Posted by Elizabeth Gore-Jones
on 31 January 2024
The ACCC issued a report in December 2023 called “Unfair Contract Terms in Franchise Agreements – Key Findings of Targeted Compliance Checks on Franchisors”. You can find the report here.
An important disclosure in the report was that the ACCC stated that:
“We consider that the franchising sector is on notice regarding the ACCC’s views about UCTs in franchise agreements.”
The ACCC gave the following tips when reviewing their contracts:
1. &nb...
Posted by Elizabeth Gore-Jones
on 30 January 2024
As from November 2023, the Unfair Contract Terms legislation introduced significant penalties for including unfair terms in any contract including leases.
The penalties could be $50 million.
The new legislation will apply to:
1. Any new lease
2. An assignment, variation or renewal of a lease (regardless of when the lease was originally entered into)
3. The exercise of an option under the lease even ...
Posted by Elizabeth Gore-Jones
on 26 January 2024
BACKGROUND
The ACCC found that 35% of the 137 businesses it recently reviewed had engaged in conduct which could manipulate reviews.
A serious issue was identified where businesses engaged third-party professional reviewers or review removalists.
These reviewers or removalists were tasked to manage the businesses’ online reputation.
When the ACCC reviewed these kinds of businesses, they found they provided services to create fake reviews, and prevent, edit, or remove negative review...
