Higher Penalties for Unfair Trading Practices and New Subscription Contract Obligations
Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026
House of Representatives
Senate
Assent
Introduced by: The Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP (ALP)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Dr Andrew Leigh ALP
“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. The Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026 amends the Australian Consumer Law and implements the government’s commitment to protect consumers from unfair trading practices, subscription traps and drip pricing. Australians know exactly what this bill is about because they have lived it.”
Andrew Wallace LNP
“Australians are already paying more for just about everything. Groceries are up. Power bills are up. Insurance is up. Fuel is up. Interest rates are biting. The average Australian family with a mortgage is now paying, after tax, $29,000 a year more on their mortgage than they were paying under the last coalition government.”
Jo Briskey ALP
“This bill, the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026, is about fairness. It’s about making sure Australians get a fair go, because right now too many Australians feel like the deck is stacked against them.”
Dr RYAN
“Australians are under serious financial pressure. Across the country, households are finding that everyday expenses have become unaffordable. Grocery bills have risen sharply. Energy costs remain high. Insurance premiums continue to climb for homes, for cars, for health care. Renters are spending more and more of their income on their housing.”
Sarah Witty ALP
“I rise to speak in support of the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026. At its core, this bill is about fairness. It’s about whether people can trust the prices they see, whether they can leave a subscription as easily as they joined it, whether businesses compete by offering a better product or by wearing people down through confusion, pressure and manipulation.”
Kevin Hogan NAT
“I rise to speak to the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026, and I move the amendment circulated in my name: That all words after ”That” be omitted with a view to substituting the following words: ”whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House notes that: (1) the Opposition supports strong consumer protections and believes Australians should b…”
“The Aussie idea of a ’fair go’ may be one of those phrases that you hear all the time, but it really does capture something important about who we are as Australians. At its core, it’s about making sure that everyone is treated fairly and gets a decent shot. It applies on an individual level and also on a societal level. You can see it in how we value fair access to health care and to education.”
Anne Webster NAT
“Small businesses are struggling under Labor’s homegrown inflation crisis and their energy crisis where $275 in energy savings never materialised. Now add to that the fuel supply crisis, which isn’t just hitting direct fuel purchases but also hitting small businesses and farmers who struggle with the knock-on effect on fuel as part of their business inputs.”
Jerome Laxale ALP
“I support this bill, the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026, because it’s an important piece of legislation to make transacting out there in the real world better and fairer for consumers. We have a simple, unwritten rule here in Australia that underpins our entire society, and that’s the fair go.”
Carol Berry ALP
“Last month, I joined the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury, Andrew Leigh, in the Mural Hall where he announced that the Albanese Labor government would introduce new laws to ban unfair trading practices.”
“I rise today to speak in support of the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026. This bill is designed to complement existing Australian consumer law legislation, increase consumer trust in the marketplace and encourage fairer trading amongst businesses.”
“I rise today in support of the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026. This legislation is an important milestone in our nation’s journey towards a fairer and more transparent market. At its core, this is a bill about the basic integrity of the daily interactions between Australians and the businesses they rely on.”
Rowan Holzberger ALP
“I rise in support of the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026. In doing so, I too commend the work of the assistant minister in the lead-up to and preparation of this bill and also for the way that he has handled this bill through the parliament and through the Labor Party processes as well.”
Ash Ambihaipahar ALP
“I rise to speak on the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026. At its core, this particular bill is about making our payment systems and our marketplaces fairer for everyday Australians. It’s about making sure people can buy what they need without being misled, trapped, pressured or ripped off.”
Renee Coffey ALP
“Most Australians know what it feels like to keep a close eye on the household budget and make careful choices about where every dollar goes.”
Tania Lawrence ALP
“At its core, the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026 is about something simple: honesty. It’s about the honest treatment of consumers, honest prices presented up front and honest processes that allow Australians to organise their lives and their buying decisions easily and without tearing their hair out.”
Madonna Jarrett ALP
“This Labor government is serious about protecting Australians so they can keep more of what they earn, and we know Australian households are feeling the pinch when it comes to cost of living. Many families across my electorate in Brisbane are watching what they spend. They might not buy that extra coffee one week. But, importantly, they’re comparing prices before they put their money down.”
Tim Ayres ALP
“I move: That these bills be now read a second time. I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard. Leave granted. The speeches read as follows— COMPETITION AND CONSUMER AMENDMENT (UNFAIR TRADING PRACTICES) BILL 2026 This Bill amends the Australian Consumer Law and implements the.”
Matthew Canavan NAT
“I rise to give qualified, if you like, support to the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026. We do think there is a need for action here on certain unfair behaviours in the marketplace, and I’ll come to the details, but particularly things like subscription traps and drip feed pricing. These things are potentially covered by these changes.”
Lisa Darmanin ALP
“Many of you here, and those up in the gallery, may well have experienced this. Signing up for something is easy; cancelling it, though, is another matter entirely. Do you remember the date when a free trial for an app or subscription is due to end? Do you read every privacy policy before you click ’accept’? Do you always read the terms and conditions?”
Nick McKim GRN
“The Greens will support the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026 because it does improve protections for consumers, but I have to say this is a classic Labor piece of legislation: do the bare minimum necessary to address an issue and leave a whole bunch of reforms that should urgently be implemented on the table, leave them behind and kick them off into the never…”
Kerrynne Liddle LIB
“The coalition supports strong consumer protections because Australians should not be misled. They shouldn’t be ripped off, and bad businesses need to be held to account. Law created in this place must be unambiguous and workable in the real world. That matters. These are issues that we need to address, though, with the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026.”
“I rise to speak on the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026. This scenario should be familiar to all Australians.”
Tyron Whitten PHON
“One Nation supports strong consumer protections. We welcome the parts of the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026 that provide clear legislative rules for business and outlaw subscription traps and drip pricing.”
Paul Scarr LIB
“Senator Whitten should take his own advice with respect to unfair trading practices and stop spewing this rubbish that there’s actually a uniparty in this place. I can remember actually standing in this place and calling for greater powers to deregister the trade unions engaging in corrupt practices.”
Sean Bell PHON
“by leave—at the request of Senator Whitten, I move: At the end of the motion, add ”, but the Senate: (a) notes that: (i) the protections under this bill to guard consumers against unfair trading practices in relation to drip pricing and subscription traps are good, prescriptive reforms, (ii) the broad prohibition powers in this bill around unspecified ”unfair trading practices” risk creating an un…”