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 cli...

Parties to a dispute will often act as if they are not bound by a franchise agreement when a dispute arises. This may take the form of a franchisee ceasing the operation of the franchised business, failing to make franchise payments, ceasing to attend training or return franchisor phone calls or emails. Franchisors may stop a franchisee from having access to the operations manual or the franchise system intranet with a view to protecting its intellectual property. In the absence of a speci...