ESTABLISHING A CLAIM Part VA of the Trade Practices Act gives a right of action against
manufacturers of goods where a person has suffered loss because of a defect in
those goods. The Act also deems importers of goods to be manufacturers for the
purposes of this part of the Act. The Act only applies to goods supplied after 9
July 1992 which is the date Part VA was inserted into the Act. How do I establish a claim? There are four basic conditions required to be satisfied to establishing a
claim under the Act: Condition 1: “a corporation, in trade or commerce, supplies goods
manufactured by it” The Constitution limits the power of the Commonwealth Parliament to make laws
only in certain areas. The federal Trade Practices Act is a Commonwealth law and
is made under the so-called corporations power. It can therefore only apply to
corporations acting in trade and commerce. Thus a manufacturer who is not a
corporation, such as an individual or a partnership, cannot be made liable under
the Trade Practices Act. Unlike many other parts of the Trade Practices Act the
state parliaments have not enacted mirror legislation to fill the gap. Thus, manufacturers which are corporations are liable under the Act. The Act
also extends the definition of manufacturers to include importers of goods. It is not possible for a manufacturer to exclude, restrict or modify
liability by including a term in a contract to that effect. “Supply” is defined under the Act to include supply by way of sale,
exchange, lease, hire or hire-purchase. “Manufactured” includes grown, extracted, produced, processed and
assembled. “Goods” are defined under the Act to include: While the definition is a broad one, it should be noted that some of the
statutory rights of action available under Part VA are limited to loss in
respect of goods which are ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or
household use.
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Product Liability.
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