Bad Review Legal Action in Australia: When You Can Sue, and the Notice You Must Send First

You’re searching “bad review legal action” because a review is hurting your business and you want to know whether you can do something about it beyond clicking “report”. Maybe it’s from someone who was never a customer. Maybe it’s a competitor. Maybe it’s a real customer who has invented facts. Either way it’s sitting on Google, Facebook or ProductReview, and you’re watching enquiries drop.

The short answer: yes, you can take legal action over a false review in Australia, and the first legally required step is a Concerns Notice.

When a bad review becomes defamation

Under the uniform Defamation Act 2005 (amended in 2021 in most states), a review is defamatory if it contains statements of fact that are false and that would lower your reputation in the eyes of ordinary readers. “The owner stole my deposit”, “they use unlicensed staff”, “the food gave everyone food poisoning” are statements of fact. If they’re untrue, they’re actionable.

What is not actionable: honest opinion based on true facts (“I found the service slow and wouldn’t return”), substantially true statements, and trivial comments. The reviewer bears the burden of proving truth once you show the statement is defamatory.

Who can sue

• Businesses with fewer than 10 employees (excluding non-profits) can sue in their own name.
• Larger businesses cannot, but the owner, director or manager named or identifiable in the review usually can, since reviews are almost always about the people who run the business.
• Any business can sue for injurious falsehood (deliberately false statements causing financial loss) or under the Australian Consumer Law if the reviewer is a competitor engaging in misleading conduct.

The serious harm threshold

Since 2021 you must show the publication has caused, or is likely to cause, serious harm to your reputation. For a small business that means serious financial loss. Start documenting today: enquiry numbers before and after, cancelled bookings, customers who mention the review.

The mandatory first step: the Concerns Notice

You cannot start defamation proceedings without first serving a Concerns Notice. The notice must identify where the review was published, set out the exact statements and the defamatory imputations they carry, explain the serious harm and invite the reviewer to make amends (removal, correction, apology, compensation). The reviewer then has 28 days to respond with an offer to make amends.

The Concerns Notice puts your position on the record and gives the reviewer a formal opportunity to remove the review or make amends before any proceedings.

What about anonymous reviews?

Australian courts have ordered Google to disclose the identity of anonymous reviewers (the Kabbabe decision is the leading example). That is a court application and takes time. First, look for clues in the review, cross-check your customer records and consider whether you can identify the author. A Concerns Notice to a person you’ve identified is far faster.

Don’t do this

Don’t reply publicly in anger. Don’t threaten in the comments. Don’t post about the reviewer. A measured public response (“We have no record of this customer and have referred this review for legal action”) is enough. Save the substance for the notice.

DIY vs Claim Done vs lawyer

Get your Defamation Concerns Notice drafted for $49. Done in about 5 minutes. You approve it before it is sent.