There is no law that says every website must have terms and conditions. However, this doesn’t mean that they are not necessary! Running a small business website without terms is like running a shop with no prices on the shelves and no returns counter.
Website terms and conditions set out the rules for people interacting with your site. Without them, the default rules apply, which are set by legislation and the courts, not you. Those defaults are rarely in your favour.
In this article, we go over some key considerations for your small business website terms and conditions in Australia.
What do website terms and conditions actually do?
Terms and conditions are a contract between you and the people who use or buy from your site. Done properly, they:
- set out what you supply, when, and for how much, including delivery and payment terms
- limit your liability where the law allows, so one bad transaction cannot become an uncapped claim
- protect your content and brand from being copied or misused
- deal with user behaviour if people can post reviews, comments or content
- explain how disputes get resolved, and under which state’s laws
- give you the right to update prices, suspend accounts or refuse orders in defined situations
Without them, you fall back on scattered defaults. Having vague or no website terms and conditions will mean that if you have a dispute, you likely can’t point to a specific term to protect yourself. You could end up wasting time and money dealing with these confusing disputes.
What can’t my terms say?
Under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), your terms can’t restrict (or attempt to restrict) consumer guarantees. Let’s take a “no refunds” clause for example. If your products or services have breached a consumer guarantee, there are some situations where you have to give a refund if a customer asks for it. In fact, the “no refunds” clause is an example of attempting to restrict consumer rights, and can get you in trouble under the ACL!
But what are consumer guarantees and what are those situations that you have to give a refund? Read more in our article on returns policies and consumer guarantees.
Another thing to avoid are unfair contract terms. Website terms are almost always standard form contracts. This means that you set the terms, and customers have to either ‘take it or leave it’, without any negotiation. Standard form contracts that create a significant imbalance (one-sided variation rights, sweeping indemnities, automatic renewals with no exit) can be declared unfair and void.
Penalties for breaching the ACL were doubled in March 2026. A company can face maximum penalties of:
- $100 million;
- three times the value that they got from breaching the ACL; or
- 30% of adjusted turnover; whichever is the greatest value.
On top of this, the unfair contract terms regime now reaches most small business standard form contracts. Read more about this in our unfair terms guide.
Are website terms the same as a privacy policy?
No, they do different jobs, and you generally need both.
Your privacy policy explains how you collect and handle personal information, and for many businesses it is legally required. From December 2026, privacy policies also need to disclose certain automated decision-making, which we will cover in an upcoming article.
The terms and conditions cover how you and your customers will interact, including payment, orders, bookings, what your goods and services are, etc.
Bundling the two documents together usually means both are done badly.
Do template terms from the internet work?
Generally not, for many reasons:
- You don’t always know what jurisdiction the template was written for. Online templates often reference American laws that do not exist in Australia, or use language from foreign jurisdictions that is either inaccurate or could get you in trouble under the ACL.
- Even if templates are written for Australian jurisdictions, they might not be up to date with new laws. For example, if your business sells subscription services, some clauses may not account for the new subscription rules that commence in July 2027.
- Using a template means that it doesn’t consider (or even mention) what your business actually sells or how it works day to day. Templates can confuse you and your customers about how your transactions will work.
Our online shop and app packages make the process of tailoring easy, so that you can build your T’s and C’s around your unique situation.
What should my website terms cover? A quick checklist
- Who you are (legal entity, ABN) and what you supply
- How a contract forms: order, acceptance, payment
- Prices, GST, delivery and where risk falls if something goes wrong
- Returns and refunds consistent with the consumer guarantee
- Acceptable use rules for any user content or accounts, including regarding intellectual property
- Liability limits that abide by the ACL
- Termination or suspension rights
- Governing law and how disputes are handled
If your site takes bookings, runs subscriptions, or hosts a marketplace, each of those needs its own additional layer.
When should you get them reviewed?
Now is the best time to review your contracts, especially if your terms were copied, are older than a couple of years, or have not kept up with what your business now sells.
The law moved substantially between 2023 and 2026, and it’s moving again in 2027. A fixed fee review of your website terms is cheap compared to one ACCC letter or one dispute with no paper trail. Book a free, no-obligation consultation and we will tell you exactly what your site needs.
