Section 6
24 As was noted by McKerracher J in Bride v Shire of Katanning, s 6 gives the CC Act an extended operation in those cases in which there is a sufficient link to the Constitutional power of the Commonwealth, be it international, interstate, intra-territory, suppliers to the Commonwealth, or usage of postal, telegraphic or telephonic services - see s 6(2), 6(3) and 6(3A) of the CC Act. It provides (relevantly):
6 Extended application of this Act to persons who are not corporations
(1) Without prejudice to its effect apart from this section, this Act also has effect as provided by this section.
…
(3) In addition to the effect that this Act, other than Parts IIIA, VIIA and X, has as provided by another subsection of this section, the provisions of Parts 2-1, 2-2, 3-1 (other than Division 3), 3-3, 3-4, 4-1 (other than Division 3), 4-3, 4-4 and 5-3 of the Australian Consumer Law have, by force of this subsection, the effect they would have if:
(a) those provisions (other than sections 33 and 155 of the Australian Consumer Law) were, by express provision, confined in their operation to engaging in conduct to the extent to which the conduct involves the use of postal, telegraphic or telephonic services or takes place in a radio or television broadcast; and
(b) a reference in the provisions of Part XI to a corporation included a reference to a person not being a corporation.
…
(Emphasis added)
25 As is apparent, s 6(3) has the effect of extending the application of specified provisions in the ACL to conduct involving "the use of postal, telegraphic or telephonic services" by a "person" who is not a corporation. These provisions include Pt XI and the ACL (other than Pt 5-3).
26 The applicants contend that s 6(3) is engaged by reason of Mr Blackmore having sent the letter by email to Abergeldie, it being accepted that the expression "postal, telegraphic or telephonic services" encompasses the use of the internet: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Jutsen (No 3) [2011] FCA 1352, (2011) 206 FCR 264 at [100]; Seafolly Pty Ltd v Madden [2012] FCA 1346, (2012) 297 ALR 337 at [78]; Sunland Waterfront (BVI) Ltd v Prudentia Investments Pty Ltd (No 2) [2012] VSC 239, (2012) 266 FLR 243 at [392]-[396].
27 The respondents submitted that it was not open to the applicants to rely upon s 6(3) in the present case. First, they submitted that there was no specific reference to s 6(3) in the applicants' pleading. I do not regard this submission as meritorious as the applicants have pleaded the factual elements to attract the operation of s 6(3) if it is otherwise available, and it was not necessary for them to plead expressly the statutory provision: Agtrack (NT) Pty Ltd v Hatfield [2005] HCA 38; (2005) 223 CLR 251 at [38]-[39].
28 Next, the respondents submitted that the immunity afforded them by s 2B cannot be abrogated by s 6(3). Counsel relied on two authorities for this submission. The first was Mason v MWREDC Limited [2011] FCA 1512; (2011) 199 FCR 151 in which Greenwood J held that it would not be open to the Court, in exercising the power under s 236 of the ACL, to award damages against officers of the State of Queensland "involved" in a contravention of s 50 of the ACL when, by reason of s 2B, the ACL had no application to that State. His Honour said:
[81] … The provisions of the Act (s 2, Schedule 2) which determine whether a person is involved in a contravention of a provision of Schedule 2 and, in particular, Chapter 3 of Schedule 2, are not to be construed in a way that extends the application of the Act to persons acting in their capacity as officers of the State of Queensland as such a construction would defeat the express limitation of the application of the Act contained in s 2B …
(Emphasis in the original)
29 As is apparent, the decision in Mason turned on the inter-relationship between provisions in the CC Act bestowing particular powers on the Court, on the one hand, and a provision (s 2B) concerning the application of the Act, on the other. It was not necessary for Geenwood J, in the circumstances of that case, to address the operation of s 6(3) in relation to the application of the CC Act in the context of s 2B.
