What is greenwashing?

The short version

Greenwashing is the practice of making environmental or sustainability claims about a product, service or business that are misleading, unsubstantiated, or that overstate the actual benefit. In Australia, it isn't a separate offence with its own statute — it's covered by the existing prohibition on misleading or deceptive conduct in the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), specifically section 18 and the false-representations provisions in sections 29 and 33.¹

In December 2023 the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) published its final guidance, Making environmental claims: A guide for business, which sets out the regulator's view of good practice and the eight principles it applies when assessing whether a claim is misleading.²

How the ACCC frames it

The ACCC's position, summarised from the December 2023 guidance and its 2025–26 enforcement priorities, is straightforward: businesses are encouraged to communicate genuine environmental progress, but every claim must be accurate, supported by evidence, and clearly qualified where it depends on assumptions, conditions, or future actions.^2,3

Importantly, the regulator does not require intent to mislead. Section 18 of the ACL is a strict-liability provision — conduct that is likely to mislead or deceive can breach the law even if the business honestly believed its claim was accurate.¹

The most common patterns

The ACCC's March 2023 internet sweep reviewed 247 Australian businesses across eight sectors. It found that 57% had made concerning claims about their environmental or sustainability practices.⁴ The recurring problems fell into a handful of patterns:

• Vague or unqualified language — words like "sustainable", "eco-friendly", "green" or "responsible" used without any explanation of what they mean.
• Absolute claims — "100% sustainable", "zero waste", "carbon neutral" presented without the calculation, scope, or third-party certification behind them.
• Aspirational claims dressed as present-tense facts — "we are carbon neutral by 2030" stated as if it were already true.
• Symbols and imagery that imply more than the text says — green leaves, earth icons, or look-alike trust marks attached to ordinary products.
• Selective comparisons — "30% less plastic" without disclosing the baseline being compared against.

"But we're a small business"

Size is not a shield. The 2022 sweep covered businesses across cosmetics, food, fashion, household goods and energy — the majority were not large corporations.⁴ Greenwashing has remained an ACCC compliance and enforcement priority each year since 2022–23 through to 2025–26.³

The penalties under the ACL are not small either. Since November 2022, the maximum penalty per contravention by a body corporate is the greater of $50 million, three times the benefit gained, or 30% of adjusted turnover during the period of the contravention.⁵ Recent greenwashing cases brought by the ACCC and the corporate regulator ASIC have settled in the $8.25M to $12.9M range — see our examples page for the full list with citations.

The eight principles in one paragraph

The ACCC asks businesses to: (1) make accurate and truthful claims; (2) have evidence to back them up; (3) not hide or omit important information; (4) explain any conditions or qualifications; (5) avoid broad and unqualified claims; (6) use clear, easy-to-understand language; (7) ensure visual elements don't give the wrong impression; and (8) be direct and open about the sustainability transition.² Each principle is unpacked in our guide to the ACCC's eight principles.

What to do if your website makes environmental claims

A practical first step is to inventory every environmental claim on your site — homepage, product pages, About page, sustainability page, footer — and ask of each one: what evidence do we have, where is it written down, and would the average consumer reading this be likely to understand the same thing we mean?

If you'd like a structured review aligned to the ACCC's December 2023 guidance, that's what our website assessment does. Reports are delivered as a plain-language PDF within 3–5 business days, with suggested rewrites for every flagged claim. It is not legal advice — see our disclaimer below.

Sources & references

1. Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), Schedule 2 — Australian Consumer Law, ss 18, 29, 33. Available at legislation.gov.au.
2. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Making environmental claims: A guide for business, 12 December 2023. accc.gov.au.
3. ACCC, 2025–26 Compliance and Enforcement Priorities, address by Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb, 20 February 2025. accc.gov.au.
4. ACCC, Greenwashing by businesses in Australia — findings of the ACCC's internet sweep, 2 March 2023. accc.gov.au.
5. Treasury Laws Amendment (More Competition, Better Prices) Act 2022 (Cth), increased maximum civil penalties for ACL contraventions, in force from 9 November 2022. legislation.gov.au.

This article is general guidance only. It is not legal advice and does not create a lawyer–client relationship. If you have received correspondence from the ACCC or ASIC, or you are concerned a specific claim may breach the ACL, contact a qualified competition and consumer law solicitor.