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Industrial Relations Act 1996
310Principal contractor—meaning
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#### 310 Principal contractor—meaning
310 Principal contractor—meaning
> > (1) For the purposes of this Chapter, a principal contractor is, subject to this section, the person for whom the carrier under a contract of carriage agrees to transport goods to which the contract relates.
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> > (2) If—
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> > > (a) a contract of carriage is made by the acceptance by an agent of the carrier of an offer to enter into the contract not directed specifically to that carrier, and
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> > > (b) the agent accepted the offer in the course of a business of acting as agent for the receipt and acceptance, on behalf of 2 or more prospective carriers, of offers to enter into contracts of carriage, and
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> > > (c) the agent has a discretion in the selection of the prospective carrier on whose behalf an offer received in the course of that business will be accepted by the agent,
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> > the agent is, for the purposes of this Chapter, to be regarded as the principal contractor under the contract to the exclusion of the offerer.
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> > (3) For the purposes of section 309 (4) (a), the carrier under a contract of carriage made as referred to in subsection (2) is to be regarded as having held himself or herself out as ready to transport the goods to which the contract relates for the person required by subsection (2) to be regarded as the principal contractor and not to have held himself or herself out as ready to transport the goods for the offerer so referred to.
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> > (4) To avoid doubt, subsection (2) does not apply to a carrier referred to in section 309(5), definition of prescribed circumstances, paragraph (a).
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> > (5) For this section, a reference to goods includes a reference to persons.
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> > Note—
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> > See sections 309(3B)(a) and 310B(2).
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> **s 310:** Am 2025 No 20, Sch 1\[6\] \[7\].