ASIC has just fined the local operators of Zara, H&M and Sephora a combined $596,000 for not filing their accounts. The Senate Economics Committee reports on the Unfair Trading Practices Bill this Thursday, the same day Click Frenzy returns under new owners with Australia Post backing the show. Three reasons to be more careful about where your EOFY dollars land this week, plus five fresh Australian sales we have not featured before.
Zara, H&M And Sephora Hit With $596,000 In ASIC Fines
The corporate regulator has just fined the local operators of three of the most-shopped fast-fashion and beauty brands in Australia a combined $596,000 for late or missing financial reports. Inditex Australia (Zara), H&M Hennes & Mauritz, and Sephora Australia each paid a $198,000 infringement notice under Section 1317DAM of the Corporations Act, with all three penalties paid in late May and early June. The story was first reported by Inside Retail Australia on 4 June and confirmed in ASIC media release 26-111MR.
Inditex Australia missed its lodgement for the year ending 31 January 2025. H&M missed the year ending 30 November 2025. Sephora missed the year ending 31 December 2024. ASIC Commissioner Kate O’Rourke was unsparing in the release: “Since announcing a broad surveillance focused on late lodgement and non-lodgement of financial reports in August 2025, ASIC has issued 24 infringement notices totalling over $4.5 million for alleged financial reporting breaches.” She added that the action “should send a clear message to reporting entities that we are actively enforcing the financial reporting requirements and expect companies to comply.” Payment of an infringement notice is not an admission of guilt, per Accounting Times reporting, but all three companies have now lodged the overdue documents.
Why this matters for the shopper. Annual financial reports are how Australians actually see whether a global brand operating here is making money locally, paying tax locally, and standing behind warranties and returns out of a profitable local entity. When a fast-fashion or beauty giant cannot file accounts on time, the next obvious question is what those accounts will eventually reveal. Combine that with Zara and H&M’s repeated coverage by Choice and the ACCC for fast-fashion environmental claims, and the case for spending your EOFY dollars with Australian-owned retailers who actually file their accounts on time is now a regulatory matter, not just a values one.
Drip Pricing Crackdown Lands In The Senate This Thursday
Speaking of regulatory pressure, the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026 has its Senate Economics Legislation Committee report due this Thursday, 18 June. The Bill, which already passed the House of Representatives on 14 May, introduces a broad prohibition on unfair trading practices and is intended to commence on 1 July 2027, per a 12 June client alert from Russell Kennedy partners Gina Tresidder and Jacqueline Vuong.
Three sets of online-retail tactics are squarely in the crosshairs. First, drip pricing: the practice of advertising a headline price that excludes mandatory fees and only revealing the true total at checkout. Under the Bill, any mandatory transaction-based fee must be disclosed clearly and prominently in close proximity to the advertised price. Fine print, hover-over explanations and last-screen pop-ups will not cut it. Second, subscription auto-renewals: businesses will need to send timely renewal and cancellation reminders, offer accessible cancellation methods, and ensure anything signed up for online can be cancelled online. Third, manipulative checkout design: countdown timers that fake scarcity, confusing layouts that obstruct refunds, and other “dark patterns” are flagged as conduct that “unreasonably distorts the environment in which a consumer makes a decision.”
The catch is that even after the Senate signs off, commencement is still 13 months away. Until 1 July 2027, fake countdowns, hidden booking fees and almost-impossible-to-cancel subscriptions remain legal. For the next thirteen EOFY months, the only defence is a sceptical eye on the checkout screen and a preference for retailers that already price honestly today.
Click Frenzy Returns Thursday Under New Owners
Coincidentally, the same Thursday the drip-pricing crackdown lands in the Senate also marks the return of Click Frenzy. Australia’s original online mega-sales event launches a week-long EOFY edition on 18 June under new ownership: Gabby and Hezi Leibovich, the brothers behind Catch.com.au, Menulog and Scoopon. Australia Post is the Major Sponsor, and participation is free for the first 500 retailers and ecommerce brands to register, with hundreds expected across technology, fashion, homewares, beauty, sporting goods and travel, per Business Daily Media.
