Contract clause
Cancellation clause: a booking sample with fee bands
A cancellation clause sets what happens when a client or supplier cancels a booking or service before it is delivered: how much notice changes the outcome, what is refunded or kept, what the supplier owes if it cancels, and how cancellation is given. It must reflect real losses to stay clear of unfair terms and penalty rules.
A cancellation clause turns the question of who keeps the deposit into a table: the earlier the client cancels, the more comes back. For bookings like catering, photography and venues, the bands should track what the supplier genuinely loses, because a charge out of proportion to that loss can be void as an unfair term or unenforceable as a penalty.
Nuwan Madhusanka · Co-founder
3 min read · Published
Sample clause
Written for catering contract between Tallowwood Kitchen, a fictional caterer, and a couple booking a 120 guest wedding reception.
Cancellation. (a) The Client may cancel by written notice to the Caterer. (b) If the Client cancels more than 90 days before the Event, the Caterer refunds the deposit less an administration fee of $600. (c) If the Client cancels between 90 and 30 days before the Event, the Caterer keeps the deposit, which reflects the bookings it has turned away for the date. (d) If the Client cancels within 30 days of the Event, the Client pays 50 per cent of the total price, less the deposit already paid, to cover food ordered and staff rostered. (e) If the Caterer cancels for any reason other than the Client's breach or an event beyond its control, it refunds everything paid within 7 days and will help the Client find a replacement caterer. (f) Nothing in this clause limits the Client's rights under the Australian Consumer Law.
Sample wording, not legal advice.
Variants
Venue hire with bond
Hall or venue hire, where a deposit secures the date and a separate bond covers damage.
If the Hirer cancels more than 90 days before the hire date, the deposit is refunded less $60. Between 30 and 90 days, the deposit is kept. The bond is always refunded in full if the hire does not take place.
Service provider who cannot attend
Photographers, DJs and celebrants, where the supplier's own illness or failure is the risk the client worries about.
If the Photographer cannot attend because of illness or emergency, the Photographer will arrange an equally experienced replacement approved by the Clients, or refund all fees paid if no replacement is acceptable.
Non refundable booking fee
A small fee that secures a date and covers booking work, clearly separate from the deposit and the price.
A booking fee of $250 is payable to hold the date and is not refundable, because it covers the work of planning the booking and holding the date. It is credited to the price if the booking goes ahead.
What to negotiate
Match the bands to real loss
A supplier loses more the closer cancellation comes to the date, because it cannot rebook and may already have bought stock or rostered staff. Bands that rise as the date approaches, with the reason stated beside each, are easier to defend than a single large forfeit. Clients should ask what each band covers.
Deposit or booking fee
Calling a payment a deposit or a booking fee matters, because the label can decide who keeps the money when a date is cancelled. A booking fee is usually a small payment for holding the date; a deposit is part of the price. The photography example says which one it means for that reason.
Supplier cancellation and fairness
A clause that charges the client for cancelling but lets the supplier cancel freely without refund is the kind of one sided term the unfair contract terms rules target. Balance it with a full refund if the supplier cancels, and help finding a replacement, as the sample does.
The risk of leaving it out
Without a cancellation clause, a supplier whose client cancels may have to prove its actual loss to keep any of the deposit, while a client may be unsure whether anything comes back. The argument usually happens close to the event, when both sides are least willing to compromise, and ends up with consumer affairs or a tribunal.
Unfair terms and cancellation fees
Cancellation terms in standard form contracts with consumers and small businesses are tested under the unfair contract terms provisions of the Australian Consumer Law. Consumer Affairs Victoria notes that terms penalising a consumer for breaching or terminating a contract, or letting only one party cancel, can be unfair. Since November 2023, proposing an unfair term can attract penalties. Separately, a charge out of all proportion to a legitimate interest can be unenforceable as a penalty. Law checked on 21 October 2026. This page explains how the law works and is not legal advice.
