Phone broken after warranty expired? Your rights under Australian Consumer Law

Your phone stopped working three months after the manufacturer's one-year warranty ran out. The retailer tells you the warranty is expired and there's nothing they can do. The manufacturer says the same. You're looking at a repair quote that's nearly the cost of a new handset — for a phone that's only 15 months old.

The warranty expiring is not the end of the story. Under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), you have statutory rights that exist entirely separately from the manufacturer's warranty, and those rights often last longer. A phone that fails after 15 months of normal use may well be covered — and the business that sold it to you may be obliged to provide a remedy, depending on what went wrong and whether the failure is major.

Quick answer

Whether you're covered depends on what caused the fault and how long a phone of that price should reasonably last. The Australian Consumer Law gives you a consumer guarantee that goods must be of acceptable quality, which includes being as durable as a reasonable consumer would regard as acceptable. For an $800-plus smartphone, a reasonable consumer would usually expect it to last well beyond the manufacturer's warranty, but durability depends on the phone's price, type and how it was used. If your phone failed because of a defect rather than something you did, you can make a claim against the retailer under section 54 of the ACL regardless of what the manufacturer's warranty says.

What you can ask for depends on whether the failure is major. For a fault that isn't major and can be fixed, the retailer gets the first chance to fix it within a reasonable time, by repair, replacement or refund, so a repair is often the realistic outcome. You can reject the phone and choose a refund or replacement if the failure is major or can't be remedied, or if the retailer doesn't fix a minor fault within a reasonable time, but only if the right to reject hasn't been lost under section 262. The guarantee applies whether or not the warranty does.

What the law actually says

The ACL is Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. The consumer guarantees apply when a business supplies goods in trade or commerce to you as a consumer under section 3 of the ACL. Broadly, that means the price was $100,000 or less, or the goods are of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use (either is enough). Exclusions apply to goods bought for re-supply, or to use up or transform in trade or commerce in production, manufacture or repair, and the acceptable-quality guarantee doesn't apply to sales by auction. A phone will almost always qualify, but check how section 3 applies to you. The guarantees are statutory: they attach to the supply automatically, whether or not they're written into any contract or warranty document.

The guarantee that matters most for phone failures is section 54 — acceptable quality. Goods are of acceptable quality if they are as safe, durable, free from defects, acceptable in appearance and finish, and fit for all the purposes goods of that kind are commonly supplied for, as a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with their state and condition (including any hidden defects) would regard as acceptable. That judgment takes into account the goods' nature, their price, any statements on the packaging or label, any representations made by the seller or manufacturer, and other relevant circumstances. Acceptable quality is judged at the time of supply, though a hidden defect, such as a hardware or firmware fault or a component that fails prematurely, may only show up later.

The word "durable" is doing a lot of work here. A $1,500 flagship phone that develops a charging port fault at 14 months, or a battery that swells and becomes unsafe at 18 months, is arguably not durable. A reasonable consumer fully acquainted with the phone's state and condition, including the hidden defect, is unlikely to regard that as acceptable durability for a premium smartphone.

The ACL also protects you under section 55 if you made known a particular purpose (to the retailer or someone who negotiated the sale, or to the manufacturer) and the phone isn't reasonably fit for it, unless the circumstances show you didn't rely, or it was unreasonable to rely, on their skill or judgment. Section 56 applies if the phone doesn't match how it was described.

What you can ask for depends on whether the failure is major. Under section 260, a failure is major if, for example, a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with the nature and extent of the failure wouldn't have acquired the phone, the phone is unsafe, or it is substantially unfit for a purpose phones are commonly supplied for and can't easily and within a reasonable time be remedied.

• Non-major failure that can be remedied: you can require the retailer to fix it within a reasonable time (section 259), and the retailer can do that by repair, replacement or refund (section 261). If it refuses or doesn't do so within a reasonable time, you can have it fixed elsewhere and recover the reasonable cost, or reject the phone (subject to section 262).
• Major failure, or a failure that can't be remedied: you can reject the phone, if the right to reject hasn't been lost under section 262, and choose a refund or a replacement of the same type and similar value if one is reasonably available (section 263). Alternatively, you can keep it and claim compensation for the reduction in value.
• Other loss: you can also claim other reasonably foreseeable loss (section 259(4)), if you can evidence it, took reasonable steps to limit it, and don't claim the same loss twice.

