McKinnon & Anor v Commonwealth Bank of Australia

The applicants, McKinnon and Anor, sought to appeal a decision of the Federal Court of Australia concerning a dispute with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The core of the dispute involved allegations of misleading and deceptive conduct in contravention of the *Trade Practices Act 1974* (Cth) (now the *Competition and Consumer Act 2010* (Cth)) and the *Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001* (Cth). The applicants claimed the Bank had engaged in conduct that led them to believe they were entering into a loan facility on certain terms, when in fact the terms were significantly different and disadvantageous.

The High Court was required to determine whether the Federal Court had erred in its findings regarding the Bank's conduct. Specifically, the appeal concerned whether the Bank's communications and actions constituted misleading or deceptive conduct, and whether the applicants had suffered loss or damage as a result of such conduct. A key issue was the interpretation of the Bank's representations and whether they were objectively misleading in the circumstances.

Gummow and Heydon JJ dismissed the appeal, finding that the Federal Court had correctly applied the relevant legal principles. Their Honours held that the Bank's conduct, when viewed as a whole, was not misleading or deceptive. They reasoned that the documents provided to the applicants, including the loan offer and associated terms and conditions, were clear and unambiguous, and that the applicants had been afforded sufficient opportunity to understand the nature of the agreement. The Court emphasised that the onus was on the applicants to demonstrate that the Bank's conduct was misleading, and that this had not been established.