The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) period of grace concerning the use of unfair contract terms in standard form consumer contracts is over. Following an industry review which prompted some businesses to remove or modify identified problematic terms, the ACCC is now moving to an enforcement phase.

The ACCC has recently completed a review of standard form consumer contracts used in a number of industries and has now published its report entitled "ACCC's Unfair Contract Terms – Industry Review Outcomes", which, in addition to the outcomes of the review, provides guidance to businesses on how the ACCC will view certain terms in standard form consumer contracts. The industries subject to the ACCC's review were:

- airlines

- telecommunications

- travel

- fitness

- vehicle rental

- online retail.

These industries were selected after consideration of a number of factors, such as the high level consumer complaints and potential for widespread consumer detriment.