Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Woolworths Limited

In the case of Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Woolworths Limited, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) brought an action against Woolworths Limited, alleging multiple breaches of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). The ACCC claimed that Woolworths engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct in relation to the safety of its products, specifically the Abode 3 Litre Stainless Steel Deep Fryer, Woolworths Select Drain Cleaner, Safety Matches, Padded Flop Chair, and Folding Stool. Additionally, Woolworths was alleged to have failed to recall unsafe products within a reasonable time, contravening section 131 of the ACL.

The primary legal issues addressed by the court were the assessment of pecuniary penalties for the contraventions, the relevance of previous acknowledgments of likely contraventions, and the effect of the course of conduct principle in determining the penalties. The court also considered whether the payment of compensation by Woolworths was relevant to the assessment of penalties.

The court found that the proposed penalty of $2.2 million by Woolworths was insufficient given the seriousness of the contraventions, particularly those involving the Select Drain Cleaner and Deep Fryer, which posed serious health risks to consumers. However, the court also determined that a penalty of $4 million exceeded the appropriate amount considering the mitigating factors and the statutory maximum penalty for a single contravention. The court imposed a total penalty of $3.057 million, broken down into specific amounts for different courses of conduct and contraventions, and ordered Woolworths to implement a dedicated product safety compliance program to prevent future breaches. The court further ordered Woolworths to publish recall information on its website and smartphone application and to pay the ACCC’s costs.