Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

TRADE PRACTICES ACT 1974 - SECT 64

             (1)  A corporation shall not, in trade or commerce, assert a right to payment from a person for unsolicited goods unless the corporation has reasonable cause to believe that there is a right to payment.

          (2A)  A corporation shall not, in trade or commerce, assert a right to payment from a person for unsolicited services unless the corporation has reasonable cause to believe that there is a right to payment.

             (3)  A corporation shall not assert a right to payment from any person of a charge for the making in a directory of an entry relating to the person or to his or her profession, business, trade or occupation unless the corporation knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the person has authorized the making of the entry.

             (4)  A person is not liable to make any payment to a corporation, and is entitled to recover by action in a court of competent jurisdiction against a corporation any payment made by the person to the corporation, in full or part satisfaction of a charge for the making of an entry in a directory unless the person has authorized the making of the entry.

             (5)  For the purposes of this section, a corporation shall be taken to assert a right to a payment from a person for unsolicited goods or services, or of a charge for the making of an entry in a directory, if the corporation:

                     (a)  makes a demand for the payment or asserts a present or prospective right to the payment;

                     (b)  threatens to bring any legal proceedings with a view to obtaining the payment;

                     (c)  places or causes to be placed the name of the person on a list of defaulters or debtors, or threatens to do so, with a view to obtaining the payment;

                     (d)  invokes or causes to be invoked any other collection procedure, or threatens to do so, with a view to obtaining the payment; or

                     (e)  sends any invoice or other document stating the amount of the payment or setting out the price of the goods or services or the charge for the making of the entry and not stating as prominently (or more prominently) that no claim is made to the payment, or to payment of the price or charge, as the case may be.

             (6)  A person shall not be taken for the purposes of this section to have authorized the making of an entry in a directory unless:

                     (a)  a document authorizing the making of the entry has been signed by the person or by another person authorized by him or her;

                     (b)  a copy of the document has been given to the person before the right to payment of a charge for the making of the entry is asserted; and

                     (c)  the document specifies:

                              (i)  the name of the directory;

                             (ii)  the name and address of the person publishing the directory;

                            (iii)  particulars of the entry; and

                            (iv)  the amount of the charge for the making of the entry or the basis on which the charge is, or is to be, calculated.

             (7)  For the purposes of this section, an invoice or other document purporting to have been sent by or on behalf of a corporation shall be deemed to have been sent by that corporation unless the contrary is established.

             (9)  In a proceeding against a corporation in respect of a contravention of this section:

                     (a)  in the case of a contravention constituted by asserting a right to payment from a person for unsolicited goods or unsolicited services--the burden lies on the corporation of proving that the corporation had reasonable cause to believe that there was a right to payment; or

                     (b)  in the case of a contravention constituted by asserting a right to payment from a person of a charge for the making of an entry in a directory--the burden lies on the corporation of proving that the corporation knew or had reasonable cause to believe that the person had authorised the making of the entry.

           (10)  In this section:

"directory" includes any publication of a similar nature to a directory but does not include a newspaper published in good faith as a newspaper at regular intervals or a publication published, or to be published, by or under the authority of the Australian Telecommunications Commission.

"making" , in relation to an entry in a directory, means including, or arranging for the inclusion of, the entry.