Software refund Australia ACL: your rights when digital purchases fail

You paid for software — an app, a game or a subscription platform — and it doesn't do what the product page promised. The vendor points to its "no refunds on digital products" policy.

The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) can still give you a path to a refund, a fix or compensation.

Quick answer

What was supplied, what failed and whether it can be put right decide what you can ask for — not whether you paid once or by subscription. Downloaded software can be goods even under a licence; hosting, storage and support are services; one product can be both. If software that is goods has a major failure or one that can't be fixed (it won't run, or lacks a headline feature), you can reject it, while that right hasn't been lost, for a refund or replacement, or keep it and claim the drop in value. If a service fails that way, you can end the contract and recover what you paid for services not yet consumed, or keep it and claim the drop in value. For a non-major failure a patch can cure, you first require a fix within a reasonable time; if none comes, you can end a service or, where still available, reject goods. You may also claim other reasonably foreseeable losses you can prove the failure caused; avoidable loss is harder to recover. If you bought from a business as a consumer (section 3), a "no refunds" policy can't override these guarantees.

What the law actually says

The ACL's consumer guarantees protect you if you acquired the software as a consumer under section 3 of the ACL: broadly, either the price was $100,000 or less (for purchases from 1 July 2021; $40,000 before then), or it is of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use. For goods only, you are not a consumer if you acquired them to re-supply, or to use up or transform, in trade or commerce, in production, manufacture or repair; services have no equivalent exclusion.

Goods, services or both?

The ACL's definition of goods expressly includes computer software. In the Valve case, the Federal Court held that games supplied through Steam under a licence were goods, while noting that not everything supplied under Steam's subscriber agreement was. Look at the parts of the supply, not the payment model: the program you download and run may be goods, while hosting, cloud storage, implementation and support are services. Work out which part failed and who supplied it: check the checkout screen, receipt and terms you ordered under. An app store may be the seller, or only take payment for the developer; the ACCC says guarantee rights run against the seller.

For goods, the key guarantees are:

• Section 54 — Acceptable quality. Software must be as fit for all the purposes software of that kind is commonly supplied for, acceptable in appearance and finish, free from defects, safe and durable as a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with its state and condition would regard as acceptable, having regard to matters including its nature, its price and what was said about it. An app that crashes on launch or corrupts data is unlikely to meet it; a minor glitch in a cheap app may not breach it. Defects specifically pointed out before you bought don't count if they're the only ones.
• Section 55 — Fitness for purpose. Software must be reasonably fit for any purpose the supplier represented it was fit for — a listing saying it edits RAW files, for example — and for any particular purpose you made known to the seller (or the developer). This doesn't apply if the circumstances show you didn't rely, or it was unreasonable to rely, on their skill or judgment.
• Section 56 — Match the description. If the product page listed features the software doesn't have, this guarantee is likely breached. Screenshots and marketing copy can form part of the description.

For services (hosting, cloud storage, support, implementation), the key guarantees are:

• Section 60 — Due care and skill. The service must be rendered with due care and skill — the standard of a reasonably competent provider. Losing your data through poor backup or maintenance, or outages a competent provider would have avoided, may fall short.
• Section 61 — Fitness for a purpose or result. If you made known a particular purpose, the service and anything it produces must be reasonably fit for it; if you made known a result, they must be of a nature and quality that might reasonably be expected to achieve it — unless you didn't rely, or it was unreasonable to rely, on the supplier's skill or judgment.
• Section 62 — Reasonable time. Where the contract doesn't fix a time, or a way of agreeing one, the service must be supplied within a reasonable time — relevant to delayed activation, migration or promised fixes. Missing a deadline the contract did fix is mainly a contract issue.

Under section 267(1)(c), you can't claim for a section 61 or 62 failure caused only by someone other than the supplier (or its agents or employees), or by a cause independent of human control after supply.

Misleading advertising and subscription practices

Section 18 of the ACL prohibits misleading or deceptive conduct, and section 29 prohibits false or misleading representations about a product's performance characteristics or about your rights — a blanket "no refunds" policy may be one. To recover money you generally claim damages under section 236 (or orders under section 237), showing the misleading claim caused your loss; later disappointment doesn't by itself prove the claim was misleading. See our section 18 explainer.

