St. Elizabeth Home v Camnet Finance Pty Ltd [2024] NSWSC 501

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: St. Elizabeth Home v Camnet Finance Pty Ltd [2024] NSWSC 501 Hearing dates: 29 April 2024 Date of orders: 03 May 2024 Decision date: 03 May 2024 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Schmidt AJ Decision: (1) The Local Court proceedings be transferred to the District Court; and (2) Costs of the proceedings be costs in the cause. Catchwords: CONSUMER LAW – enforcement and remedies – application to transfer Local Court proceedings to Supreme Court – declarations – Australian Consumer Law – Fair Trading Act 1987 (NSW) – whether declaratory relief necessary– claim that standard small business contract unfair and void – claimed unconscionable conduct – whether other claimed agreements came into existence CIVIL PROCEDURE – severance of proceedings – cannot justly be ordered CIVIL PROCEDURE – jurisdiction – transfers to and from other courts – whether claims within jurisdiction of Local Court– whether claims within jurisdiction of District Court – proceedings transferred to District Court Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), ss 56, 140 Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), Sch 2 – Australian Consumer Law, ss 23, 24, 25, 27, 236, 237, 243, 250 District Court Act 1973 (NSW), ss 44, 134(1)(h), 135 Fair Trading Act 1987 (NSW), ss 28, 30, 71 Cases Cited: Kolapo v Pitsikas (t/as Comino and Pitsikas) & Anor [2003] NSWCA 59 STM123 No. 28 Pty Ltd v Eastern Suburbs Commercial Pty Ltd [2023] NSWSC 1266 The NTF Group Pty Ltd v PA Putney Finance Australia Pty Ltd [2017] NSWSC 1194 Category: Principal judgment Parties: St. Elizabeth Home (Plaintiff) Camnet Finance Pty Ltd (First Defendant) Kubic Pty Ltd (Second Defendant) Comtech Business Equipment Pty Ltd (Third Defendant) Representation: Counsel: R Clark (Plaintiff) J Burnett (First Defendant)