Posted by Elizabeth Gore-Jones
on 13 December 2022
Residential home building company, Fowler Homes Pty Ltd, has admitted that its standard contract contains unfair contract terms and has provided an undertaking to the ACCC not to enforce those terms.
The provision of concern was a non-disparagement clause which prohibited clients from publishing or sharing negative reviews or any other feedback which included online or social media feedback about the services or its contract without Fowler Homes’ consent. The clauses required clients to indemnify Fowler Homes against any loss it suffered when enforcing those provisions.
Fowler Homes acknowledged these non-disparagement clauses could have prevented clients from speaking out about issues and has undertaken not to include those clauses in the future.
From 10 November 2023, businesses who include unfair contract terms in their standard form contracts, can face penalties of circa $10million or as otherwise determined by the Courts.
When reviewing your contracts, you should be mindful of the non-disparagement clauses.
Author:Elizabeth Gore-JonesAbout: Elizabeth specialises in franchising law. She lectures at Bond University PLA in franchising, she sits on the Queensland Law Society Franchising Committee, she is a past member of the Women in Franchising committee and a past member of the Franchise Council of Australia.
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