Your nephew offers to write a few five-star reviews to help you get Google reviews Australia moving. Your office manager suggests taking the two bad testimonials off the website. Both ideas sound harmless.
Under the Australian Consumer Law, both can get you into trouble. Reviews have to be real and they can’t mislead customers. That covers fake reviews, reviews you arranged for someone else to write, and hiding the negative ones so your record looks better than it is.
We work with Australian businesses at BuyReviews, and we get these questions weekly. This guide is general information in plain English, not legal advice for your situation.
What does Australian Consumer Law say about fake reviews?
The law doesn’t use the words “Google review”. It bans misleading customers, and a fake review does that.
Two sections matter most. Section 18 bans conduct that is misleading or deceptive, or likely to mislead, and you don’t need to have intended it. Section 29 bans false or misleading statements about goods and services, and it names testimonials directly.
The ACCC enforces this. It says plainly that fake online reviews breach the Australian Consumer Law.
What counts as a fake or misleading review?
A review is a problem when it gives customers a false picture. The ACCC says businesses must not create fake or misleading reviews, or arrange for others to create them.
So a review you wrote about your own business counts. So does one you paid a seller to post, and one from a person who never used your service. The ACCC has also warned against commissioning misleading reviews about a competitor.
One ACCC case study involves a platform called Service Seeking, which let the businesses listed on it draft their own reviews. You can see why that’s a problem: the customer reading it thinks another customer wrote it.
Can family, friends or staff review your business?
We’d tell them not to. A review from your sister that reads like it came from an ordinary customer can mislead the people who read it.
One of the ACCC’s three core principles is to be transparent about commercial relationships. A hidden personal or financial link to the business is the opposite of that. Google treats it as a conflict of interest too.
If a staff member’s friend really did hire you and pay like anyone else, that’s a real customer. The test is the experience, not the surname.
Is it legal to offer a reward for a review?
The ACCC’s concern is transparency. A reward that customers reading the review don’t know about can create a false impression.
On Google, the answer is simpler. Google bans any discount, gift or reward in exchange for a review and treats it as fake engagement. Since most small businesses are collecting reviews on Google, our advice is not to offer rewards at all.
Can you delete or hide negative reviews?
This surprises people. The ACCC says omitting negative reviews can be as misleading as posting fake ones.
It matters most on your own website. If you show testimonials there and quietly remove the critical ones, the overall impression can mislead. On Google you can’t delete reviews anyway. The right move is to reply. When you respond to negative Google reviews politely and offer a fix, you stay within the law and look better to customers.
Do you have to remove fake reviews you know about?
You may need to act. The ACCC says businesses that don’t remove or correct reviews they know, or should know, are fake may be in breach.
It also says you need a proper basis for believing a review is fake before you remove or edit it. Keep a note of your reasons. On Google, the process looks like this:
- Open your Business Profile and select Read reviews.
- Select the three dots next to the review, then Report review.
- Choose the reason that fits.
- Track the report in Google’s Reviews Management Tool.
That’s the proper route to remove fake Google reviews, including any you regret arranging in the past.
What are the penalties?
Since 10 November 2022, the maximum for a company is the greater of $50 million, three times the benefit gained, or 30 per cent of turnover during the breach. For an individual it’s $2.5 million.
Courts fit the penalty to the conduct. In the best-known review case, solar businesses trading as Euro Solar and Australian Solar Panel were ordered to pay $125,000 for fake testimonials and false origin claims. Their sole director was ordered to pay another $20,000 personally, and competitors were the ones who reported them.
How do you stay compliant?
Run through this checklist once a year, and whenever you change how you collect reviews.
- Every review comes from a real customer who used the business.
- Nobody at the business, or connected to it, posts as a customer.
- No rewards are offered for Google reviews.
- Every customer is asked, not only the happy ones.
- Negative reviews stay visible and get a reply.
- Reviews you know are fake get reported, with a note of why.
- Any outside provider you use contacts only your own customers.
How do you get more Google reviews the legal way?
Ask the people you’ve served. That’s the whole method, and it’s how to get more Google reviews without any legal exposure.
- On a computer, sign in to the Google account that manages your Business Profile and search your business name.
- Select Read reviews, then Get more reviews, then Copy. Google supplies the link, so a separate Google review link generator isn’t needed.
- Ask each customer on the day their job is done.
- Send the link by text, or with a short review request email template that asks for an honest review.
- Reply to every review within a day or two.
At BuyReviews, this is all we do. You share your customer list, we handle the requests and reminders, and customers write their own words. It’s how we help businesses get Google reviews and improve Google reviews inside the law. For Google reviews, Australia has some of the clearer rules around, and we build online reputation management in Australia on top of them.
Frequently asked questions
Are fake reviews illegal in Australia?
Yes. The ACCC says fake online reviews breach the Australian Consumer Law. Section 18 bans misleading or deceptive conduct, and section 29 bans false testimonials. It covers reviews you write yourself and reviews you arrange for someone else to write. Maximum penalties are $50 million or more for companies and $2.5 million for individuals.
Can my staff or family leave Google reviews for my business?
It’s risky. A review from staff or family that reads as if it came from an ordinary customer can mislead people, and the ACCC expects businesses to be open about commercial relationships. Google also treats reviews from people connected to the business as a conflict of interest. We’d tell them not to.
Can I remove negative reviews from my own website?
Be careful. The ACCC says omitting negative reviews can be as misleading as posting fake ones. If your website shows only hand-picked praise while presenting it as the full picture, that can mislead customers. You can remove a review you have good reason to believe is fake, but keep a record of why.
How do I report fake reviews to the ACCC?
The ACCC accepts reports about fake or misleading online reviews and review manipulation through its website. It can investigate when a business misleads people, but it doesn’t resolve individual disputes about reviews. For a fake review on your own Google profile, also report it to Google using Report review.
Does the law apply to small businesses?
Yes. The Australian Consumer Law applies to anyone doing business, from sole traders to large companies. Size affects the penalty a court might set, not the rule itself. In the Euro Solar case, the director of a solar business was ordered to pay $20,000 personally over fake testimonials and false origin claims.
What should you do next?
Go through the checklist above with whoever handles your reviews, and fix anything that doesn’t pass.
Then start asking real customers. Send BuyReviews your customer list and we’ll help you get Google reviews that meet Google’s rules and Australian law.