The sample in numbers
The catering price is $14,400 for 120 guests at $120 each, with a deposit of $3,600. Cancelling 120 days out costs the $600 administration fee, so $3,000 comes back. Cancelling 60 days out costs the deposit, $3,600. Cancelling 14 days out costs half the price, $7,200, of which $3,600 is already paid as the deposit. Each band is tied in the clause to a reason the client can understand.
Postponement is different
Many clients do not want to cancel; they want to move the date. A cancellation clause should sit beside a postponement clause that lets a booking move once to a new date within a set time, carrying payments across. The postponement clause page covers that, and the photography example handles both in one table by notice period.
Where the clause sits in a generated document
Catering, photography, venue hire, DJ and event planning contracts all carry a cancellation clause. When asking the AI document generator for one, give the notice bands, what is refunded or kept in each, the reason for each band, the supplier's own cancellation terms and a statement that statutory rights are not limited.
Documents that carry this clause
Catering contract template with a menu table and a guest numbers lockCatering is priced per head and delivered per plate, which is why the two clauses that matter most are the one that locks the number and the one that says who gets what. This contract prices six courses per head, freezes numbers 14 days out, and puts every dietary requirement in a matrix with the main and the dessert each guest is served.
Photography contract template with deliverables you can countA photography contract is mostly a list of numbers: hours, images, weeks, dollars and the date after which the deposit is gone. This one writes every number down, then handles the three things that go wrong with weddings, a postponement, a sick photographer and an argument over who owns the photos.
Venue hire agreement template with bump in, noise and a bondHall hire disputes are almost always about time and noise: the hirer thought the hire started when guests arrived, and the committee thought music stopped at eleven. This agreement prices bump in, the event and bump out as three separate periods, and ties the curfew to the planning permit rather than to a preference.
DJ contract template with set times, power and an overtime rateA DJ booking is made on a phone call and remembered differently by everyone. This agreement writes the night down as six timed segments, says exactly what power and space the venue has to supply, and prices the hour after midnight before anyone is asking for it at midnight.Questions people ask
What is a cancellation clause?
It is the term in a booking or service contract that sets what happens if either side cancels before the service is delivered: the notice needed, what the client gets back or pays at each stage, and what the supplier owes if it cancels.
Can a business keep my deposit if I cancel?
It depends on the contract and on whether keeping it is fair. A deposit kept to cover a real loss, such as turning away other bookings, is generally accepted. Keeping a large deposit when the supplier lost nothing may be challenged as an unfair term or a penalty.
Is a non refundable deposit legal in Australia?
A non refundable deposit can be lawful if it is reasonable and reflects the supplier's genuine costs or losses. A term making a large payment non refundable in every case, regardless of loss, risks being unfair in a standard form contract with a consumer or small business.
What if the supplier cancels?
The contract should require a full refund, and many also require help finding a replacement. If the supplier fails to provide the service, the client also has rights under the Australian Consumer Law, including a refund for a major failure.
Does a cancellation clause cover COVID or weather?
Only if it says so or a force majeure clause applies. Many event contracts now deal separately with government orders and severe weather, often allowing postponement or a refund less costs incurred, rather than applying the ordinary cancellation bands. Check both clauses together.
Put the clause in a finished document
The button opens the document generator with a starting description already filled in. Change it to match your own agreement before you run it.
Create a document with OneCraftRelated clauses
- Postponement clause: moving an event datePostponement clause sample for event and booking contracts: moving the date once, carrying payments across, notice bands, price changes and supplier delays.
- Minimum term clause for services and retainersMinimum term clause sample for services, retainers and subscriptions: the minimum period, ending early, what happens after, and the unfair terms limits.
- Deposit clause: what happens to money paid up frontA deposit clause takes money up front and says what happens to it. Australian sample wording, refundable and non refundable variants, and the unfair terms risk.
- Early termination fee clauseAn early termination fee clause charges for ending a contract before the term ends. Sample wording, sliding scales, the penalty test and unfair terms limits.
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Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .