Apple, Google app store class actions delayed in Australia

Australian class actions against Apple and Google over app-store commissions have been put on hold while the Federal Court waits to see whether the Epic Games litigation produces appeals. The delay pauses any move to widen the local claims just as pressure on app-store payment rules is building again overseas.

MLex reported that Justice Jonathan Beach is deferring any section 33K application to expand the class action groups until the appeal position is clearer. Section 33K of the Federal Court of Australia Act lets plaintiffs amend or redefine a class action, so the pause affects scope as well as timetable. It will also help determine who can be drawn into the Australian claims and when that process can begin.

That matters because the dispute is no longer only about Epic’s own fight with the two platform operators. A wider class could pull more Australian developers or app users into claims over commissions, in-app payment rules and the commercial terms tied to app distribution. By holding that step back, the court is keeping the local contest narrower while the appeal picture settles.

The pause also slows a competition case the ACCC has already described as broader than a single games company. The regulator won leave to intervene in Epic’s Australian proceedings and said the matter could have consequences for how mobile app distribution and in-app payments are treated under local competition law.

“This is a significant competition law matter, and the orders made in these proceedings could have wide-ranging implications for the distribution of mobile apps and in-app payments in Australia.”

— Luke Woodward, ACCC Commissioner

The Australian pause comes as the United States case is moving again. Reuters reported this week that Apple has asked the US Supreme Court to review a contempt order after a judge barred it from charging a 27 per cent fee on some purchases made outside the App Store when users were sent there by an external link. Epic filed that US case in 2020, and the remedy fight has become part of the backdrop for similar arguments elsewhere.

Australia also has recent precedent. Reuters reported in August 2025 that the Federal Court partly ruled against Apple and Google in Epic’s local case. Apple said it faced fierce competition in every market where it operates, while Google said it disagreed with the court’s characterisation of some billing policies and historical partnerships. Those positions underline that neither company accepts the competition analysis now being tested.

That means any broader Australian class action would be running into a legal framework that is still contested rather than settled. The delay does not end the claims or remove the competition questions. It does, however, push back the point at which the litigation could widen from a closely watched platform dispute into a broader test of how Australian law deals with app-store commissions and in-app payments. For local developers and regulators, the practical question is whether that pause preserves judicial efficiency or leaves Australia’s challenge moving more slowly than the overseas campaign against mobile gatekeeper fees.