Source comparisons and retained baselines are identified separately; no personal legal review is implied. Data coverage and date meanings.

Unfair Trading Practices Act 2026: Legal fact

The Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 6 July 2026, was registered on 7 July and commences on 1 July 2027. It inserts a general section 28B unfair-trading prohibition, a section 48A pricing rule and subscription provisions. Regulations and dedicated ACCC guidance remain important open implementation layers.

Status: Commences 1 July 2027

Earlier source baseline: 2026-08-09. Source comparison: 2026-09-14. Automated source-content comparison. This source comparison checked the amending Act, register records, Treasury and ACCC material, and the research basis of the learning library. The latest ACL compilation was identified, but its full consumer-law volume could not be retrieved. Negative search results do not establish that no later instrument exists. Illustrative practice labels remain editorial analysis.

Revision: au-act-status@acb292d835882da967d6faac31328341cbfe2a014f09ec1796587e9305dac473

Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026: supports. Act No. 64, 2026, sections 1 and 2 and Schedule 1
Notification of Royal Assent: Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026: qualifies. Context and qualifications in the linked source; see the article source list.
Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026: qualifies. Context and qualifications in the linked source; see the article source list.
Competition and Consumer Act 2010, including Schedule 2: Australian Consumer Law: qualifies. Context and qualifications in the linked source; see the article source list.
Review of the Amended Unfair Contract Terms Protections: Final Report: qualifies. Context and qualifications in the linked source; see the article source list.
Unfair trading tricks and traps to be banned: qualifies. Context and qualifications in the linked source; see the article source list.
Inquiry into the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026: qualifies. Context and qualifications in the linked source; see the article source list.

Cite or inspect this claim

What does the Act add?

Schedule 1 inserts the section 28B general prohibition, section 48A transaction-charge disclosure rule and sections 48B to 48H for subscription contracts. Each provision has its own elements and scope. Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026

Section 28B: consumer-connected manipulation or unreasonable distortion with actual or likely detriment.
Section 48A: base-price and transaction-charge disclosure.
Sections 48B to 48H: subscription definition, offer, prescribed notifications, exit and scope.

What remains open?

The Act permits regulations to prescribe exclusions, subscription classes, information, times, manners and exceptions. No dedicated prescribing instrument or final ACCC implementation guide was identified at the review date. Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026 Unfair trading tricks and traps to be banned Inquiry into the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026

Who needs a separate scope check?

The general section 28B rule is consumer-facing. Subscription sections 48E and 48F include their own consumer and qualifying small-business conditions. Financial products and services require separate analysis under Competition and Consumer Act section 131A; an ASIC Act mirror was not identified. Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026 Competition and Consumer Act 2010, including Schedule 2: Australian Consumer Law Review of the Amended Unfair Contract Terms Protections: Final Report

What does this look like in a customer journey?

Illustrative example 1 · Marketplace checkout before commencement

A fictional marketplace shows a restarting scarcity timer, suppresses the leave action and reveals a compulsory booking charge only after payment details. The journey is scheduled to remain live after 1 July 2027.

Why it may matter: The combined presentation may warrant separate current-ACL, section 28B and section 48A analysis. A design label alone does not prove any contravention, and the future provisions cannot be enforced before commencement.

Illustrative example 2 · Free-to-paid subscription offer

A fictional service offers a free month, converts automatically to a yearly charge, hides the ending route and assumes a fixed reminder cadence copied from an earlier policy summary.

Why it may matter: Sections 48D, 48E and 48F have different operative conditions. Treating them as one rule can conceal the offer duty, invent notification timing that still requires prescription and misstate the exit standard.

Interface comparison

Potentially problematicStart free

Neutral alternativeStart a 30-day trial

Abstract comparison between a free-trial offer that conceals recurring terms and an offer that states the later annual price, continuation and ending information.Provenance: Original abstract interface created by the portal editorial team; no real business, product, customer or interface is depicted.

What is a fairer or lower-risk alternative?

