Many Australians have embraced the ‘sharing economy’ such as Uber and AirBnb, but how many people realise when they tick the terms and conditions, they’re effectively giving away their rights to accessible and affordable dispute resolution?
According to Griffith Law School international law and consumer protection experts Professor Mary Keyes and Associate Professor Therese Wilson, more needs to be done to protect Australian consumers when it comes to dealing with foreign-owned companies.
“If someone has a dispute against Airbnb for example, they can only bring it to court in the Republic of Ireland and how many people can afford to travel there to do so?,’’ Professor Keyes said.
“Meanwhile Uber’s Ts & Cs mandate that arbitration be conducted in Amsterdam and Facebook’s terms say you can only sue them in the Californian courts.”
Associate Professor Wilson said that by providing for arbitration as a form of dispute resolution in many of the Ts and
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