Australia: Signed Australia-UK FTA, including online consumer protection

On 17 April 2021, the governments of Australia and the United Kingdom signed the “Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement”. The Agreement includes a Chapter on Digital Trade regulating, among others, online consumer protection. The provision requires the parties to maintain consumer protection laws and regulations that proscribe: (a) misleading, deceptive, and fraudulent commercial practices; and (b) unconscionable conduct or unfair commercial practices, that cause harm, or potential harm, to consumers engaged in digital trade.