Map the journey provision by provision. Show material offer and price information at the decision point, keep notification logic configurable until section 48E prescriptions exist, make covered ending methods satisfy section 48F, and retain the current-ACL analysis as a separate present-law workstream.

What is regulated, proposed or still open?

Status and source mapping for Unfair Trading Practices Act 2026
Evidence layer	Status	What the source supports
Final legislation	Enacted	Act No. 64, 2026 received Royal Assent on 6 July 2026 and was registered on 7 July 2026. “Unfair Trading Practices Act 2026” is an editorial shorthand; the statutory title is shown in the key facts. Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026 Notification of Royal Assent: Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026
Material amendments	Commences 1 July 2027	The whole as-made Act commences on 1 July 2027 and inserts section 28B, section 48A and sections 48B to 48H. Each provision must be applied on its own elements and scope. Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026
General-test examples	Commences 1 July 2027	Section 28B(6) identifies conduct that may qualify only where the complete consumer connection, conduct and detriment test is met; it is not a list of automatic contraventions. Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026
Existing legal baseline	Current enforcement	Existing ACL provisions apply on their own elements now. Regulator priority statements do not commence the 2027 amendments early. Competition and Consumer Act 2010, including Schedule 2: Australian Consumer Law Manipulative conduct in the digital economy, pricing claims and competition in essential services among ACCC priorities for year ahead
Prescribed details	Regulation pending	The Act permits specified exclusions, matters and exceptions to be prescribed, and section 48E needs prescribed coverage, information and times. Core rules that are already complete are not all contingent on regulations. Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026
Regulator implementation material	Guidance pending	Government funding and committee material anticipate ACCC education or guidance; no dedicated final implementation guide is treated as published in this dated review. Unfair trading tricks and traps to be banned Inquiry into the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026
Readiness and evidence recommendations	Editorial implementation guidance	The portal’s sequencing, ownership and evidence recommendations are editorial portal analysis derived from the final Act and current ACL, not extra statutory duties or a compliance certificate. Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026 Competition and Consumer Act 2010, including Schedule 2: Australian Consumer Law

What should teams review?

Has each journey been mapped separately to section 28B, section 48A and sections 48D to 48F?
Which controls operate now under existing ACL and which are scheduled only for commencement?
Which implementation assumptions depend on a regulation or future regulator publication?

Evidence to retain

Provision-level implementation register with owners and source IDs
Versioned journey captures before and after commencement changes
Regulation and guidance dependency log with last-checked dates

Applicability navigator

General information only. The result is not legal advice or a certificate.

1. Is the conduct planned for, or continuing on or after, 1 July 2027? Yes No / unsure

2. Is the relevant supply or offer connected with a consumer rather than a body corporate or business-purpose acquisition? Yes No / unsure

3. Could the conduct manipulate the consumer or unreasonably distort the decision environment? Yes No / unsure

4. Could financial or other detriment result or be likely? Yes No / unsure

Planning indication

Answer the questions to see issues for review.

Source basis: Act No. 64 of 2026; verify facts and later instruments before relying on a result.

Evidence base

Sources

Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026Federal Register of Legislation · Primary · checked 2026-09-14 · C2026A00064
Notification of Royal Assent: Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026Commonwealth of Australia Gazette · Primary · checked 2026-09-14 · C2026G00450
Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026Parliament of Australia · Primary · checked 2026-08-09 · r7468
Competition and Consumer Act 2010, including Schedule 2: Australian Consumer LawFederal Register of Legislation · Primary · checked 2026-09-14 · C2004A00109
Review of the Amended Unfair Contract Terms Protections: Final ReportTreasury · Primary · checked 2026-08-09
Unfair trading tricks and traps to be bannedTreasury Ministers · Primary · checked 2026-09-14
Inquiry into the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026Senate Economics Legislation Committee · Primary · checked 2026-08-09
Manipulative conduct in the digital economy, pricing claims and competition in essential services among ACCC priorities for year aheadAustralian Competition and Consumer Commission · Primary · checked 2026-08-09