Auto-renewals and contract terms in a hosting plan

01Is a hosting plan a standard form contract?

The ACCC describes a standard form contract as a pre-written contract a business uses for all its customers, where the customer cannot change any or most of the terms and can only accept or decline it. Clicking ‘I agree’ on a website is one of the ways the ACCC says a contract can be accepted.

The law leans towards treating a contract as standard form: under section 27 of the Australian Consumer Law, if a party says a contract is a standard form contract, it is presumed to be one unless another party proves otherwise. Section 27(3) adds that a contract may still be found to be standard form even though a party had the chance to select a term from a range of options the other party set, as when a customer picks a plan from a provider’s menu.

02Who the protection covers

The protection reaches consumer contracts and small business contracts. For standard form contracts made or renewed from 9 November 2023, the ACCC says a small business is covered if it has fewer than 100 employees or makes less than $10 million in annual turnover. From that same date, proposing, using or relying on an unfair term in a standard form contract is banned and penalties can apply.

The renewal date matters here. On the ACCC’s description, the newer rules cover standard form contracts entered into or renewed from 9 November 2023 onward, so a plan renewed since then falls under them.

03The examples in the law

Section 25 of the Australian Consumer Law lists kinds of terms that may be unfair. It is a list of examples, not a list of findings; whether a term is actually unfair depends on the test in section 24 and on the contract as a whole. The first six of its fourteen examples are the ones a hosting plan most often raises, quoted here in the law’s own order; the full section is on the Federal Register of Legislation, linked at the foot of this sheet.

• (a) “a term that permits, or has the effect of permitting, one party (but not another party) to avoid or limit performance of the contract;”
• (b) “a term that permits, or has the effect of permitting, one party (but not another party) to terminate the contract;”
• (c) “a term that penalises, or has the effect of penalising, one party (but not another party) for a breach or termination of the contract;”
• (d) “a term that permits, or has the effect of permitting, one party (but not another party) to vary the terms of the contract;”
• (e) “a term that permits, or has the effect of permitting, one party (but not another party) to renew or not renew the contract;”
• (f) “a term that permits, or has the effect of permitting, one party to vary the upfront price payable under the contract without the right of another party to terminate the contract;”

Australian Consumer Law, section 25(a) to (f) (Competition and Consumer Act 2010, Schedule 2), compilation of 16 September 2026.

04Reading a hosting plan against the list

What follows is this guide’s own reading, offered as an illustration of where these six examples can show up in a hosting agreement. It is not a finding about any provider’s terms.

The renewal clause: examples (e) and (b)

The law’s examples are about who holds the choice: a term that lets one party, and not the other, renew or not renew the contract, or end it. Reading a renewal clause with that in mind means asking whether the customer has the same choice the provider has.

The price clause: example (f)

The ACCC’s own example is a price term in a long standard form contract that lets the business raise the price while the customer has no way out, which it says is likely to be unfair; the same term is likely not unfair when another term lets a customer who rejects the increase leave without penalty. A hosting plan’s price clause can be read the same way: does a price change come with a right to leave?

Exit fees and early termination: example (c)

A fee on leaving is the kind of term example (c) points to when it penalises one party and not the other for ending or breaching the contract. Whether a particular fee crosses the line is for a court, weighing the test in section 24.

Changes to the terms: examples (d) and (a)

Terms that let a provider rewrite the agreement, or limit what it has to deliver, are the ground of examples (d) and (a). The court must consider whether a term is transparent, which section 24(3) describes as a term that is:

“(a) expressed in reasonably plain language; and (b) legible; and (c) presented clearly; and (d) readily available to any party affected by the term.”

Australian Consumer Law, section 24(3)

The ACCC adds that some terms sit outside the unfair terms law altogether, among them the upfront price and the terms that define the main subject matter of the contract.

05The domain renews on its own clock

A hosting plan and a .au domain licence can run to different dates, and auDA sets the domain’s calendar. When you register or renew a .au name you choose a licence period of one to five years; renewal opens 90 days before the expiry date, and your provider sends a reminder email as it approaches.

1. The licence expires. auDA allows a 30 calendar day grace period in which it can still be renewed, with your existing provider or a new one.
2. During those 30 days the name cannot be used or updated, so the website and email stop working. auDA notes some providers charge a fee to restore a name in this period.
3. If it is not renewed by the end of the grace period, the name is removed from the registry and becomes available to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.

From auDA, How to renew your .au domain name

Leaving a host shortly before the domain falls due is where those dates collide. The Australian Signals Directorate’s advice is to turn on auto-renewal or make sure you are notified when the domain is about to expire, and it says it is best to list more than one staff member for renewal notifications. Transferring a .au domain covers moving the name itself.

06If a term seems unfair

The ACCC’s guidance runs in this order:

1. First contact the business, and ask it to remove or change the term you think may be unfair.
2. Small businesses can seek help through an ombudsman or a dispute resolution service.
3. Contact the ACCC for help to understand your options.

The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) responds to requests for assistance from small businesses and family enterprises in dispute with other businesses or with Commonwealth agencies. If a court does find a term unfair, the ACCC explains that the term is void and no longer applies, and the rest of the contract continues if it can work without it.

Once the decision to leave is made, getting your data back, and deleting it is the next sheet in the move.