6The price
Your rights with private dental services
When a person supplies services to a consumer in trade or commerce, the Australian Consumer Law guarantees that they will be rendered with due care and skill, will be reasonably fit for any particular purpose the consumer makes known, and, where no time has been fixed or agreed, will be supplied within a reasonable time. The guarantees are automatic, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says nothing a business says or does can take them away.
This guide reads them for dental services bought privately. It makes no claim about services provided through public dental programs.
General information, not legal advice. The ACCC’s consumer rights and guarantees page explains them, and the Australian Consumer Law is the text.
The Law
Three guarantees, word for word
“If a person supplies, in trade or commerce, services to a consumer, there is a guarantee that the services will be rendered with due care and skill.”
Australian Consumer Law, section 60
“(1) If: (a) a person (the supplier) supplies, in trade or commerce, services to a consumer; and (b) the consumer, expressly or by implication, makes known to the supplier any particular purpose for which the services are being acquired by the consumer; there is a guarantee that the services, and any product resulting from the services, will be reasonably fit for that purpose.”
“(2) If: (a) a person (the supplier) supplies, in trade or commerce, services to a consumer; and (b) the consumer makes known, expressly or by implication, to: (i) the supplier; or (ii) a person by whom any prior negotiations or arrangements in relation to the acquisition of the services were conducted or made; the result that the consumer wishes the services to achieve; there is a guarantee that the services, and any product resulting from the services, will be of such a nature, and quality, state or condition, that they might reasonably be expected to achieve that result.”
“(3) This section does not apply if the circumstances show that the consumer did not rely on, or that it was unreasonable for the consumer to rely on, the skill or judgment of the supplier.”
Australian Consumer Law, section 61(1) to (3)
“If: (a) a person (the supplier) supplies, in trade or commerce, services to a consumer; and (b) the time within which the services are to be supplied: (i) is not fixed by the contract for the supply of the services; or (ii) is not to be determined in a manner agreed to by the consumer and supplier; there is a guarantee that the services will be supplied within a reasonable time.”
Australian Consumer Law, section 62
Plain words
The same guarantees, as the ACCC puts them
| Guarantee | Section | The ACCC’s words |
|---|---|---|
| Due care and skill | 60 | “Service providers must carry out all services using an acceptable level of care and skill. Their work must be at least as good as what a competent service provider with average skills and experience would provide.” |
| Fit for a particular purpose | 61 | “Services provided, and any resulting products, must be fit for any stated purpose.” |
| Provided within a reasonable time | 62 | “Services must be supplied within a reasonable time, if there’s no agreed time frame.” |
The ACCC adds that the guarantees cover products and services normally bought for personal or household use, with some exceptions and special rules.
Contract terms
ProhibitionTerms that try to take the guarantees away
Section 64 makes such a term void, to the extent that it tries to do so. It reads, in part:
“(1) A term of a contract (including a term that is not set out in the contract but is incorporated in the contract by another term of the contract) is void to the extent that the term purports to exclude, restrict or modify, or has the effect of excluding, restricting or modifying:
(a) the application of all or any of the provisions of this Division; or
(b) the exercise of a right conferred by such a provision; or
(c) any liability of a person for a failure to comply with a guarantee that applies under this Division to a supply of goods or services.”
Australian Consumer Law, section 64(1). The Australian Consumer Law has the whole section.
The ACCC says it is illegal for a business to rely on policies or terms and conditions that deny these rights, and unlawful to mislead consumers about them.
Remedies
When a guarantee is not met
When a service does not meet a consumer guarantee, the ACCC says the consumer is entitled to a solution: a repair, a replacement or a refund.
| Problem | What the ACCC says |
|---|---|
| Minor | The business must fix the problem for free. It does not have to offer a replacement or refund, though it can choose to. If the business can’t or won’t fix it within a reasonable time, or at all, the ACCC says the consumer is entitled to get it done somewhere else, with the business paying back the reasonable cost of the fix; to get a refund or replacement instead; or to “keep the product or cancel the service contract, and be compensated for the drop in value caused by the problem.” |
| Major | Among the ACCC’s tests, a service has a major problem when it creates an unsafe situation, or has one serious problem or several smaller ones that would have stopped someone buying it had they known beforehand. The consumer then has a right to change their agreement with the provider, and if they paid upfront, a right to some money back, depending on how much of the service was provided without problems, or provided at all. |
The ACCC also names cases where the guarantees give no right to a repair, replacement or refund. Among them: when the consumer asked for a service to be done a certain way against the business’s advice, and when the problem was caused by someone other than the business.
Complaints
Where a dispute or concern goes
The ACCC says it does not “resolve individual disputes or give legal advice about a consumer’s right to a repair, replacement or refund”, but it does accept reports of a business doing something it should not.
For a complaint about a health service or a fee, or a dispute with a health service provider, Ahpra points people to the healthcare complaints organisation in their state or territory. Ahpra’s register of practitioners shows whether someone is registered.