Section 69 — Competition and Consumer Act 2010: Meaning of unsolicited consumer agreement

(1) An agreement is an unsolicited consumer agreement if: (a) it is for the supply, in trade or commerce, of goods or services to a consumer; and (b) it is made as a result of negotiations between a dealer and the consumer: (i) in each other’s presence at a place other than the business or trade premises of the supplier of the goods or services; or (ii) by telephone; whether or not they are the only negotiations that precede the making of the agreement; and (c) the consumer did not invite the dealer to come to that place, or to make a telephone call, for the purposes of entering into negotiations relating to the supply of those goods or services (whether or not the consumer made such an invitation in relation to a different supply); and (d) the total price paid or payable by the consumer under the agreement: (i) is not ascertainable at the time the agreement is made; or (ii) if it is ascertainable at that time—is more than $100 or such other amount prescribed by the regulations. (1AA) To avoid doubt, a place mentioned in subsection (1)(b)(i) may be a public place, and need not be a place the dealer cannot enter without the consumer’s consent or invitation. Note: This subsection was inserted as a response to the decision of the Federal Court of Australia in Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v A.C.N. 099 814 749 Pty Ltd [2016] FCA 403. (1A) The consumer is not taken, for the purposes of subsection (1)(c), to have invited the dealer to come to that place, or to make a telephone call, merely because the consumer has: (a) given his or her name or contact details other than for the predominant purpose of entering into negotiations relating to the supply of the goods or services referred to in subsection (1)(c); or (b) contacted the dealer in connection with an unsuccessful attempt by the dealer to contact the consumer. (2) An invitation merely to quote a price for a supply is not taken, for the purposes of subsection (1)(c), to be an invitation to enter into negotiations for a supply. (3) An agreement is also an unsolicited consumer agreement if it is an agreement of a kind that the regulations provide are unsolicited consumer agreements. (4) However, despite subsections (1) and (3), an agreement is not an unsolicited consumer agreement if it is an agreement of a kind that the regulations provide are not unsolicited consumer agreements.