Victorian Current Acts

AUSTRALIAN CONSUMER LAW AND FAIR TRADING ACT 2012 - SECT 213

    (1)     Subject to subsection (2), in a prosecution under this Act in relation to a contravention of a prescribed provision, it is a defence if the accused establishes—

        (a)     that the contravention in respect of which the proceeding was instituted was due to a reasonable mistake of fact, including a mistake of fact caused by a reasonable reliance on information supplied by another person; or

        (b)     that—

              (i)     the contravention in respect of which the proceeding was instituted was due to the act or default of another person, to an accident or to some other cause beyond the control of the accused; and

              (ii)     the accused took reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence to avoid the contravention.

    (2)     In subsection (1)(a) and (b), another person does not include a person who was—

        (a)     an employee or an agent of the accused; or

        (b)     in the case of an accused being a body corporate, an officer, employee or agent of the accused—

at the time when the contravention occurred.

    (3)     If a defence provided by subsection (1) involves an allegation that a contravention was due to reliance on information supplied by another person or to the act or default of another person, the accused is not, without leave of the court, entitled to rely on that defence unless the accused has, not later than 14 days before the day on which the hearing of the proceeding commences, served on the person by whom the proceeding was instituted, a notice in writing giving such information that would identify or assist in the identification of the other person as was then in the possession of the accused.

    (4)     In a proceeding under this Act in relation to a contravention of a prescribed provision committed by the publication of an advertisement, it is a defence if the accused establishes that—

        (a)     the accused is a person whose business is to publish or arrange for the publication of advertisements; and

        (b)     that the accused received the advertisement for publication in the ordinary course of business and did not know and had no reason to suspect that its publication would amount to a contravention of a prescribed provision.

    (5)     In this section prescribed provision means a provision of this Act other than section 141, Part 6.2 or Part 6.4.