Australian Consumer Law Review

The Review commenced in 2016 and concluded in March 2017.

About the Review

In June 2015 consumer affairs ministers agreed that Consumer Affairs Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ) would conduct a review of the Australian Consumer Law.

The Terms of Reference outlined that the review would consider the effectiveness of the current law and whether the law was sufficiently flexible to address new and emerging issues. This was the first broad review of Australia’s national consumer law since it commenced on 1 January 2011.

The review concluded in March 2017 with CAANZ providing consumer affairs ministers with a Final Report. The report was published on 19 April 2017.

Public consultation

Public consultation formed a core component of this review by providing opportunities for interested stakeholders to have their say on whether the law is working effectively and what could be improved.

The review formally commenced on 31 March 2016 with the release of an Issues Paper that received more than 160 submissions. Submissions to the Issues Paper closed on 27 May 2016.

Feedback on the Issues Paper informed the Interim Report, which was released on 14 October 2016 and received more than 100 submissions. Submissions to the Interim Report closed on 9 December 2016.

Non-confidential submissions to both the Issues Paper and Interim Report are available on this website.

Throughout the review over 130 face-to-face consultations were also held with stakeholders across Australia, including individual consumers and businesses, consumer advocates, industry bodies, legal practitioners, community legal centres and academics.