New part-pricing laws – aimed at stopping companies from advertising prices that do not include hidden costs – will impact on a wide spread of businesses, many of which are unaware of the new legislation, says a Gold Coast solicitor.

Hickey Lawyers partner and owner of Commercial Licensing Specialists (a consultancy firm for liquor and gaming operators) Dan Marino said restaurants, cafes and bars were one set of operators set to be impacted by the new legislation.

The component pricing laws, which came into effect last week (May 25), require a single price to be advertised, therefore stamping out the practice of airlines advertising fares without taxes and car dealerships promoting prices excluding on-road costs.

However, its reach will extend far beyond that, including any business that advertises the price of goods and services and prices in other contexts, such as contracts and quotes.

Mr Marino said under the new laws, businesses would have to display a single price that included the total cost of a product or service, including any surcharges, fees or taxes.

“What this means for restaurants, cafes and bars is that they will no longer be able to simply include a note on the bottom of the menu listing the surcharge for weekends or public holidays, as is currently common industry practice,” he said.

“Instead, they will be legally required to fully disclose the total cost, meaning they must print a separate menu for use on those days with the end price included.

“While this will be of some inconvenience for operators it will be of relatively small cost to implement.

“The big problem is that many operators do not realise their new obligations under the legislation and therefore could find themselves being penalised for non-compliance.”

Mr Marino said failing to comply with the new legislation, under the Trade Practices Act, could be considered a criminal office and, in severe cases, carried a maximum penalty of $1.1 million for corporations and $220,000 for individuals.

Civil penalties will be introduced later in the year as part of the Federal Government’s new national consumer laws.

“More than likely, for operators like restaurants and cafes, the penalty will be in the form of a notice they must display saying they have failed to disclose their pricing correctly,” said Mr Marino.