The past year has seen the ACCC’s focus firmly on major structural reform with the advent of the new merger control regime. This focus continued last year’s trend of consumer protection cases seeming to be of lower priority, with the ACCC showing less activity in this space than in previous years. What we have seen in 2025 has been particular attention to misleading pricing practices, liability of online platforms, and the ACCC continuing to conduct broad sweeps of retailers, especially at peak sales periods, to identify contravening conduct. 

Key enforcement activity 

Meta 

ACCC unfollows Meta over misleading celebrity advertisements 

The ACCC commenced Federal Court proceedings against Meta Platforms, Inc. (Meta) (formerly Facebook) in 2022, alleging it allowed fake ‘celebrity endorsement’ advertisements on its platform. These advertisements falsely featured Australian celebrities and public figures purportedly endorsing cryptocurrency financial and investment schemes, many of which were scams. The ACCC claims that Meta repeatedly failed to implement adequate measures to prevent such advertisements, arguing that Meta is liable as an accessory under the ACL. Meta disputes the allegations, asserting that it cannot be held responsible for content on its platform without actual knowledge that it is false. The ACCC is seeking declarations, penalties, and injunctions. 

In 2025, the ACCC successfully staved off Meta’s attempts to have the ACCC’s claims struck out on the basis that they were inadequate, broad and vague. While the Court ordered the ACCC to clarify the basis of Meta’s alleged accessorial liability for each individual contravention, the regulator has been able to keep the proceedings on foot, with a further case management hearing scheduled for March 2026, and the final hearing date still to be determined. In the meantime, the ACCC’s commitment to these high-profile proceedings signals that the heightened regulatory scrutiny of digital platforms and their role in moderating online advertising that is misleading or deceptive will likely continue.

The ACCC will likely continue to bring consumer protection cases by exception, only where issues of national significance, substantive legal questions, blatant conduct, or vulnerable consumers are involved.

Mosaic Brands Limited

Costly fashion fail - delivery times, wrongful payments and consumer rights

As we have discussed in previous publications, in 2024, the ACCC initiated proceedings against Mosaic Brands Pty Ltd (the Australian fashion retailer that - at the time – operated brands, such as Katies, Millers, Noni B and Rivers), alleging multiple contraventions of the ACL. The ACCC alleged that Mosaic had:

• made false or misleading representations relating to the delivery of goods purchased online and/or wrongfully accepted payments for those goods; and
• provided customers with information that was inconsistent with their rights under the ACL. 

Mosaic also entered into voluntary administration in October 2024 and then liquidation in July 2025. Despite this, in August 2025, the Federal Court ordered Mosaic Brands to pay $25.05 million in penalties for breaches of the ACL, including failing to deliver over 740,000 orders to consumers on time or at all. The outcome emphasises the importance of ensuring that delivery representations are accurate and that businesses comply with their consumer guarantee obligations. Likewise, the penalties reflect the seriousness of systemic misconduct and serve as a warning to online retailers about transparency and timely fulfilment obligations.

Online retail and major e-commerce platforms 

ACCC’s sweeps for misleading or deceptive conduct by retailers

In 2025, the ACCC intensified scrutiny of online retail practices, conducting numerous industry-wide “sweeps” of advertising and promotions (particularly, online) that revealed systemic issues that contravene consumers’ rights under the ACL. In particular, in February 2025, the ACCC conducted a national sweep of more than 2,000 Australian retail sites, which uncovered concerning return policies and misleading terms and conditions, including on major e-commerce platforms. Some retailers imposed unfair restrictions on refunds, failed to provide clear information, and breached obligations under the ACL. Similarly, in November 2025, the ACCC warned retailers ahead of the Black Friday sales period about deceptive discount strategies, including false “site-wide” claims, exaggerated “up to X% off” promotions, and misleading urgency tactics. These warnings were followed up with investigations and, in some cases, infringement notices and assurances by impacted businesses to the ACCC that they would improve overall ACL compliance.

Assessment against priorities 

At the start of 2025, the ACCC indicated that it would retain the existing mix of consumer protection priorities – emphasising pricing transparency, online platform liability and the integrity of environmental claims; however, its focus was on competition law and, in particular, its new merger control regime. In announcing its 2025 enforcement priorities, ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb did not identify any significant new consumer protection priorities. As such, the ACCC’s actions throughout the year are consistent with that approach: broad (very successful) country-wide sweeps revealed misrepresentations in return policies and advertising, the Meta action crystallised the regulator’s determination to hold digital platforms to account, and Mosaic underscores that classic ACL breaches remain actionable even amid insolvency. There has not been a noticeable uptick in cases involving greenwashing, nor have we seen much in the online space (in terms of misleading advertising). 

Looking forward 

We expect that the commencement of the merger control regime will again make consumer protection a lower priority in 2026. The ACCC will likely continue to bring consumer protection cases by exception, only where issues of national significance, substantive legal questions, blatant conduct, or vulnerable consumers are involved. We also expect the ACCC may continue with some of its 2025 enforcement priority areas, including misleading pricing claims, the liability of online platforms, and greenwashing.

In addition, we might see:

• Continuation of retailer sweeps and targeted campaigns around sale events at Easter, the end of the financial year, ‘Black Friday’, and the Christmas trading period.
   
• Further enforcement on greenwashing as sustainability becomes central to brand positioning.
   
• Further action to enforce the CDR regime across the broader economy to support and encourage the anticipated competition and consumer benefits associated with this initiative.
   
• Possibly a closer look at the “influencer economy”, with potential guidance on influencer disclosure disclosures, further enforcement actions aimed at celebrity testimonials and the resolution of the Meta ‘test case’ on accessorial liability for online platforms.
   
• Reinvigorated focus on pricing, surcharging and ‘gouging’ in priority sectors flagged by the ACCC, such as grocery, aviation and essential services, particularly, where pervasive add-on fees and undisclosed costs harm vulnerable consumers.
   
• An increased focus on misleading disclosures to consumers, particularly when coupled with ‘dark patterns’ and other unfair practices.