Compliance

Online Review Laws Australia

(Australian Consumer Law – ACCC Guidance)

Official Resources

ACCC Online Reviews Guide ACCC Online Review Rules

TL;DR – Australian Consumer Law & Trade Business Reviews

Under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) contained in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), trade businesses must not engage in misleading or deceptive conduct.

When it comes to reviews, this means you must not filter which clients can leave a public review, suppress or delay negative reviews, selectively invite only satisfied clients, or present ratings that do not reflect genuine client experience.

The law regulates the overall impression created to the public — not just whether a review is fake.

The Legal Foundation

Courts rely primarily on:

Section 18 – misleading or deceptive conduct
Section 29 – false or misleading representations
Section 34 – misleading representations about services

The ACCC treats online ratings as representations about the quality of your trade services.

In other words: Your Google rating is legally treated like advertising.

1. Reviews Must Be Genuine

You must not:

Write reviews for your own business
Ask staff or family to post reviews without disclosure
Edit client wording
Publish fabricated testimonials

ACCC guidance makes clear that fake or manipulated reviews breach consumer law.

2. You Cannot Filter Clients Before Giving Them a Review Link (Review-Gating)

This is where many trade businesses unintentionally breach the law.

Illegal Example (Very Common)

Business SMS after job completion:

"Were you happy with our work?"

Client clicks link → star rating page:

5 stars	Sent to Google review page
1–3 stars	Sent to private feedback form

Why unlawful:

You are controlling which clients can publicly review your service. This creates a rating that appears more favourable than the real client experience.

Courts have confirmed this principle in multiple Federal Court decisions, where selective publication of reviews was found to mislead consumers.

3. You Cannot Selectively Invite Only "Happy" Clients

Illegal conduct includes:

Reception only sending review links to clients who verbally said "that was great."
Emailing review links only to long-term clients.
Sending review requests only after positive survey responses.

Even without fake reviews, this may breach the law because it distorts the overall public impression.

4. You Cannot Suppress Negative Reviews

You must not:

Delay publishing negative feedback
Hide negative reviews
Display only positive testimonials on your website
Selectively moderate feedback

If the public sees only favourable feedback, the rating becomes misleading.

5. Incentives Must Not Distort Reviews

Illegal

"Leave us a 5-star review and receive a discount."

Potentially legal (if structured correctly)

"Leave a review (any rating) to enter a draw."

The incentive must:

Apply regardless of rating
Be clearly disclosed

If the incentive influences only positive reviews, it becomes misleading.

6. Real Cases Relevant to Trade Businesses

ACCC v HealthEngine Pty Ltd

The Federal Court found that editing and selectively publishing client reviews misled consumers.

The Court recognised that clients may choose service providers based on online reviews, making accuracy important across all industries including trades.

Penalty: $2.9 million

ACCC v Meriton Serviced Apartments Pty Ltd

The Federal Court found that preventing certain guests from receiving TripAdvisor review invitations was misleading.

The Court held that interfering with who can leave a review can distort the overall rating and mislead consumers — even if no fake reviews are written.

This case established the legal principle that manipulating review access itself can breach consumer law.

Penalty: $3 million

7. Practical Trade Business Scenarios

Scenario 1 – Plumbing Business

Acceptable

After every job, all clients receive:
"Please leave us a Google review."

Likely unlawful

After every job:
"Rate your experience first."
Happy → Google
Unhappy → internal complaint form

Scenario 2 – Electrical Contractor

Likely unlawful

Office sends review links only to clients whose jobs went smoothly without callbacks.

Acceptable

Automated system sends identical review request to all clients.

Scenario 3 – Building & Renovation Company

Acceptable

Business runs a satisfaction survey and, at the end, displays:
"You may also leave a public review here."
(shown to every respondent)

What This Means for Trade Businesses

You CAN:

Send the same Google review link to every client
Invite clients to provide feedback
Run client satisfaction surveys
Provide a complaints pathway
Respond professionally to negative reviews

You CANNOT:

Decide who gets a Google review link
Require a positive response before showing review platforms
Divert unhappy clients away from public review sites
Inflate ratings through filtering
Present a public rating that does not reflect real client experience

Why Reviews Matter for Trade Businesses

Clients rely heavily on reviews when choosing tradies. Courts recognise that misleading ratings can influence important decisions about who to trust with their home or business.

Trade businesses that manipulate reviews face the same penalties as any other business under Australian Consumer Law.

The One-Sentence Rule for Trade Businesses

If your system changes which clients are able to publicly review your service, it likely breaches Australian Consumer Law.

(This guide provides general information only and is not legal advice. Refer to ACCC guidance for full regulatory detail.)

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