Are we there yet? A return to the rational for Australian consumer protection

The introduction of Australia's unfair contract term legislation, when applied to standard form contracts, has improved the position of the consumer by taking into account the impact of behavioural biases and bounded rationality. As such, this article shows that through a shift in focus to the substantive fairness of the terms in a contract, much has been done to return the consumer to the position of a rational economic agent. Ultimately, however, shortfalls still exist in the legislation in light of the insights of behavioural economists, meaning that improvements are needed to fully embed the benefits of Australia's dedicated consumer protection provisions.