Surveyors Board of Queensland (& 10 Others) v the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

The Supreme Court of Queensland considered a dispute between the Surveyors Board of Queensland and ten other surveying bodies (collectively, the applicants) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (the respondent). The applicants sought to prevent the respondent from using the title "chartered surveyor" in Queensland, arguing that such use would mislead the public into believing the respondent's members were registered surveyors under Queensland law, when in fact they were not. The applicants contended that the respondent's activities constituted misleading and deceptive conduct under the *Trade Practices Act 1974* (Cth) and the *Fair Trading Act 1989* (Qld).

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the respondent's use of the title "chartered surveyor" in Queensland was likely to deceive or cause confusion among the public, thereby constituting misleading or deceptive conduct. This required the Court to assess the perception of the public regarding the title and its association with professional surveying qualifications and registration in Queensland, and to determine if the respondent's actions created a false impression of endorsement or qualification by the statutory bodies.

The Court found that the term "chartered surveyor" was not a protected or registered title in Queensland and that the respondent, a foreign body, was not subject to Queensland's statutory registration requirements for surveyors. The Court reasoned that while the respondent's members might possess relevant qualifications, the public's understanding of the term "chartered surveyor" in Queensland was not necessarily synonymous with being a registered surveyor under Queensland legislation. The Court concluded that the use of the title, in the absence of further clarification or context, was not inherently misleading or deceptive under the relevant legislation, as it did not necessarily imply registration or authorisation by the Queensland Surveyors Board.

The Court therefore dismissed the applicants' application for an injunction to restrain the respondent from using the title "chartered surveyor" in Queensland.