Breach Of Section 155 Notice Results In Imprisonment

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission v Rana [2008] FCA 374

• Courts consider a failure to comply with a notice issued under section 155 by the ACCC a serious matter.

Readers will remember that last year we reported on the decision in Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Nuera Health Pty Ltd (In Liquidation) [2007] FCA 695, where the Federal Court found the defendants to have engaged in reprehensible conduct in falsely promoting a treatment to cancer patients.

These proceedings were significant because the court made rare findings that the respondents had engaged in unconscionable conduct in breach of section 51AB (1) of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth). It was also held that representations made in relation to a cancer treatment constituted misleading or deceptive conduct (in breach of section 52 of the Trade Practices Act) and false representations were made concerning the need for goods and services, that goods and services were of a