30 The second authority to which the respondents referred was Woodlands v Permanent Trustee Co Ltd (1996) 68 FCR 213 in which the Full Court (Wilcox, Burchett and Olney JJ) answered reserved questions of law. The first was whether a claim under Pt IVA of the TPA was actionable against the State of NSW. The Full Court answered that question in the negative, referring to the principle stated in Bradken.
31 The second reserved question was whether the respondents other than the State of NSW were also immune from action because the application of the TPA to them would prejudice the interests of the State. The Full Court discussed and applied the principle emerging from Roberts v Ahern [1904] HCA 17; (1904) 1 CLR 406, Broken Hill Associated Smelters Pty Ltd v Collector of Imposts (Vic) (1918) 25 CLR 61 and Re Telephone Apparatus Manufacturers' Application [1963] 1 WLR 463 and held, at 237-8, that:
The respondents other than the State of New South Wales are immune from the claims made against them in reliance on the Trade Practices Act to the extent, and only to the extent, that the acts or omissions giving rise to those claims were not outside the scope of the HomeFund Scheme, as devised by the State of New South Wales, or that those acts or omissions were carried out pursuant to the direction or request of the State of New South Wales.
32 Earlier, at 230, the Full Court said:
The principle of Roberts seems to be that the immunity that attaches to the Crown itself, from the effect of a statute making unlawful a particular act, extends also to persons retained by the Crown to perform the act, whatever the precise nature of the relationship between the Crown and them. The rationale, no doubt, is that the Crown acts through servants and agents. It would make a mockery of Crown immunity if servants and agents of the Crown were bound by the statute, although performing the very act they were retained to perform and in relation to which the Crown itself was immune.
33 As in Mason, the Full Court reached this decision without reference to s 6(3) of the TPA.
34 Bass v Permanent Trustee Co Ltd [1999] HCA 9; (1999) 198 CLR 334 is the decision of the High Court on appeal from Woodlands. The High Court confirmed the decision of the Full Court with respect to the immunity of the State of NSW, holding that, despite s 22(1)(a) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth), the term "person" in s 6(3) of the TPA did not include the State. However, the High Court upheld the appeal with respect to the application of the TPA to the respondents other than the State of NSW and substituted "inappropriate to answer" for the answer given by the Full Court. The Court considered the reserved question concerning these respondents to be hypothetical and, accordingly, as not raising a matter appropriate for the exercise of judicial power, at [42]-[59]. The plurality (Gleeson CJ, Gaudron, McHugh, Gummow, Hayne and Callinan JJ) did say, however, that the Full Court reasoning in Woodlands had extended beyond the rule of construction applied in Re Telephone Apparatus and in Bradken, at [42].
35 Accordingly, neither of the authorities to which the respondents referred is an express authority for the proposition that s 6(3) does not abrogate the effect of the immunity afforded to the State and its agencies by s 2B. The question of whether that is so depends on the proper inter-relationship between ss 2B and 6(3). That inter-relationship is stated, in part, in s 6(1) which provides "without prejudice to its effect apart from this section, this Act also has effect as provided by this section" (emphasis added). The opening words in s 6(3) are also relevant to the inter-relationship as they indicate that, in addition to the effect which the other subsections in s 6 give to the CC Act, the Act has effect in the circumstances described therein.
36 Section 6(3) has formed part of the CC Act ever since its first enactment as the TPA in 1974 (subject to some amendments which are not presently material). It is doubtful that the insertion of s 2B into the TPA in 1995 to which reference was made earlier should be understood as impliedly qualifying the operation of s 6(3) as, even before its insertion, the TPA did not apply to activities of a State: Bradken at 123 (Gibbs ACJ).
