Misleading and Deceptive Conduct
Australian Business & ComplianceAlso: Section 18 · Misleading or Deceptive Conduct
Quick definition
Misleading and deceptive conduct is the central rule of Australian Consumer Law, found in section 18. It bans conduct in trade that is likely to mislead or deceive. For marketing it covers claims, pricing, imagery and even silence. The test is the overall impression on a reasonable person, and intent is no defence.
How it varies across Australia
The conduct that lands businesses in trouble is almost never an outright lie. It is the technically true claim that leaves a false impression, the reference price nobody paid, the condition left unsaid. The honest version usually performs nearly as well, without the regulatory tail risk.
See how brand trust signals vary across Australian industries →What it actually means
Misleading and deceptive conduct is the cornerstone of Australian Consumer Law. Section 18 says a business must not, in trade or commerce, engage in conduct that is misleading or deceptive or likely to mislead or deceive. It is deliberately broad.
The part that catches marketers is the test. It is not whether each word is true. It is whether the overall impression on an ordinary, reasonable member of the audience is accurate. You can assemble a sentence from individually true facts and still breach the rule if the impression it leaves is false.
It also catches silence. Leaving out a material fact, a condition, a catch, can mislead just as much as stating something false. And intent is irrelevant. You can breach section 18 entirely by accident, which is why honest businesses still get caught when a headline outruns the fine print.
In practice the risk lives in the same places: inflated was-now pricing, performance claims you cannot substantiate, fake urgency, free offers with undisclosed conditions, and testimonials or reviews that are not genuine. The discipline is to read your own marketing as a sceptical customer and ask whether the impression is true.
You can write every word truthfully and still mislead. The law cares about the impression, not the sentence.
How it shows up
Risk shows up wherever the headline needs the fine print to be true: a was price the product never sold at, a permanent countdown, a free claim with conditions below the fold, an unsubstantiated best or number-one claim. The test is the overall impression on a reasonable person, so read the ad as the customer, not as the author.
The Australian context
Section 18 sits at the heart of Australian Consumer Law and is enforced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and state regulators. It is broader and more impression-based than the equivalent rules in some other markets, and the penalties are significant. An overseas campaign that survived a stricter literal-truth test can still breach the Australian impression test, particularly around pricing and comparative claims.
Where people get this wrong
Related terms
Common questions
What is misleading and deceptive conduct?
It is conduct in trade that is likely to mislead or deceive, banned by section 18 of Australian Consumer Law. For marketing it covers claims, pricing, imagery and omissions. The test is the overall impression on a reasonable person, not whether each individual word is true.
Can I breach the rule even if everything I said was true?
Yes. The law tests the impression, not the literal words. A set of true statements arranged to create a false overall impression can still mislead, which is enough to breach section 18.
Does it matter that I did not mean to mislead?
No. Intent is not a defence. You can breach the rule entirely by accident. The question is whether the conduct was likely to mislead a reasonable person, not whether you set out to.
What are the most common breaches in marketing?
Inflated was-now pricing, unsubstantiated performance claims, fake urgency, free offers with hidden conditions, and reviews or testimonials that are not genuine. Each leaves a false impression even when individual elements look defensible.
About New Rebellion
New Rebellion is a marketing intelligence consultancy. We build tools, score Australian businesses on how their marketing actually performs, and publish Debrief every day. This dictionary is part of how we work in the open.
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