The Secretary of the Department of Education v Trailer Kingdom Pty Ltd - [2024] NSWCATCD 49

Civil and Administrative Tribunal

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: The Secretary of the Department of Education v Trailer Kingdom Pty Ltd [2024] NSWCATCD 49
Hearing dates: 10 July 2024
Date of orders: 16 August 2024
Decision date: 16 August 2024
Jurisdiction: Consumer and Commercial Division
Before: G A Kinsey, General Member
Decision: (1) The application is dismissed. The Tribunal does not have jurisdiction to hear and determine the claim.
Catchwords:
CONSUMER CLAIM- meaning of “consumer” in section 79D of the Fair Trading Act 1987- meaning of “natural person” in section 79D of the Fair Trading Act 1987-is a government department a “consumer” for the purposes of section 79D of the Fair Trading Act 1987-jurisdiction of Tribunal to determine application made by a government department as a consumer claim

Legislation Cited:
Fair Trading Act 1987 (NSW)
Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW)

Cases Cited:
Jenkinson v Chaw [2015] NSWCATAP 127
Lam v Steve Jarvin Motors Pty Ltd [2016] NSWCATAP 186
Skiba vSerendipity(WA) Pty Ltd t/as Advanced Personal Management [2019] NSWCATAP 224

Texts Cited:
Nil

Category: Principal judgment
Parties: The Secretary of the Department of Education (Applicant)
Trailer Kingdom Pty Ltd (Respondent)
Representation:
Samuel Byron (Legal Officer) for Applicant
Boda Zeng for Respondent

File Number(s): 2023/00449910
Publication restriction: Unrestricted

REASONS FOR DECISION

PARTIES

The Applicant is the Secretary of The Department of Education. For the sake of convenience, the Applicant shall hereinafter be referred to as “The Department”.
The Respondent is Trailer Kingdom Pty Ltd. The Respondent conducts business as a manufacturer and supplier of trailers including food trailers. For the sake of convenience, the Respondent shall hereinafter be referred to as “Trailer Kingdom”.

APPLICATION

In an application filed in the Tribunal on 12 December 2023, The Department requested orders for Trailer Kingdom to refund the purchase price of $56,790.00 paid for a food trailer and to accept the return the trailer.
The Department alleged the food trailer had numerous defects and was not of acceptable quality in breach of the consumer guarantee in section 54 of Australian Consumer Law (“the ACL”).
In the alternative, The Department alleged Trailer Kingdom had engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct in breach of section 18 of the ACL. The Department abandoned this claim at the hearing..

BACKGROUND

In or about May and June 2022, Camden High School made enquiries with Trailer Kingdom about purchasing an aluminium food trailer for use by its students undertaking the hospitality course.
After negotiations, the parties agreed on or about 30 June 2022, to the specifications and price of $56,790.00 for the food trailer.
Trailer Kingdom provided Camden High School with a tax invoice on 1 July 2022.
Trailer Kingdom required Camden High School to pay 50% deposit to confirm the order. The deposit of $28,395.00 was paid by 2 equal instalments on 13 July and 4 October 2022.
Upon payment of the deposit, the parties entered into a contract.
The food trailer was delivered to Camden High School on 12 October 2022. The school’s representative noted numerous defects…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

AGLC: The Secretary of the Department of Education v Trailer Kingdom Pty Ltd [2024] NSWCATCD 49
Case: [2024] NSWCATCD 49
Decision Date: 16 August 2024

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The matter before the Tribunal involved the Secretary of the Department of Education, who was acting on behalf of a government department, and Trailer Kingdom Pty Ltd. The dispute centred around the interpretation of the terms "consumer" and "natural person" in section 79D of the Fair Trading Act 1987, and whether the government department could be considered a consumer for the purposes of the Act. The Tribunal was also required to determine if it had jurisdiction to hear and determine the claim made by the government department.

The legal issues before the Tribunal involved the interpretation of section 79D of the Fair Trading Act 1987. The Tribunal needed to determine whether the term "consumer" in the section referred only to natural persons or if it could also include government departments. The Tribunal also needed to determine if it had jurisdiction to hear and determine the claim made by the government department as a consumer claim.

The Tribunal held that the term "consumer" in section 79D of the Fair Trading Act 1987 referred only to natural persons and not to government departments. The Tribunal also held that it did not have jurisdiction to hear and determine the claim made by the government department as a consumer claim. The Tribunal dismissed the application and held that it did not have the authority to hear and determine the claim. The reasoning behind this decision was that the Act only provided for consumer claims to be brought by natural persons and not by government departments. The Tribunal found that the government department was not a consumer for the purposes of the Act and therefore did not have the standing to bring a consumer claim.

The Tribunal dismissed the application and held that it did not have jurisdiction to hear and determine the claim made by the government department. The Tribunal did not have the authority to hear and determine the claim as it was not brought by a natural person as defined in section 79D of the Fair Trading Act 1987. The Tribunal held that the government department was not a consumer for the purposes of the Act and therefore did not have the standing to bring a consumer claim.

Orders

Orders of the court

(1) The application is dismissed. The Tribunal does not have jurisdiction to hear and determine the claim.

Background

Background to the litigation

Full text does not contain this section.

Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

Full text does not contain this section.

Decision

Reasons for decision

Full text does not contain this section.

Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

Full text does not contain this section.

Medium Neutral Citation:	The Secretary of the Department of Education v Trailer Kingdom Pty Ltd [2024] NSWCATCD 49
Hearing dates:	10 July 2024
Date of orders:	16 August 2024
Decision date:	16 August 2024
Jurisdiction:	Consumer and Commercial Division
Before:	G A Kinsey, General Member
Decision:	(1) The application is dismissed. The Tribunal does not have jurisdiction to hear and determine the claim.
Catchwords:	CONSUMER CLAIM- meaning of “consumer” in section 79D of the Fair Trading Act 1987- meaning of “natural person” in section 79D of the Fair Trading Act 1987-is a government department a “consumer” for the purposes of section 79D of the Fair Trading Act 1987-jurisdiction of Tribunal to determine application made by a government department as a consumer claim
Legislation Cited:	Fair Trading Act 1987 (NSW) Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW)
Cases Cited:	Jenkinson v Chaw [2015] NSWCATAP 127 Lam v Steve Jarvin Motors Pty Ltd [2016] NSWCATAP 186 Skiba vSerendipity(WA) Pty Ltd t/as Advanced Personal Management [2019] NSWCATAP 224
Texts Cited:	Nil
Category:	Principal judgment
Parties:	The Secretary of the Department of Education (Applicant) Trailer Kingdom Pty Ltd (Respondent)
Representation:	Samuel Byron (Legal Officer) for Applicant Boda Zeng for Respondent
File Number(s):	2023/00449910
Publication restriction:	Unrestricted