Australian Consumer Law
Section 18
Misleading or deceptive conduct
(1) A person must not, in trade or commerce, engage in conduct that is misleading or deceptive or is likely to mislead or deceive.
(2) Nothing in Part 3-1 (which is about unfair practices) limits by implication subsection (1).
Note: For rules relating to representations as to the country of origin of goods, see Part 5-3.
Location of provision
Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2, Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)
Chapter 2 General Provisions
Part 2-1 Misleading or deceptive conduct
History and commentary
History
Prior to the introduction of the Australian Consumer Law this provision was contained in s 52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974. It is now contained in the same Act (the Trade Practices Act 1974 was re-named the Competition and Consumer Act 2010) but has moved to Schedule 2 of the Act, now commonly referred to as the Australian Consumer Law.
When originally introduced in 1974 the prohibition stated:
Section 52: Misleading or deceptive conduct
(1) A corporation shall not, in trade or commerce, engage in conduct that is misleading or deceptive.
(2) Nothing in the succeeding provisions of this Division shall be taken as limiting by implication the generality of sub-section (1).
In 1977 the Trade Practices Amendment Act 1977 ➤(Act 81 of 1977) amended the prohibition by adding the words 'or is likely to mislead or deceive' and the prohibition has remained substantially the same ever since.
The introduction of the Australian Consumer Law replaced 'corporation' with 'person' but for constitutional reasons the application of the Act to 'persons' as opposed to 'corporations' depends on various enabling state legislation.
Commentary
Links
Copyright
Provision and legislative history based on content from the Federal Register of Legislation at 18 September 2018. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au
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Last updated: 20 October 2019