Particle.news

ACCC Sues Amazon Australia Over Prime Contract Terms

The regulator says the case could test how Australian consumer law applies to multinational tech firms.

Overview

  • The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has filed court proceedings in the Federal Court alleging Amazon Australia used multiple unfair standard-form contract terms to make unilateral changes to Prime subscriptions.
  • The ACCC says those clauses were relied on to add advertising to Prime Video in July 2024 and to require ad-free viewers to pay an extra A$2.99 per month despite annual subscribers having paid upfront.
  • The regulator alleges the contract terms were used between November 2023 and August 2025 and that the changes affected more than one million Australian annual Prime subscribers.
  • The ACCC also alleges Amazon.com Services LLC in the United States helped draft the Australian contracts and was involved in the global decision to introduce advertising to Prime Video.
  • The commission is seeking declarations, penalties, consumer redress, costs and other orders under Australian Consumer Law, and says the case signals a broader enforcement focus on subscription contracts and cross-border corporate accountability.