TRADE PRACTICES ACT 1974 No. 51, 1974 - SECT 64 Assertion of right to payment for unsolicited goods or for making entry in directory.

TRADE PRACTICES ACT 1974 No. 51, 1974 - SECT 64

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.

(2) Sub-section (1) does not apply in relation to the assertion of a right to
payment from a person for unsolicited goods if the person ordinarily uses like
goods in the course of his profession, business, trade or occupation.

(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 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 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 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;

   (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.

(8) Sub-sections (3) and (4) do not apply to or in relation to a payment if
the payment relates to-

   (a)  a contract that was made before the commencing date; or

   (b)  a contract that is made on or after that date by reason of the
        acceptance after that date of an offer that was made before that date.

(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-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 authorized 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 Postmaster-General;



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