Abstract
This presentation examines the position of the small business as “consumer” under existing consumer protection legislation and the incongruities arising from this characterisation in the area of consumer credit regulation. While the inclusion of small businesses may be defensible under the Australian Consumer Law, it is contended that this is not the case in consumer credit regulation. It is arguable that such an inclusion impacts significantly on commercial dealings and could have a lasting effect on the availability of credit to small businesses. The effects of treating businesses as consumers in relation to consumer credit transactions are far-reaching, potentially affecting the power of the Courts to make winding-up orders under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and also countenancing insolvent trading under the hardship provisions.
| Original language | English |
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| Publication status | Published - 2013 |
| Event | 14th International Association of Consumer Law Conference - University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia Duration: 1 Jul 2013 → 4 Jul 2014 Conference number: 14th |
Conference
| Conference | 14th International Association of Consumer Law Conference |
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| Abbreviated title | IACL |
| Country/Territory | Australia |
| City | Sydney |
| Period | 1/07/13 → 4/07/14 |
| Other | The 14th International Conference on Consumer Law was held at the University of Sydney, Australia with the theme of ‘diversity’ – of consumers, products and regulatory techniques from July 2 to July 4 2013. Participants came from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas to give papers and contribute to discussion. The conference was organised by Professor Gail Pearson from the University of Sydney with help from Professor Eileen Webb from the University of Western Australia. The conference built on the recent introduction of the Australian Consumer Law to explore issues including centralised or divergent regulatory practices, special protection for vulnerable consumers, international protection of tourists as consumers, the digital marketplace, collective actions, and maintained the strong tradition of cutting edge work on consumer credit and finance. |