If you've picked up your streaming bill recently and felt a jolt, you're not imagining it. Kayo Premium jumped from $40 to $45.99 in February 2026, Netflix has now hiked prices six times since launch, and Apple TV+ increased by $3 last year. At this rate, a casual subscriber juggling three or four services is easily looking at $60 to $80 a month.
The frustrating part? Many of us keep paying because the service makes it genuinely difficult to cancel. Bury the cancel button, require multiple steps, make us jump through hoops—these are what regulators now call "dark patterns", and they're costing Australians an estimated $46 million a year.
Here's what's happening: on 9 February 2026, the federal government announced a crackdown on these practices. New legislation is being drafted that will ban "dark patterns" and subscription traps, with laws coming into effect on 1 July 2027. When they do, businesses will be required to disclose all key terms before you sign up, remind you periodically what you're paying for, and—crucially—make cancellation just as simple as signing up in the first place.
The ACCC has flagged dark patterns as a key enforcement priority for 2026-27, which means they're already investigating companies now, before the laws technically come into force.
The short version: if you're trapped in a subscription you keep forgetting to cancel, that's not an accident—it's deliberate design. Your rights here are actually stronger than you think. Most streaming services have terms buried somewhere allowing cancellation within 30 days, and if you've been charged unfairly, you can lodge a dispute with your bank. But from mid-2027, the law will stop these practices altogether.
In the meantime, audit your subscriptions this month. Write down exactly what you're paying and what you actually watch. You might be surprised how much of that monthly charge goes to services gathering dust.