Not every subscription problem is a quality failure. Unclear total pricing, automatic renewal, lock-in periods and cancellation restrictions can raise sections 18, 29, 34 (misleading conduct about services) and 48 (single price), and possibly the unfair contract terms provisions. In August 2026 the Federal Court found that eHarmony misled consumers about subscription pricing, renewal, duration and cancellation; penalties and redress remain undecided. Keep the sign-up, pricing and renewal screens and terms.

Major and non-major failures

The remedy depends on whether the failure is major, and whether it can be remedied. For software supplied as goods, section 260 of the ACL makes a failure major if:

• a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with the nature and extent of the failure would not have bought the software;
• it departs in one or more significant respects from its description, or from a sample or demonstration model;
• it is substantially unfit for a purpose software of the same kind is commonly supplied for, and can't easily and within a reasonable time be remedied to make it fit;
• it is unfit for a purpose you made known to the supplier (or whoever handled the sale), and can't easily and within a reasonable time be remedied to make it fit; or
• it is not of acceptable quality because it is unsafe.

For services, section 268 sets separate tests: a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with the nature and extent of the failure would not have acquired the services; they are substantially unfit for a purpose services of the same kind are commonly supplied for, or they (and anything they produce) are unfit for a purpose you made known or not reasonably able to achieve a result you made known, and in each case can't easily and within a reasonable time be remedied; or the supply creates an unsafe situation. For contracts from 18 December 2020, several failures — repeated crashes plus lost data, say — are together major if a reasonable consumer aware of them all wouldn't have acquired the software or service (sections 260(2) and 268(2)).

Goods remedies. Where the failure is major or can't be remedied, section 259(3) lets you reject the software — telling the supplier you reject it and why — then choose a refund or a replacement of the same type and similar value if one is reasonably available (section 263), or keep it and claim the drop in its value. Rejection is available only while the right hasn't been lost under section 262. Before rejecting software, export your data and keep screenshots and logs; once rejected, ask how the supplier will revoke that product's licence, stop using it, return any media and follow reasonable uninstall instructions. Where the failure is non-major and can be remedied, you can require the supplier to fix it within a reasonable time, and section 261 lets it choose to repair, replace or refund. If it doesn't, you can reject, or have it fixed elsewhere and recover the reasonable cost (section 259(2)) — though changing someone else's code may be impossible, insecure or a licence breach, so get technical advice first.

Services remedies. Sections 267 to 270 apply; section 267 is operative. For a non-major failure that can be remedied, you can require the supplier to fix it within a reasonable time; if it doesn't, you can have it fixed elsewhere and recover the reasonable cost, or end the contract. For a major failure, or one that can't be remedied, you can end the contract and recover what you paid for services not already consumed when the termination takes effect (section 269), or keep it and claim the drop in value. A pro-rata refund for the unused period is a practical starting point, not the legal test.

Other losses. For major and non-major failures alike, you can also claim damages for other loss the failure caused — lost work or paid data recovery, for example — where that loss was reasonably foreseeable (sections 259(4) and 267(4)). You'll need to show the failure, not your own setup, caused it, so keep logs, backups, support tickets and invoices. Loss you could reasonably have avoided, say by keeping backups, is harder to recover, and you can't claim the same loss twice; a refund covers only the price.

When this applies (and when it doesn't)

The guarantees are likely to apply when:

• You bought from a business — a sole trader or a company — operating in trade or commerce and supplying to Australian consumers.
• You acquired the software as a consumer under section 3 (above).
• The failure engages one of the guarantees above.

A developer that produced or branded software supplied as goods may be a manufacturer, and liable in damages (not a refund) for failing acceptable quality, a description it applied or its express warranty (sections 271 and 272). Section 273 requires you to start that action within three years after you first became aware, or ought reasonably to have become aware, of the failure.

They may not apply, or may be harder to enforce, when:

• You bought from an overseas vendor. The ACL can still apply if it supplied directly to an Australian consumer (an ABN or AUD pricing is relevant but not decisive), though enforcement can be difficult. See buying from overseas sellers.
• The failed part cost over $100,000 and isn't of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use, or, for software that is goods, you acquired it to re-supply or to use up or transform in production or repair. Section 18 can still apply.
• You simply changed your mind. If the software does what it said it would, the ACL doesn't require a refund.
• The failure was caused by your own hardware not meeting clearly disclosed system requirements, or by your own configuration choices.

