The Federal Court has ordered JustAnswer LLC to pay penalties of $10 million for making misleading representations to consumers about the cost of its online question and answer service, and making misleading claims that it was approved or affiliated with the Fair Work Ombudsman when this was not the case, in proceedings brought by the ACCC.
The Court also ordered that JustAnswer refund Australian consumers who between November 2022 and August 2025 were misled into thinking that they could use the service for AU$2, but were signed up to a much more expensive ongoing monthly subscription.
JustAnswer provides an online question and answer service that connects consumers to subject matter “experts” in areas such as medicine, law, accounting and technology. The ACCC commenced the proceedings in September 2025 after receiving numerous complaints from consumers about JustAnswer signing them up to a subscription service they had not agreed to.
“Misleading consumers into paying for subscriptions they do not want or did not intend to buy is a serious breach of the Australian Consumer Law,” ACCC Commissioner Luke Woodward said.
“The ACCC will not hesitate to take action where we see evidence of businesses misleading consumers into signing up to a subscription trap by not giving them the necessary up-front information about ongoing subscriptions fees.”
Misleading pricing representations
From about 1 November 2022 to 22 August 2025, the chat widget on the JustAnswer website responded to queries from Australian consumers with statements such as “I’m sending you to a secure page to join JustAnswer for only AU$2 (fully refundable)”.
In fact, consumers who joined were signed up to an ongoing subscription costing between $45 and $75 per month, and were charged whether they used the service or not.
JustAnswer admitted that by this conduct it had represented to consumers that they could use its service for the total price of the one-off $2 joining fee, when in fact consumers were also required to pay the ongoing subscription fee, in breach of the Australian Consumer Law.
“Consumers suffered financial harm by being charged a monthly subscription fee that they were not expecting to pay, which had not been adequately disclosed and continued until the consumer took action to cancel the subscription,” Mr Woodward said.
“Had consumers been aware of the full cost of the service, they may have chosen not to sign up for the JustAnswer service at all.”
JustAnswer will contact affected consumers who have not already received a full refund and who complained to JustAnswer and/or the ACCC. Consumers who were unaware that they would have to pay monthly subscription or membership fees, and who have not previously complained, can also contact JustAnswer to apply for a refund.
Example of misleading JustAnswer pricing statements
Misleading affiliation claims
JustAnswer also admitted that from June 2022 to February 2024 it made false or misleading representations to consumers about an affiliation with the Fair Work Ombudsman, in breach of the Australian Consumer Law.
By making statements on its website such as “Chat with a Fair Work Ombudsman 1:1”, JustAnswer implied that it or its services were (or were part of), were approved by, or were affiliated with, the Fair Work Ombudsman, when this was not the case.
The company also admitted that it had made similar false or misleading statements about an Australian Ombudsman, such as “Chat with an AU Ombudsman for personalized help”, between June 2022 and March 2025.
“Some consumers may have joined JustAnswer under the mistaken belief that their questions would be answered by an Australian Ombudsman, such as the Fair Work Ombudsman,” Mr Woodward said.
“JustAnswer’s conduct prevented consumers from making informed decisions about whether to use the service and whether the service was appropriate for their needs.”
In addition to making orders about penalties and consumer refunds, the Federal Court ordered JustAnswer to publish a corrective notice on its website, implement and maintain a consumer law compliance program and contribute to the ACCC’s costs. The Court also granted an injunction that prevents JustAnswer from engaging in similar conduct in the future.
Example of misleading Fair Work Ombudsman affiliation representation
JustAnswer admitted that it had breached the Australian Consumer Law and agreed to make joint submissions with the ACCC to the Court on penalties and other orders.
Background
JustAnswer is registered and based in the United States and operates its business in 196 countries.
Its service offers to connect consumers to subject matter experts in areas such as medicine, law, accounting and technology, who are available to answer people’s questions. The service is accessible via JustAnswer’s website.
Consumers who used a search engine to find information on a particular topic may have come across search results with links to JustAnswer’s website. This included search ads sponsored by JustAnswer. From here, consumers were redirected to the JustAnswer website and prompted to interact with a JustAnswer chat widget at which time they were informed that the cost to access JustAnswer’s service was only AU$2.
In June 2025, the ACCC published the tenth and final report of its Digital Platform Services Inquiry, which found consumers continue to face harms from unfair trading practices including subscription traps. A subscription trap is when a business misleads a consumer into signing up for a subscription by representing that they are making a one-off purchase, or by making cancellation of a subscription difficult.
