Key takeaways
- 6 of 11 sign-up flows: sign-up is online, but cancelling needs a call, chat or email. Each exit route must be easy to find and straightforward; a plan taken out online must be cancellable online.
- 6 of 20 sign-up flows: faster plan, longer term or modem selected before you choose. A plan, term or modem the customer did not choose can steer the decision.
- 4 of 5 findings stay on the existing screen; 1 needs a new screen or route.
What we saw across 20 sign-up flows walked
Each finding with the screen it sits on, the rule it touches and how big a change usually is (S label or text, M layout or order, L new screen or route). Walked against the full Flowlane checklist for Australia (16 checks); shown here: every finding that came up in more than one flow. Each number counts only the flows in which that step could be checked.
Every rule chip opens its card on the rules page.
| What we saw | Flows | Rule (market rules) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sign-up is online, but cancelling needs a call, chat or emailWhere it sits: Help pages, customer terms | A · s 48F A · s 48FFrom 1 July 2027 An exit that is easy to findAn exit that is easy to find, online if the sign-up was online. Read the rule, with examples →Each exit route must be easy to find and straightforward; a plan taken out online must be cancellable online. | LLarge | |
| Faster plan, longer term or modem selected before you chooseWhere it sits: Plan page, modem step | C · s 28B C · s 28BFrom 1 July 2027 No manipulation, no undue pressureNo design that manipulates or unreasonably distorts the decision. Read the rule, with examples →A plan, term or modem the customer did not choose can steer the decision. | SSmall | |
| Also seen in two or three flows | |||
| Discounted price shown without what you pay once it endsWhere it sits: Plan card | A · s 48D A · s 48DFrom 1 July 2027 Clear terms before sign-upPrice, term, renewal and exit, close to where the customer agrees. Read the rule, with examples →Where the contract can be entered, the price after the introductory period must be visible too. | MMedium | |
| Condition behind the price or free modem sits in a footnote belowWhere it sits: Plan page footnotes | C · s 28B C · s 28BFrom 1 July 2027 No manipulation, no undue pressureNo design that manipulates or unreasonably distorts the decision. Read the rule, with examples →Information that changes the price belongs where the price is shown, not one level deeper. | MMedium | |
| Marketing consent built into the Continue buttonWhere it sits: Personal details screen | D · Spam Act s 16 D · Spam Act s 16In force since 2004 Marketing messages need consentCommercial emails and texts need consent; a pre-ticked box is not express consent. Read the rule, with examples →Express consent to marketing messages needs an active choice, separate from the Continue button. | SSmall | |
Three examples
Written as categories, no company identifiable.
Leaving
In one sign-up flow, the plan could be ordered online in a few screens, yet the help page says that to cancel you have to call.
Defaults
In one sign-up flow, a 12-month term and a modem were already selected on arrival; the minimum cost shown was over ten times that of month to month with your own modem.
Consent
In one sign-up flow, a line under the details form said that clicking Continue also meant agreeing to direct marketing, with no box to tick.
What the rules ask
The Act received Royal Assent on 6 July 2026 and its rules apply from 1 July 2027; until then these are patterns that will need a look. The Spam Act rules on marketing consent already apply. Shown here: the rules this report touches.
Subscriptions
Before the contract is entered: the price, the price after any introductory period, term, renewal and how to end it. A subscription taken out online must be cancellable online, by a route that is easy to find.
General prohibition
No practice that manipulates or unreasonably distorts a decision: pressure that is not real, defaults that steer, obstacles to a choice the customer is entitled to make.
Consent
Commercial emails and texts need consent; a pre-ticked box is not express consent.
Check your own flow in ten minutes
One question per finding. A "no" is worth a look; it is not a verdict.
Not observed in this benchmark
What a public walk cannot show. Not part of the benchmark; included in a Flowlane review of your own flow.
Notice before the price steps up after a discount
Sent by email or text months after sign-up, so a guest walk cannot see it.
Included in a Flowlane review
We walk it with a test account you provide.
Cancel steps inside the customer account
Behind the login; a guest only sees the public help pages.
Included in a Flowlane review
We walk the exit with a test account.
Review and payment screens after the details step
Most flows ask for name, email or date of birth before showing them.
Included in a Flowlane review
We walk to payment with test details.
Method and anonymity
Same walk, same checklist, same rule mapping for every sector.
Public flows, walked as a guest
Each flow was walked in a desktop browser set to the market's language, time zone and storefront, from the entry page to the last screen before payment or personal data. Cookie banners were read before the first click and spot-checked from the market; banners shown only to visitors from other countries were left out. Nothing was bought, no account was created, no personal data was submitted.
One screenshot per observation
An observation counts only with a screenshot, the URL, the step number, the date and the exact wording on the screen. Uncertain observations are not counted.
Rule, not verdict
Each pattern is matched to the provision it touches. It marks a screen worth a look, not a legal finding: whether a rule applies depends on facts a public walk cannot see.
Anonymous by design
No company is named, quoted or identifiable. Examples are written as categories. The sample is drawn from the sector, not from clients, and no participant was told.
20-minute walkthrough
Your own flow against 20 walked flows, in 20 minutes.
- 20 minutes
- Reviewed before the call
- No system access
- The two steps worth a look first, with the screen they sit on
- The rule each one touches, under the Australian rules
- Where your flow sits against the sector benchmark, for you only