Director of Public Prosecutions Reference No 1 of 2019

This matter concerned a reference by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to the High Court of Australia regarding the interpretation of section 4F(1) of the *Crimes Act 1914* (Cth) and its application to the offence of obtaining financial advantage by deception under section 134.2(1) of the *Criminal Code* (Cth). The DPP sought clarification on whether a person could be convicted of the Commonwealth offence of obtaining financial advantage by deception where the deception involved a representation that was false only by reason of the omission of a material fact.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the phrase "false by reason of the omission of a material particular" in section 4F(1) of the *Crimes Act* applied to the definition of "deception" for the purposes of the *Criminal Code* offence. Specifically, the court had to determine if a representation that is misleading due to the absence of a crucial piece of information could constitute a deception under the *Criminal Code*, thereby satisfying the elements of the offence of obtaining a financial advantage by deception.

The High Court unanimously held that section 4F(1) of the *Crimes Act* is a definitional provision that applies to the term "deception" wherever it appears in Commonwealth legislation, including the *Criminal Code*. The court reasoned that the ordinary meaning of "deception" encompasses misleading conduct, and that conduct can be misleading by omission as well as by positive misstatement. Therefore, a representation that is false by reason of the omission of a material particular constitutes a deception for the purposes of section 134.2(1) of the *Criminal Code*. The court concluded that the DPP's reference should be answered in the affirmative.