A booking page for a holiday home is a shop window, and the Australian Consumer Law treats it like one. The ACCC says the price you show must be the total as a single figure: the minimum a guest could pay, including taxes and any unavoidable or pre-selected fees, so a cleaning fee every guest must pay belongs in the headline price, shown at least as prominently as any part price. Optional extras a guest has not chosen can stay out. A new law goes further: the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026 passed Parliament on 2 July 2026, and its crackdown on drip pricing and its bans on unfair trading practices and subscription traps take effect from 1 July 2027.
Card surcharges have changed. On 31 March 2026 the Reserve Bank announced that surcharging on debit, prepaid and credit cards on the eftpos, Mastercard and Visa networks would end, and since 1 October 2026 businesses can no longer add a card surcharge for those cards; the ACCC's guidance lists American Express too. A booking page that still adds a percentage at checkout for paying by card needs fixing now.
Your guest list is regulated as well. Marketing email to past guests needs their consent, must identify you and must carry a working unsubscribe that you honour within five working days (Spam Act 2003, enforced by the ACMA). The Privacy Act 1988 and its Australian Privacy Principles bind businesses with annual turnover above A$3 million, and smaller ones that trade in personal information, provide health services or opt in. The Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 added a statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy, new penalty tiers and a duty to explain substantially automated decisions in privacy policies, and the Attorney-General's Department says more reform proposals are being drafted.
Your booking terms are covered too. Since 9 November 2023 it is illegal to propose, use or rely on an unfair term in a standard form contract with a consumer or small business, with penalties for a company of up to the greatest of A$50 million, three times the benefit or 30% of turnover in the breach period. Finally, the state rules reach the page: New South Wales wants the STRA Property ID on the listing, Western Australia wants the registration number in every advertisement, Victoria makes the owner liable for the 7.5% levy on direct bookings, and the ACT's levy does not apply to direct bookings at all. This is a summary of what each rule requires and who enforces it, not legal advice; Cavmir builds the booking site, and your lawyer signs off the terms.