Commonwealth Numbered Acts

AUSTRALIAN POSTAL CORPORATION AMENDMENT ACT 1994 No. 142 of 1994 - SECT 17

17. After section 33 of the Principal Act the following section is inserted:
Postage stamps not to be sold etc. for less than usual retail price

"33A.(1) A person authorised by Australia Post to sell postage stamps must
not:

   (a)  sell a valid Australian stamp for less than its usual retail price; or

   (b)  give away a valid Australian stamp free of charge.

"(2) Australia Post must not sell a valid Australian stamp for less than its
usual retail price unless the sale is pursuant to an agreement between
Australia Post and another person under which the person buys the stamp for
the purpose of re-selling it at its usual retail price.

"(3) If a person has engaged, or is proposing to engage, in conduct that
involves, or would involve, an infringement of subsection (1), Australia Post
may apply to the Federal Court for relief.

"(4) The relief that may be granted includes an injunction and, at the option
of Australia Post, either damages or an account of profits.

"(5) The Federal Court may grant an interim injunction pending determination
of an application under subsection (3) if, in the Court's opinion, it is
desirable to do so.

"(6) The power of the Federal Court to grant an injunction restraining a
person from engaging in conduct may be exercised:

   (a)  whether or not it appears to the Court that the person intends to
        engage again, or to continue to engage, in conduct of that kind; and

   (b)  whether or not the person has previously engaged in conduct of that
        kind; and

   (c)  whether or not there is imminent danger of substantial damage to
        Australia Post if the person engages in conduct of that kind.

"(7) For the purposes of the application of this section to a postage stamp
that consists of an imprinted or printed mark (for example a mark produced by
a franking machine):

   (a)  the mark is taken to be issued within Australia by Australia Post if
        Australia Post has authorised the use of the mark for the purpose of
        paying postage for postal articles; and

   (b)  the mark is sold if a charge is made for the imprinting or printing of
        the mark onto the cover, or onto a label to be fixed to the cover, of
        a postal article; and

   (c)  the usual retail price of the mark is the amount Australia Post
        usually charges for the imprinting or printing of the mark.

"(8) In this section:
'Australia Post' does not include an agent of Australia Post;
'valid Australian stamp' means:

   (a)  a postage stamp issued within Australia by Australia Post that is
        still valid; or

   (b)  an envelope, or other postal stationery, issued within Australia by
        Australia Post on which a postage stamp that is still valid is
        imprinted.".