Technology has a habit of outpacing the law's ability to regulate, however the gap is closing and whenever a new ruling is made, we should all pay attention.

Legal lesson

The ACCC has just released the Advertising and selling guide and Country of origin claims and the Australian Consumer Law, which outline the legal obligations of Australian businesses when selling and promoting products, including online. 

While the documents are fairly dense, Melbourne legal firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth have put together a very handy document outlining the major points.

With great fan bases comes great responsibility

Under the new ruling if a customer makes a post on a brand's Facebook Page which is likely to mislead customers, the brand is liable.

Brands are instructed to remove such posts as soon as they become away of them, and encouraged to remove offensive, unlawful or clearly untrue posts.

This is different from removing critical posts, which many argue is bad social media policy to begin with. 

So remember to be vigilant when monitoring activity on your social accounts.

Online doesn't mean out of bounds

Under the update the ACCC now sees online operations (including  advertising and selling through email, social media, apps and online shopping sites) subject to the same rules governing traditional bricks and mortar stores.

It is recommended that if you use terms such as organic, environment and free range, these must be identified as marketing claims that require extra diligence. You should also include practical examples and case studies that provide guidance into how your products reflect these terms.

Play it safe

While in some quarters selling online remains unregulated, the ACCC is catching up.

Make sure you're across all the legal requirements so your next sale doesn't turn into a very large fine, or worse. 

To find out more visit corrs.com.au.

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