Coliban Heights Pty Ltd v Citisolar Vic Pty Ltd

Coliban Heights Pty Ltd brought an action against Citisolar Vic Pty Ltd, seeking to terminate a contract for the supply of services for solar panels and installation services on their property. The dispute was heard in the Supreme Court of Victoria. The primary issue before the Court was whether Coliban Heights had validly exercised its right to terminate the contract under the Australian Consumer Law due to a "major failure" in the services provided by Citisolar. Additionally, the Court had to determine whether the acceptance of goods connected with the services constituted an inconsistency with the purported termination of the contract.

The Court began by examining whether Coliban Heights had correctly exercised its right to terminate the contract for a "major failure". It considered the statutory provisions of the Australian Consumer Law, specifically sections 267, 269, and 270, which provide for the termination of a contract for a "major failure" and the consequences of such termination, including the deemed rejection of goods connected with the services. The Court found that while Coliban Heights had indeed experienced significant issues with the solar panels and installation, the process by which the contract was terminated did not strictly comply with the statutory requirements. Therefore, the purported termination was not legally valid. The Court also examined whether the acceptance of the goods by Coliban Heights constituted an inconsistency with the purported termination of the contract, finding that the acceptance did not necessarily validate the termination process.

In light of the above findings, the Court held that Coliban Heights had not validly terminated the contract, and thus the acceptance of the goods did not validate the termination. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed, and the decision of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal was upheld. The Court further noted that the appeal was not properly grounded in a question of law, as required by the statutory provisions of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 and the Supreme Court (Miscellaneous Civil Proceedings) Rules 2008.