Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Rent 2 Own Cars Australia Pty Ltd [2020] FCA 1312

Federal Court of Australia

Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Rent 2 Own Cars Australia Pty Ltd [2020] FCA 1312 File number(s): QUD 609 of 2018

Judgment of: GREENWOOD J

Date of judgment: 11 September 2020

Catchwords: CONSUMER LAW – consideration of whether the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth) (the "NCCP Act") and the National Credit Code (the "Code"), Schedule 1 to the NCCP Act, apply to 232 contracts for the provision of credit in the form of hire purchase style contracts – consideration of whether the contracts are credit contracts – consideration of the elements of provision of credit – consideration of the construction to be attributed to each of the subsections of s 9 in the context of the statutory purpose CONSUMER LAW – consideration of the following provisions of the NCCP Act: ss 3, 5, 7, 8, 29, 47, 64, 65, 71, 166, 168, 169, 177, 187 – consideration of the following provisions of the Code: ss 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 17, 23, 32A, 32B, 111, 112, 113, 116, 122, 124, 204 CONSUMER LAW – consideration of whether conduct said to engage contraventions of the Code also engages contraventions of the Australian Securities and Investments Act 2001 (Cth) (the "ASIC Act") – consideration of ss 12DA(1), 12DB(1)(a), 12DB(1)(g), 12BAA(7), 12BAB(1) of the ASIC Act – consideration of the terms "standard, quality, value or grade" in s 12DB(1)(a) of the ASIC Act STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION – consideration of the principles to be applied – consideration of provisions of the NCCP Act and the Code – consideration of whether the directors of the respondent corporation were knowingly concerned in the contraventions of the Code by the respondent corporation and whether they were knowingly concerned in the respondent corporation's contraventions of the ASIC Act – consideration of s 12GBA(1)(e) of that Act – consideration of the principles derived from Yorke v Lucas (1985) 158 CLR 661 – consideration of the state of knowledge that must be shown to exist in the relevant person before such a person is knowingly concerned in the contraventions of another – consideration of authorities of intermediate courts of appeal applying principles of accessorial liability under the statutory text in issue