Consumer law and practice and procedure – unfair contract terms – summary dismissal application – whether finding that terms are unfair is possible without identifying particular contracts between identified parties

In Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Fuji Xerox Australia Pty Ltd [2021] FCA 153 (3 March 2021) the court dismissed the interlocutory application for summary dismissal of the proceeding brought by the respondent (FX).

The applicant (ACCC) sought declarations and injunctions concerning the use by FX of nine different template forms of contract with its customers which were said by the ACCC to be “small business contracts” within the meaning of s23(4) of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) (Sch.2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010) and “standard form contracts” within the meaning of s27 of the ACL. The ACCC’s case was that a number of the terms of the template form contracts were “unfair terms”…