37 Prima facie, there is an inconsistency between the immunity given to the State of NSW by s 2B and, in accordance with Bradken, to those in contractual relationships with it to whom the CC Act would otherwise apply when that application would affect the interests of the State and its authorities, on the one hand, and the extended application of the CC Act given by s 6(3), on the other. The manner in which conflicts of this kind are to be resolved was discussed by McHugh, Gummow, Kirby and Hayne JJ in Project Blue Sky Inc v Australian Broadcasting Authority [1998] HCA 28; (1998) 194 CLR 355 at [70]:
A legislative instrument must be construed on the prima facie basis that its provisions are intended to give effect to harmonious goals. Where conflict appears to arise from the language of particular provisions, the conflict must be alleviated, so far as possible, by adjusting the meaning of the competing provisions to achieve that result which will best give effect to the purpose and language of those provisions while maintaining the unity of all the statutory provisions. Reconciling conflicting provisions will often require the court "to determine which is the leading provision and which the subordinate provision, and which must give way to the other". Only by determining the hierarchy of the provisions will it be possible in many cases to give each provision the meaning which best gives effect to its purpose and language while maintaining the unity of the statutory scheme.
(Citations omitted)
38 In resolving the apparent conflict between the effect of s 2B, and s 6(3), some features of s 6 may be noted.
39 It is evident that the purpose of s 6 is to give the CC Act a broad application to the extent that that application is capable of being supported by the heads of Commonwealth legislative power. Its effect is to indicate that, even if not supported by the corporations power, the specified provisions in the CC Act have application in the various circumstances to which the subsections in s 6 refer independently of other provisions in the CC Act.
40 It is also evident that s 6(3) indicates a legislative intention that postal, telegraphic or telephonic services should not be used by anyone, be it a corporation or an individual, as a means of engaging in conduct proscribed by the CC Act and the ACL (other than by the specified provisions). Relevantly for this case, it evidences a legislative intention that the postal, telegraphic or telephonic services should not be used as a means of engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct.
41 However, despite these matters, it is established that the word "person" in s 6(3) does not include a State or Territory: Bass v Permanent Trustee at [24]. Moreover, as already noted, Bradken indicates that the CC Act does not apply to those with whom the State is in contractual relations if to do so would prejudice a State's interests. Mr Blackmore is such a person, and the State of NSW would be affected by a finding that he is liable to the applicants, given the plea, and the admission, of vicarious liability.
42 It is true, as counsel for the applicants submitted, that the presumption against the applicability of general words to bind employees of a State which is immune from legislation is little more than a starting point in the ascertainment of the relevant legislative intent: Bropho v Western Australia [1990] HCA 24; (1990) 171 CLR 1 at 23. However, recognition that that is so does not assist the applicants presently, as it is evident that while there is a legislative intent that persons making use of postal, telegraphic or telephonic services will be subject to the specified provisions of the CC Act, there is also a legislative intent not to abrogate the immunity of the States by making the CC Act applicable to those with whom it contracts when the State's interests may thereby be affected.
43 There is an evident ambiguity in the expression "without prejudice to its effect apart from this section" appearing in s 6(1). Does it indicate that s 6 is not to be understood as modifying the operation of other provisions of the CC Act, and relevantly for present purposes, s 2B? That is, as not altering the effect of other provisions, including their effect in limiting the application of the CC Act? Alternatively, does it mean that, despite the effect of other provisions in the Act, s 6 has the additional effect for which its content provides?
44 In my view, the first of these alternatives is the appropriate construction. This is so because some operation has to be given to the words "without prejudice to its effect apart from this section" with which s 6(1) commences: Project Blue Sky at [71]. Those words mean that s 6(1) is not to be understood as though it provided simply "this Act also has effect as provided by this section". The opening words of s 6(1) serve to indicate that the content of s 6 is not intended to alter the effect of the Act achieved by its other provisions. And, as already seen, the effect of s 2B is to indicate that Pt XI of the CC Act and the ACL do not bind the Crown in right of a State, even when the Crown is carrying on a business, whether directly or by an authority. Further, its effect is to extend the immunity to protect it from the operation of the Act when it is in a contractual relationship with parties to whom the Act applies or when otherwise interested in transactions affecting those parties.
45 This understanding of s 6 enables s 2B and s 6(3) to have a harmonious operation.
46 When s 6(3) is understood this way, it should be concluded that it does not apply to the conduct of Mr Blackmore in sending the email to Abergeldie on 3 October 2019.