Preventing unfair terms in health and fitness centre membership agreements

Has your gym terminated your membership outside of the agreed terms?

What can you do?

What is an unfair term?

A term is unfair if:

it causes a significant imbalance in the parties’

rights and obligations under the contract

it would cause detriment to the consumer

Other examples of unilateral variation terms that Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV)

considers unfair are as follows:

Management reserves the right to:

Suspend or expel without refund any person whose conduct is deemed improper

or in any way detrimental to the Centre.

Change the Centre rules without notice.

Members’ health

CAV found that ‘health checks’ or ‘pre-exercise questionnaires’ often asked consumers to state that they did not have any medical reason or condition which meant they should not exercise. CAV considers this unfair. Consumers should only be required to state that they know of no medical reasons.

Section 24 Meaning of unfair

(1) A term of a consumer contract is unfair if:

  1. (a)  it would cause a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations

  2. arising under the contract