BTC1110 Lecture 7: BTC1110 -Lecture 7
4 Sep 2018
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Week 7: Consumer Protection
Unfair Contract Terms:
• Are usually void (unless the contract can operate WITHOUT the unfair terms)
• Consumer contract: contract for supply of goods and services or sale of land to the
person who acquires them wholly or predominately for personal/household use.
• Unfair: causes significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations – not
reasonably necessary to protect legitimate interests of the stronger party – causes
detriment to other.
Applying s.24(1), the courts need to consider: * to the extent to which the term is
“transparent.” * The contract as a whole. *Legislative examples: s.25
In November 2016, the “small business” amendments came into effect.
• Objective: to stop the oppressive conduct of large businesses upon small businesses
• “Small business contract” = one or more parties to the contract is a business that
employs fewer than 20 persons AND the upfront price of the contract doesn’t exceed
$300,000 (for contracts leasing up to one year) or $1 million (for contracts lasting more
than one year.)
Consumer Guarantees:
The ACL provides statutory guarantees in contracts for the supply of goods and services to
consumers. These are guarantees that are imposed by the legislation, and remedies are found
within the ACL (not private remedies.)
There are 9 guarantees regarding supply of goods, however we focus on:
1. Guarantee as to acceptable quality s.54
2. Guarantee as to fitness for any disclosed purpose s.55
We have a Supplier and a Consumer.
They are a consumer if:
- The amount of goods/services if <$40,000 OR if over $40,000 the goods/services must
be of a kind ORDINARILY acquired for the plaintiff or defendant, or for use of
consumption OR is a vehicle/trailer which use it principally for the transport of goods on
a public road.
- DOES NOT APPLY where goods acquired are for re-supply, using up in production, or in
the repair of other goods.
- Examples include:
1. Purchase of a tractor tyre
2. Light airplane for commercial/domestic use <$40,000
3. Mercedes Benz >$40,000 for commercial use
4. IT service contractor for BHP >$40,000
5. Carpet >$40,000 for use in a nightclub
Customer Guarantees: Supply of Goods
Acceptable Quality → s.54:
When the supplier ‘supplies’ good to the consumer, there is a guarantee that the goods are of
‘acceptable quality.’ Goods are of acceptable quality if they are:
Document Summary
Applying s. 24(1), the courts need to consider: * to the extent to which the term is (cid:862)t(cid:396)a(cid:374)spa(cid:396)e(cid:374)t. (cid:863) * the (cid:272)o(cid:374)t(cid:396)a(cid:272)t as a (cid:449)hole. ,000 (for contracts leasing up to one year) or million (for contracts lasting more than one year. ) The acl provides statutory guarantees in contracts for the supply of goods and services to consumers. These are guarantees that are imposed by the legislation, and remedies are found within the acl (not private remedies. ) There are 9 guarantees regarding supply of goods, however we focus on: guarantee as to acceptable quality s. 54, guarantee as to fitness for any disclosed purpose s. 55. Does not apply where goods acquired are for re-supply, using up in production, or in the repair of other goods. Examples include: purchase of a tractor tyre, light airplane for commercial/domestic use ,000 for commercial use, it service contractor for bhp >,000, carpet >,000 for use in a nightclub.
