Marketing Services Agreement in Australia: Template and Key Clauses (2026)

A marketing services agreement in Australia is a contract between a client and an agency or freelancer for advertising, digital marketing, social media, content, SEO or campaign work. Australian contract law is common law based, but the strict rules against misleading conduct, plus GST, privacy and direct-marketing laws, shape every engagement. This guide sets out the law, the key clauses and a working skeleton. It is general information, not legal advice; confirm a live deal with an Australian lawyer. ## What law governs a marketing services agreement in Australia? The agreement is governed by Australian common law contract principles, with one dominant overlay: the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), set out in Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and enforced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and state regulators. The ACL prohibits misleading or deceptive conduct (section 18) and false or misleading representations, which is directly relevant to advertising and marketing output. Breaches can lead to significant penalties, so claim substantiation and approvals are central. ## GST on fees Marketing and advertising services supplied in Australia are generally subject to Goods and Services Tax (GST) at 10 percent where the supplier is registered or required to be registered. State whether fees are inclusive or exclusive of GST, record Australian Business Numbers (ABNs), and set out tax-invoice requirements so the client can claim input tax credits. Supplies to overseas clients may be GST-free in defined cases, so confirm the position. ## Privacy and direct marketing (Privacy Act, Spam Act, Do Not Call) Three regimes matter for marketing data and outreach: - Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). They govern the handling of personal information, including use for direct marketing (APP 7), access and correction, and security. Where the agency handles customer data, the agreement should set privacy obligations and security measures.

• Spam Act 2003. It requires consent, sender identification and a working unsubscribe facility for commercial electronic messages (email, SMS). The agency and client should agree who holds consent and who manages unsubscribes.
• Do Not Call Register Act 2006. It restricts marketing calls and faxes to numbers on the register, subject to exceptions. Compliance should be allocated clearly, because regulators (the ACCC and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner) can act against breaches. ## Advertising standards and claims Beyond the ACL, the advertising industry self-regulates through the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) codes administered by Ad Standards. The agreement should allocate responsibility for claim substantiation, approvals and disclosure of paid or sponsored content (including influencer disclosure), and indemnify according to who created or supplied the content. ## Intellectual property in creatives Decide ownership of the creative work. Without an express assignment, the creator may hold copyright, so if the client is to own logos, campaigns, designs and content, the agreement must assign the intellectual property expressly and deal with moral rights. Address third-party assets (stock images, music, fonts) and their licences, and separate the agency's own tools and know-how (which it keeps) from client deliverables (which transfer). ## Key clauses in an Australian marketing services agreement - Scope of services: channels, deliverables, campaigns and exclusions.
• Fees and payment: retainer or project fees, media spend handling, GST, tax invoices and payment timing.
• Approvals: the client sign-off process before publication.
• Intellectual property: assignment of deliverables, moral rights and third-party assets.
• Consumer law and advertising compliance: no misleading or deceptive conduct, claim substantiation, AANA codes and disclosure.
• Privacy and direct marketing: Privacy Act and APPs, Spam Act consent and unsubscribe, Do Not Call compliance.
• Performance and reporting: metrics, reports and review cadence.
• Confidentiality: strategy, budgets and customer data.
• Exclusivity and non-solicitation: competitor work and staff protections.
• Liability and indemnity: split by who created or supplied the content, noting ACL rights that cannot be excluded.
• Term, termination and governing law: notice, handover of assets, Australian law and dispute resolution. ## A simple drafting skeleton 1. Parties and date

2. Definitions (services, deliverables, media spend)
3. Scope of services and exclusions
4. Client approvals and cooperation
5. Fees, media spend and GST
6. Tax invoices and payment
7. Intellectual property, assignment and moral rights
8. Consumer law and advertising compliance
9. Privacy and direct marketing (Privacy Act, Spam Act, Do Not Call)
10. Reporting and performance
11. Confidentiality
12. Exclusivity and non-solicitation
13. Liability and indemnity
14. Term and termination
15. Governing law and dispute resolution
16. Signatures Give the most attention to consumer-law and advertising compliance, intellectual property assignment, and privacy and direct-marketing obligations, because these decide whether the marketing is lawful, who owns the work and who is liable for a claim. ## Keeping a portfolio of these contracts under control The hard part is rarely one agreement. It is tracking many of them at once: which service level or scope applies, when each renewal or notice period falls, which liability position you accepted, and whether a clause was quietly changed in the last draft. That work (drafting from a tuned template, flagging risky clauses per clause, tracking renewals and keeping versions straight) is what an AI contract workspace can hold in one place. Adira is built for this: one AI workspace tuned to your company and built on Claude, with per-clause risk review, plain-English clause editing and a live activity timeline. It is India-first today with other jurisdictions on its roadmap, so verify local depth before relying on it for Australian law. More at Adira. The law above stands on its own. ## Bottom line An Australian marketing services agreement runs on common law contract with the Australian Consumer Law as the dominant overlay, banning misleading or deceptive conduct and enforced by the ACCC. GST at 10 percent applies, and privacy and direct-marketing laws (the Privacy Act and APPs, the Spam Act 2003 and the Do Not Call Register) govern data and outreach. Assign the creative IP, set the fee and tax position, build in compliance, and take Australian advice before signing a real deal.