Invoice Dispute Letter (Australia)

A Trade Credit Application Form is the foundational document used in Australian business-to-business (B2B) commerce to establish a formal credit relationship between a supplier and a customer. When a business wants to receive goods or services from a supplier and pay for them within agreed payment terms — typically 7, 14, 30, or 60 days after invoicing — rather than paying in advance or at the point of delivery, the supplier will require the customer to complete a credit application form. This Australian Credit Application Form template is designed for suppliers, wholesalers, distributors, and service providers who wish to capture all legally required information, assess creditworthiness, and protect their interests through a comprehensive legal framework. The document addresses Australia's key regulatory frameworks for trade credit. The National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth) is relevant where credit is extended to individuals or to businesses for personal, domestic, or household purposes. However, the template is designed for B2B trade credit, which falls outside the regulated credit regime under the NCCP Act and is instead governed by general contract law, the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), and the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) impose significant obligations on businesses that collect personal information about individuals, including company directors and sole traders who apply for credit. The credit application process inevitably involves the collection of personal information — names, residential addresses, phone numbers, and financial details of the individuals associated with the applicant business. The template includes a comprehensive privacy consent clause that authorises the supplier to collect, use, and disclose that information for the purposes of credit assessment, account management, and debt collection, in compliance with the APPs. The Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) and the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) are highly relevant to trade credit. Under the PPSA, a supplier who sells goods on credit can register a security interest over those goods on the PPSR, ensuring that if the customer becomes insolvent before paying, the supplier retains a priority claim to the goods (or their proceeds) ahead of the customer's general unsecured creditors. The template includes an optional PPSR clause with a retention of title provision, which is a practical and important protection for suppliers dealing with corporate customers that may be at risk of insolvency. The Australian Consumer Law (ACL), contained in Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), prohibits misleading and deceptive conduct, unconscionable conduct, and unfair contract terms. The template's credit conditions are drafted to be fair, transparent, and consistent with the ACL framework, including the expanded small business protections introduced in 2024. The Goods and Services Tax Act 1999 (Cth) requires that all prices and invoices correctly state the GST-exclusive price and the GST component (currently 10% of the GST-exclusive price). The template includes a GST clause confirming that all quoted prices are GST-exclusive and that GST will be added to invoices as required by law. Late payment interest is a significant commercial issue in Australian trade credit. The Reserve Bank of Australia cash rate is the standard reference rate for calculating late payment interest in the absence of a specific contractual rate. The template specifies a commercially reasonable interest rate of 2% per annum above the RBA cash rate, calculated daily and compounded monthly on overdue invoices.

A Personal Guarantee is one of the most consequential financial documents an individual can sign in an Australian commercial context. It transforms what might otherwise be a purely corporate obligation into a direct, personal liability enforceable against the guarantor's own assets — including their home, savings, and other property. This Australian Personal Guarantee template is designed for use by company directors, business owners, and other individuals who are required to personally guarantee the obligations of a company or other entity to a creditor, supplier, landlord, or lender. In Australia, personal guarantees are routinely required across a broad range of commercial arrangements. Banks and non-bank lenders almost universally require company directors to personally guarantee business loans extended to their companies. Commercial landlords frequently require director guarantees for corporate tenants. Suppliers extending trade credit to new or small businesses commonly require a personal guarantee before opening a credit account. The template addresses all of these scenarios. The document is structured to comply with Australian law requirements. Under the legislation continuing the Statute of Frauds in each Australian state and territory — including section 54A of the Conveyancing Act 1919 (NSW), section 126 of the Instruments Act 1958 (Vic), and equivalent provisions in other jurisdictions — a guarantee must be in writing and signed by the guarantor to be enforceable. An oral or informal guarantee is void and unenforceable regardless of the parties' clear intentions. The template includes a full indemnity clause alongside the guarantee. While a guarantee is a secondary obligation (coextensive with the company's liability and potentially defeated if the underlying agreement is void), an indemnity is a primary and independent obligation that survives even if the underlying contract is found to be defective or unenforceable. Combining both gives the beneficiary the maximum available protection and is standard in Australian commercial practice. The Australian Consumer Law (ACL), contained in Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), may affect personal guarantees where the guarantor is a small business. Since October 2024, the unfair contract terms regime in the ACL applies to small business contracts, including guarantee documents, where certain threshold criteria are met. The template includes an optional ACL acknowledgment clause to address this in a transparent and balanced way. The Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) is relevant where the guarantor is a director of the company. Directors owe duties under the Act including the duty to act in good faith in the best interests of the corporation and for a proper purpose (section 181), and the duty to avoid conflicts of interest. Where a director provides a personal guarantee in their capacity as director, those duties are relevant context. The template includes an optional director capacity clause to acknowledge this statutory framework. Australian courts have a well-developed equitable jurisdiction to set aside personal guarantees obtained by unconscionable conduct, undue influence, or non-disclosure. Guarantees signed by family members of the principal debtor — particularly spouses — are most vulnerable to challenge. For this reason, Australian creditors typically insist that guarantors obtain independent legal advice from a solicitor before signing, and the template includes a clause confirming that this opportunity was provided. The template allows the guarantor's liability to be capped at a maximum dollar amount, creating a limited guarantee, or left uncapped for an unlimited guarantee. This is an important commercial decision: an unlimited guarantee exposes the guarantor to the full extent of the company's obligations, including future obligations that may not yet be quantifiable at the time of signing.

