What is the ACL and consumer guarantees?

Under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), businesses must guarantee the goods and services that they provide. Businesses cannot contract out of these statutory guarantees.

These guarantees set out consumer rights that apply when goods and services are defective in certain ways. Generally, businesses must guarantee their products:

are of acceptable quality.
match the descriptions made on its packaging, in advertisements and by the business.
be fit for the purpose the business told you it would be fit for and
be fit for any purpose you told the business it would be used for prior to purchase.

Guarantees also apply to services provided by a business. Examples of a service include building or plumbing services, and tutoring services. Businesses must guarantee that their services are:

provided with care and skill.
fit for the purpose the business told said it would be fit for and
carried out within a reasonable time.

Further Information

You may also wish to read the following fact sheets for more information on specific protections provided under the ACL:
Consumer guarantees fact sheet
Unsolicited Consumer Agreements fact sheet

To find out more about your rights when buying goods and services in Australia, you can watch the videos prepared by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) called ‘My Consumer Rights’.

To access these videos in other languages, click the links below.

Information on our website is provided for information only and is not legal advice. If you would like legal advice, please message us using the form below for a confidential discussion, or scroll down to see other ways to reach us.

If you believe a business has breached your consumer rights, or would like further advice please message us using the form below for a confidential discussion, or scroll down to see other ways to reach us.