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ARTICLE · 18 SEPTEMBER 2024

The intersection of unconscionable conduct and fraud

Bartier Perry Solicitors
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HC applied personal liability to officer for unconscionable conduct of an institution… would they do the same for an institution's fraud?

AustraliaConsumer Protection
Gavin Stuart
Gavin Stuart
Isabelle Stillman
Isabelle Stillman
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We recently published an article about personal liability of directors and officers of a company for misrepresentations made in the course of their employment.

Australian courts are continuing to expand these concepts, in particular the accessorial liability of officers of educational institutions, for the unconscionable conduct of the institution itself, as recently examined by the High Court in Productivity Partners Pty Ltd v Australian Competition and Consumer Commission; Wills v Australian Competition and Consumer Commission [2024] HCA 27 (Productivity Partners v ACCC).

In this article, we take a closer look at the High Court's decision regarding unconscionable conduct on a principal and accessorial basis with respect to Vocational Education and Training (VET) programmes offered with the support of Commonwealth loans. In this context, we also consider some implications for the expansion of these arguments towards the contention that fraudulent conduct may

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