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What Australian Consumer Law means your AI agent must never say

Australian Consumer Law applies to what your business says, including when a machine says it. Consumer guarantees cannot be contracted out of, and a misleading statement is misleading regardless of who generated it.

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  1. Consumer guarantees are automatic and cannot be excluded

    Goods must be of acceptable quality, match their description and be fit for purpose. No terms and conditions, and no chatbot disclaimer, removes this.

  2. Misleading or deceptive conduct does not require intent

    It is enough that the statement was likely to mislead. An AI that overstates a capability or invents a delivery date has created liability without anyone deciding to.

  3. No warranty can be described as if it replaces your rights

    Warranties against defects must carry mandatory wording making clear they sit alongside consumer guarantees. An assistant explaining a warranty needs the same care.

  4. Never let an agent say the sale is final

    Australian consumers have remedy rights for major and minor failures regardless of a no refunds sign. Stating otherwise is a specific, commonly penalised breach.

  5. Price representations must be genuine

    Was and now pricing, and any single-figure price, must be accurate and include all compulsory charges. An AI quoting a price excluding a mandatory fee has made a false representation.

  6. Unfair contract terms now carry penalties

    Since the 2023 reforms, including an unfair term in a standard-form consumer or small-business contract is itself a contravention. Terms generated or summarised by a machine are still your terms.

  7. Testimonials and reviews must be real

    Fabricated or incentivised reviews presented as independent are prohibited. Generating a review with AI and publishing it as a customer's is a straightforward breach.

  8. Unsolicited consent has to be genuine

    Spam Act rules on consent, identification and unsubscribe apply to AI-generated outreach exactly as they do to a human's. Scale makes breaches more expensive, not more forgivable.

  9. How to build so this cannot happen

    Ground the assistant in your actual pricing and policy documents, put hard rules around what it may commit to, escalate anything about refunds or guarantees to a human, and log every conversation so you can prove what was said.

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