The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) sued Amazon Australia on June 30, 2026, alleging unfair contract terms in its Prime Video subscriptions [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. The ACCC claims Amazon included multiple unfair clauses that allowed it to introduce advertising to its Prime Video streaming service starting in July 2024 without offering refunds or compensation to affected customers [8, 2, 5, 6, 7].
More than 1 million Australian annual Prime subscribers who prepaid the A$79 yearly fee were forced to accept ads or pay an additional A$2.99 monthly to maintain ad-free streaming beginning July 2024 [8, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said, "We allege that Amazon AU included multiple unfair terms in its contracts with Australian annual Prime subscribers, and it then relied on some of these terms to bring ads onto Amazon Prime Video" [8].
The alleged unfair contract terms covered subscriptions issued between November 2023 and August 2025 [8, 1, 2, 6, 7]. The ACCC argues these terms allowed Amazon to make unilateral and materially adverse changes to subscription conditions without consent or consumer redress [8, 2, 5, 6, 7]. It also alleges Amazon.com Services LLC, the US parent company, was knowingly involved in drafting the contract terms [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7].
Amazon began introducing advertising globally on Prime Video in early 2024, with the Australian rollout in July 2024 [8, 2, 5]. The service had been ad-free in Australia since its 2018 launch as part of Amazon Prime subscriptions [8].
Amazon Australia said it is reviewing the ACCC's case and cooperated fully during the investigation [2, 5, 6, 7]. The ACCC is seeking court declarations, penalties, consumer redress, costs, and other orders to address the alleged breaches [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].