Create a formal Australian Demand Letter for contract breaches, defective works, misrepresentation, misleading conduct, or other civil wrongs — distinct from a simple debt collection letter. This template covers the full spectrum of pre-litigation civil demands under Australian law, including the Australian Consumer Law (ACL s 18, s 20–21), common law breach of contract, and the civil procedure requirements of all Australian states and territories. A demand letter of this type is a critical pre-litigation step used whenever a party has breached a contractual obligation beyond simply failing to pay an invoice. Common examples include: a builder or contractor who has abandoned works or delivered defective construction; a supplier who has failed to deliver goods as specified or has supplied goods that do not conform to the contract description; a party who has made misrepresentations that induced the other to enter into a contract; a business that has unlawfully terminated a service or supply agreement; a party who has breached confidentiality obligations; or a business whose conduct has been misleading or deceptive in trade or commerce contrary to section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law. The Australian Consumer Law, set out in Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), applies throughout Australia and provides powerful rights for both consumers and businesses. Section 18 prohibits conduct in trade or commerce that is misleading or deceptive, or likely to mislead or deceive. Sections 20 and 21 prohibit unconscionable conduct. Where a breach of these provisions has caused loss or damage, the affected party is entitled to recover compensation under section 236 of the ACL. A formal demand letter is the appropriate first step before commencing proceedings in the applicable court. For contract breaches at common law, the innocent party is entitled to sue for damages representing the loss suffered as a result of the breach — either expectation damages (putting the innocent party in the position they would have been in had the contract been performed) or reliance damages (reimbursing expenditure wasted in reliance on the contract). In some cases, specific performance or an injunction may be available. A demand letter is the appropriate vehicle to put the breaching party on notice, demand specific performance or damages, and provide a deadline before proceedings are commenced. The applicable civil courts in each state and territory are: the Local Court (NSW, up to $100,000), Magistrates Court (VIC, up to $100,000; QLD, up to $150,000; WA, SA, TAS), District Court or County Court (intermediate claims), and Supreme Court (high-value claims). The Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory have their own court hierarchy. Tribunals such as NCAT (NSW) and VCAT (VIC) handle consumer and home building disputes. The limitation period for contract claims in most Australian states is 6 years from the date the cause of action arose (Limitation Act 1969 (NSW), Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (VIC), Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (QLD) and equivalent). Issuing a formal demand letter well within the limitation period is important both to preserve rights and to comply with any pre-action requirements of the applicable court. This demand letter template is suitable for use throughout Australia in all states and territories. It includes space for a full factual background, identification of the legal basis of the claim under both common law and the ACL, a precise statement of the remedy demanded (payment of damages, completion of works, rectification, delivery of goods, or specific performance), a compliance deadline, an optional legal action warning identifying the intended court, and supporting documentation references. The letter may optionally be marked 'Without Prejudice' where settlement negotiations are intended to follow.

Protect your confidential business information under Australian common law with a legally sound Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). Whether you are sharing trade secrets with a prospective partner, disclosing proprietary technology to a developer, or presenting financial projections to a potential investor, a properly drafted Australian NDA keeps your sensitive information under strict legal protection. Our template complies with Australian contract law principles and includes provisions addressing the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles.