The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) came into force on 1 January 2011.
It replaced the Trade Practices Act 1974 and previous Commonwealth, state and territory consumer protection legislation.
Competition and Consumer Act
The ACL is written in Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
Its goal is to help Australians by supporting fair business practices, competition and consumer protection.
To read the ACL, visit Federal Register of Legislation’s Competition and Consumer Act 2010
Regulations
The ACL Regulations are detailed rules in Parts 6 and 7 of the Competition and Consumer Regulations 2010.
They explain the ACL rules and give more details to make sure the law is clear.
For example, the regulations set the price limit for what is a 'consumer good' under the law.
To read the rules, visit Federal Register of Legislation’s Competition and Consumer Regulations 2010
Policy framework
The ACL is based on the Productivity Commission's inquiry into Australia's consumer policy framework.
The Productivity Commission released their report with recommendations in 2008.
To read the report, visit Productivity Commission’s Consumer policy framework – Inquiry report