New South Wales Consolidated Acts

FAIR TRADING ACT 1987 - SECT 4

4 Definitions

(1) In this Act, except in so far as the context or subject-matter otherwise indicates or requires:
"acquire" includes:

(a) in relation to goods-acquire by purchase or exchange or by taking on lease, on hire or on hire-purchase,

(b) in relation to services-accept, and

(c) in relation to an interest in land-acquire by purchase or exchange or by taking on lease, or in any other manner in which an interest in land may be acquired for valuable consideration.

"advisory committee" means a committee appointed under section 25.
"advisory council" means any of the councils established by Divisions 5-7 or 9 of Part 2.
"assisted person" means a person granted legal assistance under section 13.
"authorised person" means a person authorised by the Director-General.
"banning order" means an order in force under section 30 or 31 prohibiting or restricting the supply of goods.
"business" includes:

(a) a business not carried on for profit, and

(b) a trade or profession.

"consumer" has the meaning given by section 5.
"dangerous", in relation to goods, means likely to cause death or to cause injury to the body or health of a person, whether the death or injury is likely to be caused directly or indirectly and whether or not because of:

(a) a failure to include with or on the goods any instructions for their use,

(b) the inclusion with or on the goods of instructions for the use of the goods that are inaccurate or inadequate,

(c) a failure of the goods to function in the manner represented by the manufacturer or supplier,

(d) the goods not being of the quality represented by the manufacturer or supplier, or

(e) the necessity for, or possibility of, the use of the goods with other goods.

"Department" means the Department of Commerce.
"Director-General" means:

(a) the Commissioner for Fair Trading, Department of Commerce, or

(b) if there is no such position in the Department-the Director-General of the Department.

"disposal", in relation to an interest in land, means disposal by sale, exchange or lease or by any other method by which an interest in land may be disposed of for valuable consideration.
"document" includes any source of information, whether or not the information is available only after the source is subjected to electronic or other process.
"goods" includes:

(a) ships, aircraft and other vehicles,

(b) animals, including fish,

(c) minerals, trees and crops, whether on, under or attached to land or not,

(d) gas and electricity, and

(e) any component part of, or accessory to, goods.

"interest", in relation to land, means:

(a) a legal or equitable estate or interest in the land,

(b) a right of occupancy of the land, or of a building or part of a building erected on the land, conferred by shares, or by virtue of a contract to purchase shares, in a corporation that owns the land or the building, or

(c) a right, power or privilege over, or in connection with, the land.

"investigator" means an officer appointed by the Director-General under section 18 as an investigator.
"officer" means:

(a) the Director-General or any other member of staff (within the meaning of the Public Sector Employment and Management Act 2002 ) of the Department, or

(b) a member of staff of a public sector agency (within the meaning of section 85 of the Public Sector Employment and Management Act 2002 ) who is transferred to, or who provides services for, the Department, or

(c) any person engaged by the Director-General (with the approval of the Minister and on such terms as the Minister thinks fit) to assist in the exercise of the Director-General’s functions.

"price" includes a charge of any description and the price of goods or services acquired by a person (whether or not by purchase) is the amount paid or payable for them or, if such an amount is not specified because acquisition of the goods or services is part only of a transaction for which a total amount is paid or payable, is:

(a) the lowest amount for which the goods or services could reasonably have been acquired from the supplier at the time of the transaction or, if not from the supplier, from another supplier, or

(b) if they could not reasonably have been acquired separately from any supplier-their value at the time of the transaction.

"product information standard" means a standard prescribed by regulations referred to in section 38.
"product safety standard" means a standard prescribed by regulations referred to in section 26.
"Products Safety Committee" means the Products Safety Committee established under section 24.
"public authority" means a public or local authority constituted by an Act (whether or not a statutory body representing the Crown), a Government Department or an administrative office.
"published", in relation to a statement, includes:

(a) inserted in a newspaper or other publication,

(b) publicly exhibited:

(i) in, on, over or under a building, vehicle, aircraft or ship, or in any other place (whether or not a public place and whether on land or water), or

(ii) in the air in view of persons who are, or are passing, in or on a street or public place,

(c) contained in a document sent or given to a person or thrown or left upon, or at, premises occupied by a person,

(d) broadcast by radio or television,

(e) reproduced electronically, and

(f) made verbally.

