Contract guides
Written for Australian businesses that have to read supplier contracts without a legal team on hand. Every statutory claim carries a date and a link to the regulator, because contract rules here changed twice in three years and most summaries online are out of date.
Australian contract law
What the legislation actually requires, with a date and a regulator link on every claim.
Unfair contract terms in Australia: what businesses need to check
Australia changed the rules twice in three years. Unfair terms in standard form contracts stopped being merely unenforceable and became unlawful, and the maximum penalty then doubled. This page explains the test, who is covered, and the clauses that most often fail it.
Last checked 2026-08-02
Supplier contract review checklist for Australian businesses
Most supplier contracts do not need a full legal review. They need someone to check the eight or nine clauses where the money and the risk actually sit. This is the order to read them in, and what to compare each one against.
Last checked 2026-08-02
What counts as a standard form contract in Australia?
This is the gateway question for the unfair contract terms regime. If a contract is not standard form, the rules do not apply to it. If it is, a one-sided term can be unlawful rather than merely unattractive. The test is not what the contract is called.
Last checked 2026-08-02
Can a supplier limit its liability under Australian law?
A liability cap is normal and mostly enforceable. What it cannot do is remove the statutory consumer guarantees, and the definition of consumer is far wider than most business buyers expect. This is the most commonly missed point in Australian supplier contracts.
Last checked 2026-08-02
Does a foreign governing law clause avoid Australian law?
Australian buyers sign a lot of contracts governed by the law of Delaware, California or England. That clause matters, but it does not do everything suppliers imply. Some Australian protections survive it.
Last checked 2026-08-02
Can a supplier contract automatically renew in Australia?
Auto-renewal is the clause that costs Australian buyers the most, because missing it never feels like a decision. It is lawful, but in a standard form contract with a small business an unreasonable renewal term can fall foul of the unfair contract terms regime.
Last checked 2026-08-02
What should a data clause cover in an Australian supplier contract?
The important point is not in the contract, it is in the Privacy Act. If you hand personal information to a supplier who stores it overseas, you can remain accountable for their handling of it. That is what makes the data clause worth reading properly.
Last checked 2026-08-02
What should you check in an indemnity clause?
An indemnity is a promise to cover someone else's loss. It is the clause most likely to sit outside the liability cap you spent your time negotiating, which is why reading it second is a mistake.
Last checked 2026-08-02
Reviewing contracts
How to do the review itself, and how to judge the tools that offer to do it for you.
What can AI contract review actually do, and what can it not?
Most writing on this subject is published by companies selling the software, including us. So here is the version with the limits left in. Automated review is genuinely good at some things and genuinely unreliable at others, and the difference matters more than any feature list.
Last checked 2026-08-02
How do you choose contract review software?
Nearly every comparison of this software is published by one of the vendors. This is the buyer's version: what to test, what to ask, and the parts of the deal that matter after the demo is over.
Last checked 2026-08-02
How do you review a supplier contract without a legal team?
Most supplier contracts in most businesses are reviewed by someone who is not a lawyer, under time pressure, without a playbook. This is a method for doing that well enough, and knowing where the line is.
Last checked 2026-08-02
General information about Australian law, not legal advice. Citrus is not a law firm. See our disclaimer.