Australia's Unfair Trading Practices Ban: What Amazon Sellers Should Check Before 1 July 2027

Australia has passed a ban on unfair trading practices, and it starts on 1 July 2027 after a 12-month transition. The Bill passed Parliament on 2 July 2026. It targets subscription traps, fees added late at checkout and online design that steers consumers into decisions. If you sell to Australian consumers on Amazon.com.au, you have until July 2027 to check your listings, offers and any subscription-style sales.

What did Australia actually pass?

The law is the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026, which amends the Australian Consumer Law. The Clayton Utz summary gives Royal Assent as 6 July 2026 and commencement as 1 July 2027. Treasury's release gives 2 July 2026 as the day it passed Parliament. The two dates describe different steps, so they do not conflict.

It has three parts:

1. A general prohibition on unfair trading practices.
2. Rules for subscription contracts.
3. Disclosure rules for "drip pricing", meaning mandatory fees that appear after the headline price.

Treasury says the ACCC has extra funding for guidance and education during the transition. Treasury also says the Government has "increased penalties ten-fold to $100 million" for breaches of consumer and competition law, and the release does not say which penalties apply to the new bans. One law firm reports the maximum as the greater of A$100 million, three times the benefit gained, or 30% of adjusted turnover. Treat that as a secondary-source figure until you check the Act.

Does it apply to me if I sell on Amazon?

It applies to conduct connected with supplying, or offering to supply, goods or services to consumers. If you sell to Australian shoppers on Amazon.com.au, you are a supplier. Amazon runs the checkout, but you write the listing, set the price, create the bundles and decide the offers.

Two exclusions matter:

• The general prohibition does not cover supplies to a body corporate or supplies made in the course of the buyer's business. A seller on Amazon Business selling only to companies is largely outside it.
• Treasury is consulting on extending protection to small businesses and franchisees. That could widen the net later, and I found no outcome published as of November 2026.

If you also sell through your own Shopify store, that store is fully in scope as well. See the Australian Consumer Law glossary entry for the wider framework.

What counts as an unfair trading practice?

The prohibition catches conduct that manipulates a consumer, or unreasonably distorts the environment in which they decide, and that causes or is likely to cause detriment, financial or otherwise. The examples in that summary are not exhaustive:

• impeding a consumer's legal rights or remedies;
• failing to disclose material information, or disclosing it in an unclear or overwhelming way;
• creating unreasonable pressure.

Dark patterns named include confusing menus, pre-selected options that favour the business, false urgency cues and obstructive cancellation processes. The same summary says the regime does not capture legitimate marketing or reasonable business practices. Whether the word "unreasonably" survives in the final operative text is not confirmed here, so check the Act.

For an Amazon seller, the realistic risk points are these:

Several of these are already breaches of existing law or Amazon policy. The new law adds a broader hook for enforcement. Read Australian Consumer Law and Amazon returns for the consumer-guarantee side.

What are the drip pricing rules?

Mandatory transaction-based charges, such as booking, processing or service fees, must be shown with the base price, legibly and prominently, close to that price. The rule applies wherever a base price is shown, including websites, apps and advertisements, and it applies to goods or services ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use.

It does not cover optional charges, payment surcharges or taxes such as GST. If a charge cannot be calculated upfront, the method of calculation must be clearly disclosed.

On Amazon, the price on the listing and at checkout is largely system-generated, so drip pricing risk is smaller than on your own store. Where it bites:

• Your own site adding a "handling" or "packaging" fee at the last step.
• Advertising an Amazon price in social posts or email that leaves out a mandatory fee.
• Bundles where a required accessory is sold separately and not shown clearly.

Amazon's referral and FBA fees are charged to you, not the buyer, so they are not drip pricing. See Amazon Australia seller fees.

What changes for subscriptions?

The covered contracts are those with an indefinite period, a fixed period that auto-renews, an initial free period, or an initial discount period that then renews at a higher rate. Before the contract, you must clearly say it is a subscription, plus the price, period, renewal and cancellation processes and any notice period. Businesses must also send timely reminders at key points, and regulations will set the detail; none had been published in the material I found. Cancellation must be straightforward, with only reasonably necessary steps, and online cancellation must be offered if the customer signed up online.

The rules apply to consumers and, for standard form contracts, small businesses.

Most Amazon sellers do not sell subscriptions. The ones this touches are sellers running replenishment or membership offers on their own site, or consumables sold as recurring boxes. If a customer must call you to cancel but signed up online, that is the pattern the law targets. I could not confirm from public Amazon pages how Amazon's own Subscribe and Save treats seller obligations; Amazon publishes seller programme terms inside Seller Central.

What should I check before July 2027?

A short audit, in order:

1. List every place you show a price to Australian consumers: Amazon listings, your site, ads, email.
2. Check each price for mandatory extras not shown next to the headline figure.
3. Remove or verify urgency claims ("only 3 left", countdowns) and "was" prices.
4. Read your returns wording against the consumer guarantees. Nothing may suggest rights are limited.
5. If you run any recurring-payment offer, map the sign-up and cancel steps and count the clicks.
6. Check inserts and review-related wording against Amazon's policies; see Amazon seller performance metrics for how policy breaches show up in your account.
7. Diarise Treasury's small-business consultation outcome and the ACCC's guidance.

Do this before busy periods too; see the Amazon Australia sales calendar. The Australia hub lists the other compliance guides.

FAQ

When does Australia's unfair trading practices ban start? The ban starts on 1 July 2027, after a 12-month transition period that began with the law's passage on 2 July 2026. Nothing in the material I found brings any part forward.

Does it apply to sellers on Amazon.com.au? Yes, to the extent you supply goods to consumers. The prohibition covers conduct connected with supplying, or offering to supply, goods or services to consumers. Amazon's own conduct is Amazon's responsibility; your listings and offers are yours.

Are B2B sales covered? Not by the general prohibition: supplies to a body corporate or in the course of the buyer's business are exempt. Treasury is consulting on extending protection to small businesses, so that could change.

What are the penalties? Treasury says penalties for consumer and competition law breaches were increased ten-fold to A$100 million but does not say which apply here. A law firm reports the greater of A$100 million, three times the benefit, or 30% of turnover. Verify in the Act.

Does GST count as drip pricing? No. Taxes, duties and levies imposed on the supplier, GST being the example given, are outside the drip pricing rule, as are optional charges and payment surcharges.

Do I need to change anything now? Not by law, because the ban is not in force. The sensible step is an audit this year, so any change is tested well before 1 July 2027.

Next step

Blooprint, an Amazon SPN verified partner that works with Australian sellers remotely, can fold a listing and offer review into Amazon Australia account management. For legal certainty, speak to a lawyer or contact the ACCC.