"regulations" means regulations made under section 92.
"send" includes deliver.
"services" includes any rights (including rights in relation to, and interests in, real or personal property), benefits, privileges or facilities that are, or are to be, provided, granted or conferred in trade or commerce, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes the rights, benefits, privileges and facilities that are, or are to be, provided, granted or conferred under:

(a) a contract for or in relation to:

(i) the performance of work (including work of a professional nature), whether with or without the supply of goods,

(ii) the provision of gas or electricity or the provision of any other form of energy,

(iii) the provision, or making available for use, of facilities for amusement, entertainment, recreation or instruction, or

(iv) the conferring of rights, benefits or privileges for which remuneration is payable in the form of a royalty, tribute, levy or similar exaction,

(b) a contract of insurance,

(c) a contract between a banker and a customer of the banker entered into in the course of the carrying on by the banker of the business of banking,

(d) a contract for or in relation to the lending of money,

(e) a residential tenancy agreement (within the meaning of the Residential Parks Act 1998 ) under which the residential premises consist of a residential site in a residential park or a moveable dwelling on such a residential site (within the meaning of that Act), or

(f) a service contract (within the meaning of the Retirement Villages Act 1999 ),

but does not include rights or benefits being the supply of goods or the performance of work under a contract of service.
"statement" includes a representation of any kind, whether made by means of:

(a) words, maps, plans or drawings, or

(b) pictorial representation or design,

or by any combination of those means.
"supplier" means a person who, in the course of a business, supplies goods or services.
"supply" includes:

(a) in relation to goods:

(i) supply (including re-supply) by way of sale, exchange, lease, hire or hire-purchase, and

(ii) exhibit, expose or have in possession for the purpose of sale, exchange, lease, hire or hire-purchase or for any purpose of manufacture or trade,

(b) in relation to services-provide, grant or render for valuable consideration, and

(c) in relation both to goods and to services-donate for promotional purposes.

"this Act" includes regulations.
"trade or commerce" includes any business or professional activity.
"Tribunal" means the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal established by the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal Act 2001 .
"unsolicited goods" means goods sent to a person without any request for the goods being made by, or by the authority of, the person.
"unsolicited services" means services supplied to a person without any request for the services being made by, or by the authority of, the person.

(2) In this Act:

(a) a reference to the supply or acquisition of goods includes a reference to agreeing to supply or acquire goods,

(b) a reference to the acquisition of goods includes a reference to the acquisition of property in, or rights in relation to, goods upon a supply of the goods,

(c) a reference to the supply or acquisition of services includes a reference to agreeing to supply or acquire services,

(d) a reference to the supply or acquisition of goods includes a reference to the supply or acquisition of goods together with services,

(e) a reference to the supply or acquisition of services includes a reference to the supply or acquisition of services together with goods,

(f) a reference to goods or services includes a reference to goods and services,

(g) a reference to the disposal or acquisition of an interest in land includes a reference to agreeing to dispose of or acquire such an interest, whether or not the agreement is in writing or evidenced by writing, and

(h) a reference to the disposal or acquisition of an interest in land includes a reference to the disposal or acquisition of such an interest together with goods.

(3) For the purposes of this Act:

(a) the obtaining of credit by a person in connection with the acquisition of goods or services by the person is an acquisition by the person of services, and

(b) any amount by which the price of the goods or services is increased because credit was obtained is the price of the services represented by the obtaining of credit.

(4) In this Act:

(a) a reference to conduct is a reference to an act or a refusal to act, including in either case an act that constitutes, or would but for the refusal constitute, making or giving effect to a provision of a contract or arrangement, arriving at or giving effect to a provision of an understanding, or requiring or entering into a covenant,

(b) a reference to refusing to do an act includes:

(i) a reference to refraining (otherwise than inadvertently) from doing the act, and

(ii) a reference to making it known that the act will not be done, and

(c) a reference to a person offering to do an act, or to do an act on a particular condition, includes a reference to the person making known a willingness to accept applications, offers or proposals for the person to do the act or to do that act on the condition.

(5) In this Act:

(a) a reference to loss or damage, other than a reference to the amount of any loss or damage, includes a reference to injury, and

(b) a reference to the amount of any loss or damage includes a reference to damages in respect of an injury.

(6) Where a provision of this Act is inconsistent with a provision of an Act specified in Schedule 1 or prescribed for the purposes of this subsection, or a provision of an instrument made under an Act so specified or prescribed, the provision of the Act so specified or prescribed, or of the instrument, prevails.

(7) In this Act, a reference to the making of a representation includes a reference to the publishing of a statement.

(8) In this Act:

(a) a reference to a function includes a reference to a power, authority and duty, and

(b) a reference to the exercise of a function includes, where the function is a duty, a reference to the performance of the duty.