Legislative protection extended for small businesses

The Federal Government recently announced its introduction of a Bill to Parliament that will provide protection against unfair contract terms for small businesses.

To date, the Bill has passed in the House of Representatives and now waiting on review and consideration by the Senate Economics Legislation Committee.

If enacted, it will render voidable any unfair contract terms found extant in standard form contracts which do not exceed the value of $100,000 or $250,000 if the duration is more than a year. The Treasury Legislation Amendment (Small Businesses and Unfair Contract Terms) Bill 2015 would amend the ASIC Act and Australian Consumer Law to extend the protective term to businesses with less than twenty employees.

A term would be deemed unfair if its causes a significant imbalance in the parties rights and obligations under the contract, is not reasonably necessary to protect the interests of the party, or that would cause detriment to a party.

The Senate Economics Legislation Committee is due to report back on the proposed legislation on September  14.

For the full report on the Bill head click here