Melbourne Law Faculty Exchange Lecture

Unfair Contract Terms Down Under

The common law world has long struggled to regulate unfair contract terms. Traditional protections – such as the contra proferentem rule of interpretation and the prohibition on penalties – are unprincipled and patchy. Protections grounded in unconscionability provide little certainty. As a result, numerous jurisdictions have used statute to protect vulnerable parties from unfair contract terms. In the last year, Australia’s prohibition on unfair contract terms has expanded substantially. Businesses with millions of dollars in revenue are protected by the regime. Penalties for including or relying on unfair contract terms could exceed AUD50 million. Is this a good model for other jurisdictions?

Please contact Michelle Burchill at burchill@allard.ubc.ca no later than 10 am on September 26 if you would like the Zoom link. For security reasons, the link will only be shared the morning of the lecture. 

A limited number of light lunches will be available for those who attend in person. 

Speaker