Unfair Contract Terms: What Every Business Needs to Know in 2025

Unfair contract terms are not new, but the consequences for businesses have changed.

For businesses that use standard form contracts, Australia’s unfair contract terms regime is no longer something to treat as a low-risk compliance issue. Businesses, advisers and in-house legal teams should understand how the regime applies, what has changed, and why contract templates should be reviewed before they create avoidable risk.

In this episode of Explain That by Velocity Legal, Andrew Henshaw is joined by Lauren Gross to discuss unfair contract terms in Australia, the latest updates to the regime, and what those changes mean for businesses in 2025.

The discussion covers:

• what unfair contract terms are;
• why the unfair contract terms regime matters for Australian businesses;
• recent updates to Australia’s unfair contract terms regime;
• what the changes mean for businesses, advisers and in-house legal teams;
• why standard form contracts should be reviewed carefully;
• how businesses can reduce risk when drafting or updating contracts; and
• practical steps to help businesses stay compliant and draft better contracts.

A practical discussion for business owners, advisers and in-house legal teams who use, review or negotiate business contracts.

For advice on unfair contract terms, contract drafting, commercial agreements or contract review, contact Velocity Legal’s Commercial team.