Australian law and online reviews

Three bodies of Australian law shape what can be said in a Google review and what a business can do about it: defamation law, the Australian Consumer Law and privacy law. Google's own policies sit alongside them. This hub explains how they fit together.

Updated 2026-10-11

Four frameworks, four different questions

When a business looks at a hostile review, it is usually asking one question: can this come down? Legally, that question splits into several, and each is answered by a different framework.

• Defamation law asks whether the review conveys a false and damaging meaning about an identifiable person, and whether a defence applies. It is state and territory law, built on the Model Defamation Provisions. Start with online defamation and the jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction guide to the Defamation Act 2005 and its reforms.
• The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) asks whether conduct in trade or commerce is misleading. It catches businesses that post, buy or suppress reviews, not ordinary customers giving their opinion. See Australian Consumer Law and reviews and the legal position on fake Google reviews.
• Privacy law asks whether personal information has been mishandled or a person's privacy seriously invaded. The Privacy Act 1988 rarely reaches individual reviewers, but the 2025 statutory privacy tort and the doxxing offences can. See privacy and online reviews.
• Google's policies are not law, but they are the rules Google applies first. Google removes content that breaches its Maps user-generated content policy, and separately considers requests that content is unlawful. See Google's legal removal route.

Why the identity of the complainant matters

A recurring surprise for business owners is that most companies cannot sue for defamation at all. Only "excluded corporations" — broadly, not-for-profits and companies with fewer than 10 employees that are not related to another corporation — keep that right, and even they must show serious financial loss in most jurisdictions. Owners, managers and practitioners who are identified in a review may be able to sue personally. The page on business defamation covers who can sue and the alternatives, including injurious falsehood.

The law is not uniform across Australia

Defamation reforms have been rolled out in stages and on different dates. Stage 1 (serious harm, concerns notices, the single publication rule) commenced in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT on 1 July 2021, in Tasmania on 12 November 2021 and in the Northern Territory on 11 August 2025. Western Australia has adopted neither Stage 1 nor Stage 2. Stage 2 (digital intermediaries) has commenced in full in NSW, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and Queensland, and only in part in South Australia. The details, with dates, are on the Defamation Act 2005 page.

What the law does not do

None of these frameworks protects a business from honest criticism. A genuine customer who describes a bad experience accurately, or gives an opinion based on what happened, is generally doing nothing unlawful, and Google is entitled to leave the review up. Recognising that early saves money and keeps attention on the reviews that may genuinely be fake, defamatory or in breach of policy. The practical side — how complaints are prepared and lodged — is covered in our process and in the guide to what makes a Google review defamatory.

Pages in this section

• Online defamation and Google reviews — publishers, digital intermediaries, serious harm and defences.
• The Defamation Act 2005 and reform status — each jurisdiction's Act, limitation periods and concerns notices.
• Australian Consumer Law and online reviews — ss 18 and 29, review suppression and ACCC enforcement.
• Are fake Google reviews illegal? — who can be liable and what Google's policy prohibits.
• Google's legal removal route — legal requests, court orders and identifying anonymous reviewers.
• Privacy and online reviews — the Privacy Act, the statutory tort and doxxing.
• Can a business sue for defamation? — excluded corporations, personal claims and injurious falsehood.

If you have a review you believe crosses a legal or policy line, we can look at it for you. Request a free assessment below and we will tell you honestly whether there is a credible basis for a complaint to Google.