Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Morild Pty Ltd

In the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Morild Pty Ltd, the ACCC pursued legal action against Morild Pty Ltd for contraventions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) and the Competition and Consumer (Industry Codes – Franchising) Regulation 2014 (Cth). The ACCC alleged that Morild Pty Ltd breached clauses 8(1) and 9(1) of the Franchising Code by failing to create and distribute a compliant disclosure document that included the relevant business experience of Morild's director, Mr Bernstein, who had been a director of two predecessor companies that had gone into winding up by reason of insolvency. Both parties admitted the contraventions and agreed on the appropriate relief. The court had to determine the appropriate declarations, injunctive relief, pecuniary penalties, and costs.

The court held that Morild Pty Ltd contravened cl 8(1) of the Franchising Code by failing to create a disclosure document that disclosed Mr Bernstein's relevant business experience. It also contravened cl 9(1) of the Franchising Code by distributing a disclosure document that did not include this information. The court further found Mr Bernstein to be knowingly concerned in these contraventions. The agreed orders included declarations of contraventions, injunctive relief requiring the inclusion of specific information in disclosure documents, and pecuniary penalties for Morild Pty Ltd and Mr Bernstein. The respondents were also ordered to pay the ACCC's costs.