You can lose the right to reject under section 262 if the rejection period has ended (the time from supply within which it would be reasonable to expect the fault to become apparent, given the type of phone, its likely use, and how long and how much it can reasonably be used), you've lost, destroyed or disposed of the phone, it was damaged after delivery for reasons unrelated to its condition at supply, or it has been attached to or incorporated in other property and can't be detached or isolated without damaging it. At 15 months the rejection period may have ended, so a repair or compensation may be the realistic outcome.

Crucially, under section 64 of the ACL, a contract term is void to the extent it purports to exclude, restrict or modify these guarantees or the remedies for breaching them. A clause in the warranty document saying "your only remedy is through this warranty" cannot override your statutory rights. (Section 64A can allow some limits for goods not of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use, which doesn't describe a phone.)

For a deeper look at how these two things interact, see our article on consumer guarantees vs warranty.

When this applies (and when it doesn't)

The consumer guarantee on your phone applies when:

• You bought from someone supplying in trade or commerce: a phone retailer, a telco, an electronics chain or an online store, including many sole traders. The ACL can also apply to an overseas seller supplying directly to consumers in Australia, though enforcing a claim across borders can be hard in practice. A genuine one-off private sale, such as an individual selling their old phone on Facebook Marketplace, is generally not covered.
• The failure is due to a defect, not something you did. Dropping the phone and cracking the screen is accidental damage, not a manufacturing defect. A battery that swells without any impact, a charging port that corrodes under normal conditions, or a camera module that stops working without any knock — these are typically defects rather than damage you caused.
• The phone failed sooner than a reasonable consumer would regard as acceptable given its price, its nature and the other relevant circumstances. For an older phone, this is often the key question. The ACL sets no single warranty-style expiry date, but timing still matters: limitation laws and forum rules apply, and delay can make the cause of the fault harder to prove. It's assessed case by case, and price is a strong indicator.
• You can show you bought it from that business. A receipt helps, and other records such as an order email, a bank statement or the retailer's own records may also be accepted.

The guarantee generally does not help when:

• You caused the problem (or failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it) and the phone was damaged by abnormal use (section 54(6)), such as drops or liquid immersion beyond the phone's rated resistance. A fault caused by a later third-party repair, rather than present at supply, isn't covered either; an unrelated repair doesn't by itself cancel the guarantee, but it can make the cause harder to prove.
• The fault was specifically drawn to your attention before you bought it (for example, a clearance phone sold as "display model — minor screen burn").
• You simply changed your mind or found a better model. The ACL doesn't require businesses to accept change-of-mind returns.
• The phone is well beyond any reasonable lifespan — a six-year-old phone developing a fault is a different situation from a 15-month-old one.

What to do today

If your phone has failed and you believe it's a defect rather than damage you caused, here's the process that gives you the best chance of a resolution:

1. Identify who to approach. Your claim is primarily against the retailer — the business you bought the phone from. Manufacturers can have separate obligations: under section 271 of the ACL you can claim damages directly from the manufacturer for an acceptable-quality failure, but that gets you damages rather than the remedies you can require from the retailer, so starting with the retailer is usually the better route.

2. Check how you paid. If you paid by card, ask your card issuer now whether a chargeback is available; if you used buy now pay later, ask the provider about its dispute process. Both follow the card scheme's or provider's own time limits, not the ACL's, and for an older purchase they may already have passed.

3. Document the failure thoroughly. Take photos or video of the fault. Note when you first noticed it, how the phone was being used, and whether it had any physical damage (if not, say so clearly). Write down the purchase date, the price you paid, and the model.

4. Get an independent report if the cause is disputed. If the retailer blames water or impact damage, a written report from an independent phone repairer on the cause of the fault and the cost of fixing it (diagnosis only, not a repair) carries more weight than your own account, because it comes from someone with no stake in the outcome.

5. Write a formal demand letter. Email is fine — it creates a record. State the date of purchase, the price, the fault, and the fact that you're making a claim under the consumer guarantee in section 54 of the ACL. Say what remedy you're seeking. If you think the failure is major, say you reject the phone and want a refund or replacement (if the right to reject hasn't been lost under section 262). Otherwise, ask the retailer to fix the fault within a reasonable time; it can do that by repair, replacement or refund.

6. Reference durability explicitly. The retailer may well say "the warranty has expired." Your response is that the consumer guarantee is not the warranty — it's a separate statutory right, and a phone of this price failing after this period of normal use isn't as durable as a reasonable consumer would regard as acceptable under section 54.

7. Set a deadline. Give the retailer 14 days (a practical default, not an ACL requirement) to respond with a proposed remedy. State clearly that if they don't, you'll escalate to your state or territory consumer body and then to a tribunal or court with jurisdiction.

