Australia's commercial contract framework is governed by the common law and supplemented by equitable doctrines, statutes (Commonwealth, state and territory) and international law instruments. There is no codification of the law governing contracts.
For consumer goods and services contracts (a consumer may include a business in certain circumstances), the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) – which is a schedule of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA) – applies. This legislation covers purchases of goods or services worth less than AUD100,000, or when the goods or services are of a kind that is generally intended for personal, domestic or household use or consumption. There are also state and territory consumer laws.
The ACL additionally includes an unfair contract terms regime that applies to:
- Standard form contracts for a supply of goods or services or a sale or grant of an interest in land to an individual whose acquisition of the goods, services or interest is wholly or predominantly for personal, domestic or household use or consumption; and
- Standard form contracts where at least one of the parties is a small business (i.e., a business that employs fewer than 20 people), and the price payable up front is AUD300,000 or less, or AUD1 million or less for contracts with a term longer than 12 months.
Commercial contracts with Commonwealth and state government agencies may be subject to certain regulations.