Timing. The ACL sets no single warranty-style expiry period, but delay can make it harder to show the fault existed at the time of supply, and for software that is goods, the right to reject ends with the section 262 rejection period. That period runs from supply, for as long as it would be reasonable to expect that kind of failure to become apparent, given the type of goods, their likely use, and how long and how much it is reasonable to use them. Using the software isn't "acceptance", but the period keeps running while you wait, and for a fault ordinary use would reveal quickly it may be short. Rejection is also lost if you lost, destroyed or disposed of the goods, they were damaged after delivery for reasons unrelated to their condition at supply, or they were attached to or incorporated in other property and can't be separated undamaged. Once rejection is gone, a fix or drop-in-value compensation, and damages, can remain.

A note on terms of service

Vendor terms may try to limit you to a credit or disclaim all warranties, but under section 64 of the ACL, a term that purports to exclude, restrict or modify the consumer guarantees — or has that effect — is void to that extent. See consumer guarantees vs warranty. If the software or service is not of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use, section 64A may let a term limit the supplier's liability to repairing or replacing the software, supplying the service again, or paying the cost of doing so — though not for the title guarantees, and not where you show that relying on the term isn't fair or reasonable.

What to do today

1. Preserve the evidence and your data. Screenshots, screen recordings, error logs, the licence, version or build number, your system specifications, and every vendor message about the failure. Save the product page, using a web archive if it has changed. Export or back up your data before you uninstall, reinstall or cancel anything.

2. If you paid by card, ask your bank about a chargeback now. Chargeback deadlines follow your card provider's rules, not the ACL, and can pass while you wait. If you bought through an app store or platform, use its own refund or problem-report process within its window, and check how a chargeback would affect it before filing one.

3. Consider an independent assessment for a costly purchase. If the vendor blames your hardware or setup, a written report from an independent IT technician — that your system meets the stated requirements, the fault reproduces on a clean install, and what a fix or data recovery would cost — carries more weight than your own account.

4. If a device goes in for repair, back up first. The ACCC says a repairer must give you a written repair notice before accepting a device that can store your data, warning that the repair may lose it.

5. Contact the seller in writing. State the date of purchase, describe the failure, identify the guarantee you say has been breached, and state the remedy you want, with a reasonable deadline for a response (14 days is a practical choice, not a legal rule). If you consider the failure major or unfixable, say so and, for software that is goods, say you reject it and why and ask for a refund, while your right to reject is still available; for a service, export your data first, then say you are ending the contract and ask for a refund for services not yet consumed. List any other losses you're claiming.

If you're not sure how to write the demand letter, fairgo can generate one for you. You send it under your own name.

What if the business refuses

• Your state or territory consumer protection body. You can lodge a complaint; contact details are at /agencies. Depending on the state, it may offer conciliation — in South Australia only if you ask — often only after you've tried the business yourself and where it considers the matter suitable. These bodies generally can't compel a business to take part, make binding orders or force a refund.

• A court or tribunal with jurisdiction. A binding decision comes from a court or tribunal, and which one depends on enabling legislation, your state or territory, the parties, the claim type and amount, so confirm it on the official site before filing. In NSW, NCAT can hear consumer claims up to $100,000 lodged within three years of the problem. In South Australia and Tasmania, ordinary consumer claims generally go to the Magistrates Court, not a tribunal. If you and the seller are individuals living in different states, a state tribunal may not be able to decide the claim (NCAT says the problem doesn't arise where a party is a company). Fees vary by forum and claim, so check the official fee page and ask about waivers. Many forums suit self-represented people, but some restrict legal representation.

Common mistakes

• Accepting "it's a digital product" as a reason. The ACL does not carve out digital products.

• Deleting the evidence. Don't wipe, reinstall or cancel before you've saved logs, screenshots and your data.

• Waiting on patches that never come. Bug reports don't stop the goods rejection period. If the failure is major, or a required fix hasn't come within a reasonable time, reject goods or end a service in writing.

• Letting a disputed subscription renew. If ending it, cancel where you subscribed and keep written confirmation.

Related reading

• Buying from overseas sellers: does the ACL apply?
• Online purchase rights under the ACL
• Services that go wrong: your ACL rights
• Business refused your refund? Here's what to do next

This article is general information about Australian Consumer Law, not legal advice. It also describes card chargebacks, contract and licence terms, app store and platform refund processes, repair notices, state and territory consumer bodies, courts and tribunals and the ACCC, whose rules, deadlines 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.