Regulator update · Australia and New Zealand
Five regulator updates businesses should act on now
Recent decisions and regulatory action show that compliance needs to work in the customer journey, product range and underlying systems - not only in policies and terms.
Act before the cost escalates
Reduce the risk before a compliance gap becomes a penalty, court order or costly remediation.
These developments show what can happen when customer journeys, product approvals, marketing practices and privacy controls do not match the law. Test the systems now - before a regulator, court or customer complaint exposes the gap.
Court finding - penalties pending
eHarmony found to have misled consumers about subscriptions
What happened
The Federal Court found that eHarmony made misleading representations about free dating, automatic renewal, one-month memberships, early cancellation and monthly subscription pricing. The Court also found that eHarmony failed to display the minimum total subscription cost as a single price alongside monthly price statements. Penalties, consumer redress and other orders will be decided later.
Why businesses should care
A subscription offer is judged by the overall impression created across advertising, plan selection, checkout, renewal and cancellation. Important qualifications placed late in the journey or in terms and conditions may not correct an earlier misleading impression.
Actions to consider
- Display the minimum total price, billing frequency and every mandatory fee before the customer commits.
- Explain automatic renewal prominently, including when renewal occurs and how the renewal price is determined.
- Test free, trial, cancellation and account-deletion claims against the live customer journey, not just the written terms.
A$14 million penalty upheld
City Beach button-battery penalty remains at A$14 million
What happened
The Full Federal Court dismissed City Beach’s appeal against a A$14 million penalty for supplying non-compliant products containing button batteries. The underlying conduct involved more than 60 product types supplied on over 54,000 occasions. City Beach had admitted breaching the Australian Consumer Law, and the penalty remains in effect.
Why businesses should care
A low-cost battery, accessory or novelty item can carry a high-consequence safety risk. Product safety controls need to cover every affected model and SKU, including products that may sit outside a business’s main range.
Actions to consider
- Identify every product, accessory and variant containing a button or coin battery.
- Match each exact model or SKU to evidence covering secure compartments, applicable testing and required warnings.
- Block purchasing, listing, supply and replenishment where evidence is missing, outdated or does not match the supplied product.
NZ$1.104 million penalty
The TV Shop penalty included systematic review manipulation
What happened
The District Court ordered Brand Developers Ltd, trading as The TV Shop, to pay NZ$1.104 million for a range of Fair Trading Act offending. The conduct included staff posting positive reviews without disclosing their connection to the business, reviews by some employees who had not used the product, requests for friends and family to leave reviews, and systematic filtering of low-rating reviews.
Why businesses should care
Reviews are marketing representations. A business can create a misleading overall impression through who is invited to review, how reviews are edited or moderated, and which genuine reviews are displayed.
Actions to consider
- Do not allow employees, family, friends or paid creators to appear to be independent customers.
- Require clear disclosure of incentives, employment and other material connections.
- Use a documented, content-neutral moderation process and retain original reviews, edits, approvals and removal decisions.
More than A$2.7 million in penalties
TAB penalties expose gaps between consent and live marketing systems
What happened
TAB paid more than A$2.7 million in penalties after the ACMA found multiple spam and telemarketing breaches. The conduct included calls to numbers on the Do Not Call Register without consent, calls outside permitted hours, calls without required identification, and more than 217,000 marketing emails and SMS sent to customers who had unsubscribed from particular channels.
Why businesses should care
A consent policy is not enough if preferences do not flow accurately through customer databases, campaign tools, call systems and external providers. Consent and withdrawal need to be controlled at the correct channel and purpose level.
Actions to consider
- Record consent and withdrawal by channel, purpose, source and date, with an auditable history.
- Test that unsubscribe and Do Not Call suppression instructions reach every connected platform and provider promptly.
- Monitor calling hours, caller identification, campaign exceptions and failed suppression events before they become systemic.
Transition period ended
New Zealand’s Biometrics Code now applies to existing systems
What happened
The transition period under New Zealand’s Biometric Processing Privacy Code ended on 3 August 2026. The Code now applies to organisations already using biometric processing before it first came into force, as well as newer deployments. It covers automated biometric processing used to verify, identify or categorise people, subject to the Code’s scope and exceptions.
Why businesses should care
Existing facial recognition, fingerprint, voice, gait and other biometric systems should no longer be treated as legacy implementations outside the new rules. Organisations need to be able to justify why the processing is necessary and proportionate and show that safeguards operate in practice.
Actions to consider
- Map every biometric system, purpose, information flow, provider, user group and retention period.
- Document necessity, effectiveness and proportionality, including whether a less privacy-intrusive alternative could work.
- Implement appropriate safeguards, clear notices, access controls, accuracy checks, retention limits and complaint handling.
Turn the update into action
Five controls worth testing across your business.
- Review the live journey.Check what customers actually see and experience across advertising, checkout, renewals, reviews, consent and cancellation.
- Connect decisions to exact products and channels.Use SKU-level product controls and channel-level consent records rather than broad assumptions.
- Make customer choices operational.Ensure opt-outs, cancellation requests and privacy choices flow through every relevant system and provider.
- Keep evidence that matches the current position.Retain test reports, approvals, journey screenshots, review records, consent histories and assessments that match what is live.
- Retest when something changes.Trigger review when a supplier, product variant, campaign, platform, price, interface or technology changes.
Practical support
Apply the developments to your own products and customer journeys.
Watchdog can help identify the affected processes, test the customer-facing experience, review the supporting evidence and turn gaps into a practical action plan.
Important information
Check the current position and your specific circumstances.
This update is general information, not legal advice. Laws, official guidance, proceedings and regulatory responses can change. Review the current official source and obtain advice for your particular circumstances before acting.