8. Keep the phone. Don't throw it out or have it repaired by a third party before the retailer has had a chance to inspect it. Third-party repairs can make the cause harder to prove.

Not sure how to put all of that into a letter? fairgo can generate a demand letter for you — the wizard identifies the relevant ACL sections automatically and produces a letter you can send under your own name.

What if the business refuses

Retailers often push back, especially once the warranty has expired. If the retailer refuses your claim, you have escalation options:

Step 1 — Your state or territory consumer protection body. Your state or territory consumer protection body may help, for example by contacting the business or conciliating, if your complaint meets its criteria. Most expect you to have tried to resolve the matter with the business first, and eligibility rules vary by state and dispute type (in the ACT, for example, statutory conciliation applies only where the remedy you seek is worth $5,000 or less). These bodies don't make binding orders in ordinary consumer disputes and can't make the business settle. Contact details are at /agencies. If you bought the phone from your telco, you may also be able to complain to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman after raising it with the telco; check whether your complaint is within its scope.

Step 2 — A tribunal or court with jurisdiction. If conciliation doesn't resolve it, you can take the claim to a forum that can make binding orders. In NSW, Victoria, Queensland, the ACT and the NT, a tribunal (NCAT, VCAT, QCAT, ACAT or NTCAT) hears many consumer claims within its limits; in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania, ordinary consumer claims go to the Magistrates Court. Jurisdiction depends on each forum's enabling legislation, the type of claim and the amount, so confirm the forum and its current thresholds on the official site before filing. You can usually run a claim without a lawyer, though some forums restrict legal representation (QCAT, for example, requires permission). Check current filing fees on the official site, and ask about fee exemptions, waivers or deferrals if cost is a concern. Our guide to choosing the right tribunal or court has more, and our guide on what a major failure means under the ACL explains how major failures are assessed.

Step 3 — Manufacturer claim. In parallel, or as an alternative, you can claim damages from the manufacturer under section 271 of the ACL where the phone isn't of acceptable quality, unless the failure happened only because of someone other than the manufacturer (or its employees or agents) or a cause independent of human control after the phone left the manufacturer's control. Damages cover the reduction in the phone's value (measured against the lower of the price you paid and the average retail price at the time of supply) and other reasonably foreseeable loss, including the cost of inspecting and returning the phone to the manufacturer (section 272). You don't get repair, replacement or refund as a remedy against the manufacturer. You must start within 3 years of when you first became, or ought reasonably to have become, aware that the guarantee had not been complied with (section 273). This route can help if the retailer has closed or won't cooperate.

A well-written demand letter that references the ACL and names a tribunal or court as the next step often produces a resolution without needing to file anything.

Common mistakes

People making phone warranty claims often undermine themselves in avoidable ways:

• Framing it as a warranty dispute. Saying "my warranty should cover this" accepts the retailer's framing. The warranty is their document; the consumer guarantee is your statutory right.

• Accepting the first refusal. Frontline staff may simply quote store policy. A polite but firm escalation to a manager, with the ACL cited by name, often changes the outcome.

• Getting a third-party repair first. If you've already had the phone repaired elsewhere, your claim can become much harder: the retailer will argue it had no chance to inspect or remedy the fault.

• Confusing the manufacturer with the retailer. The consumer guarantee rights run primarily against the seller.

• Not keeping records. Save every email and chat transcript, and note every phone call. If this ends up at a tribunal or court, a paper trail of the retailer's refusals is valuable evidence.

• Assuming price doesn't matter. It does. A $99 prepaid handset and a $1,600 flagship are assessed differently for durability. If you paid a premium price, say so — it directly supports your argument that the phone should have lasted longer.

For other electronics, see the article on laptop faults and consumer guarantees.

Related reading

• Consumer guarantees vs warranty — what's the difference?
• What "major failure" really means under the ACL
• Laptop faulty after warranty? Your consumer guarantee rights
• Business refused your refund? Here's what to do next
• Section 58 ACL: the guarantee of repairs and spare parts
• Retailer manufacturer indemnity ACL: why the seller can't pass you on

This article is general information about Australian Consumer Law, not legal advice. It also touches on complaint and escalation pathways (state and territory consumer bodies, tribunals and courts, and the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman), card chargeback rules and limitation laws, whose scope, rules, thresholds and processes sit outside the ACL or can change. Confirm the current position with the relevant body before lodging. For advice on your specific case, see your state or territory consumer body — full list at /agencies.