Goomboorian Transport Pty Ltd & Ors v Hanson & Anor

Goomboorian Transport Pty Ltd and others (the appellants) appealed to the Full Federal Court against a decision of a single judge that found them liable for contraventions of the *Trade Practices Act 1974* (Cth) (now the *Competition and Consumer Act 2010* (Cth)). The respondents, Hanson and another, had alleged that the appellants engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct in contravention of section 52 of the Act by representing that certain goods were new when they were, in fact, second-hand.

The central legal issue before the Full Federal Court was whether the representations made by the appellants concerning the condition of the goods constituted misleading or deceptive conduct in contravention of section 52 of the *Trade Practices Act 1974* (Cth). This required the court to consider the nature of the representations, the context in which they were made, and whether, viewed objectively, they were likely to mislead or deceive a reasonable consumer.

The Full Federal Court, comprising Bell and Keane JJ, affirmed the primary judge's findings. Their Honours reasoned that the representations made by the appellants, when considered in their totality and in the circumstances of the transaction, were objectively misleading. The court applied the established principles for determining misleading or deceptive conduct, focusing on the likely effect of the representations on ordinary members of the class of consumers to whom they were directed. The court found that the appellants had failed to establish any error in the primary judge's assessment of the evidence and the application of the law.