Gabby Leibovich said the comeback is the first step in something bigger: “Click Frenzy has been part of the Australian retail culture for more than a decade and very few retail brands have this level of awareness among both consumers and retailers. We see an opportunity to build on that foundation, with this EOFY sales event as our first step, but we’re also thinking much bigger about how Click Frenzy can play a meaningful role in shaping the future of ecommerce in Australia.” Hezi Leibovich framed the Australia Post deal as a barrier-remover for smaller stores: “Thanks to the support of Australia Post, participation is completely free. If you have a great offer, we want to help you share it with Australian shoppers.”
For shoppers, the timing is genuinely useful. Click Frenzy historically pushes participating retailers to publish their deepest single-week discount of the year, and a free-to-enter sponsor-backed edition tends to draw a broader set of independent Australian brands than the headline-grabbing JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman events. That is also exactly the kind of competitive pressure the drip-pricing reforms are meant to keep honest.
Five Fresh Aussie Stores, Never Featured Here Before
Five Australian retailers, five categories, all making their first appearance in the Top 5 after a full audit of every store on It’s On Sale.
Discount
Robert GordonAustralian MadeUp to 60% off Robert Gordon’s sale: handcrafted Australian-made ceramics including dinner sets, bowls, mugs, jugs and serveware fired in the brand’s Melbourne studio since 1945, with flat-rate AU shipping and breakage protection on every order.60%OFF2
Cotton On ClothingWomen's WearUp to 50% off Cotton On Clothing’s sale: women’s basics, denim, knits, jersey and loungewear from the Geelong-headquartered Australian fashion group, with free standard shipping over $55 and 30-day returns.50%OFF3
Merchant 1948ShoesUp to 50% off Merchant 1948’s sale: leather boots, loafers, sneakers and sandals from the family-owned New Zealand-Australian footwear retailer, with free AU shipping over $150 and a one-year quality guarantee on full-priced styles.50%OFF4
SussanFashionUp to 40% off Sussan’s sale: knitwear, tailored trousers, casual dresses, accessories and wardrobe staples from the Melbourne-headquartered Australian womenswear retailer (a Sussan Group brand alongside Sportsgirl and Suzanne Grae), with free returns in store.40%OFF5
SmiggleStationeryUp to 20% off Smiggle’s sale: school backpacks, lunchboxes, drink bottles, pencil cases and novelty stationery from the Melbourne-founded Australian kids’ brand (Just Group), with click-and-collect from over 130 AU stores.20%OFF% discounts shown are indicative across each store’s sale range. Individual product savings vary.
Our Take
Three Thursday stories in one Tuesday brief: regulators fining the big global brands, lawmakers tightening the rules at the checkout, and a free-to-enter sales event pulling in hundreds of smaller Australian stores. The pattern is the same one we have been reporting all month. The honest end of Australian retail is being asked to compete harder than ever, while the offshore and global players keep accumulating regulatory file numbers. Today’s brief is the cleanest expression of that gap so far: Zara, H&M and Sephora paying ASIC fines on one side of the page, and Robert Gordon, Cotton On Clothing, Merchant 1948, Sussan and Smiggle running genuine markdowns on the other.
That gap is exactly why we built It’s On Sale. We track 35,000 Australian stores and 45,000 live products, every retailer Australian-owned and locally fulfilled, every promotion audited daily. Today’s Sales shows you every store currently running a discount, the AI search reads the way real shoppers ask for deals (try “leather boots under 200” or “Aussie-made ceramics”), and you will never find Temu, Shein, AliExpress or any offshore marketplace dressed up as a local store. In a week where the regulator, the legislature and the retail calendar all point in the same direction, that filter is the savings. Free, Australian, and built to keep your EOFY honest. Browse Today’s Sales before the 30 June clock runs out.