The Australian Consumer Law requires that consumer goods be safe, durable, match their description, and work as expected.

Verified by Lenz · May 22, 2026

The Short Version

The ACL does impose consumer guarantees that goods sold to consumers be of acceptable quality, including being safe and durable, and that they match their description and work for their ordinary purpose. The claim is a fair summary of those guarantees, though it compresses technical rules about when the ACL applies.

Caveats

These guarantees apply in covered consumer transactions, not every sale of a product in every context.
Some statutory exclusions and limits apply, including certain auction sales and threshold-based consumer definitions.
"Work as expected" is plain-language shorthand for legal concepts such as acceptable quality and fitness for ordinary purpose, not the exact statutory wording.

The Receipts

Competition and Consumer Act 2010 – Schedule 2 (The Australian Consumer Law)
Federal Register of Legislation (Australia)Jul 1, 2022
Competition and Consumer Act 2010
Federal Register of LegislationDec 9, 2010
Consumer guarantees
Australian Government – Australian Consumer LawMay 1, 2016
Consumer rights and guarantees
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
Competition and Consumer Act 2010
Federal Register of Legislation (Australia)Jul 1, 2010
Competition and Consumer Act 2010 – Schedule 2 The Australian Consumer Law (current consolidated version)
Federal Register of LegislationJan 1, 2024
Consumer guarantees your products must meet
Queensland Government
Consumer guarantees – information for businesses
NSW Government
Consumer guarantees
NSW GovernmentMay 7, 2024
Product does not match the sample, description or demonstration model
Consumer Affairs VictoriaSep 15, 2023

+ 10 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

Australia Australian Consumer Law

The Australian Consumer Law requires that consumer goods be safe, durable, match their description, and work as expected.

The Short Version

Caveats

The Receipts

Filed Under

More Fact Checks

Sections 54–56 of Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (the Australian Consumer Law) establish consumer guarantees including acceptable quality, fitness for purpose, and correspondence with description.

Under the Australian Consumer Law, consumer guarantees automatically apply when businesses sell goods or services to consumers.

The Australian Consumer Law is contained in Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).

Sections 259–263 of the Australian Consumer Law provide consumer remedies including refunds, repairs, and replacements.

In 2025, after a year-long investigation involving more than 20,000 consumers, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found that Australia's supermarket sector was not working effectively for consumers.