Australian Finance Direct Ltd v Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria

HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIAGLEESON CJ,GUMMOW, KIRBY, HAYNE AND CRENNAN JJAUSTRALIAN FINANCE DIRECT LIMITED  APPELLANTANDDIRECTOR OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS VICTORIA  RESPONDENTAustralian Finance Direct Limited v Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria[2007] HCA 5712 December 2007M53/2007ORDERAppeal dismissed with costs.On appeal from the Supreme Court of Victoria RepresentationA C Archibald QC with P W Lithgow for the appellant (instructed by Dibbs Abbott Stillman)D J O'Callaghan SC with J A Redwood for the respondent (instructed by Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria)Notice:  This copy of the Court's Reasons for Judgment is subject to formal revision prior to publication in the Commonwealth Law Reports.CATCHWORDSAustralian Finance Direct Limited v Director of Consumer Affairs VictoriaConsumer credit – Precontractual disclosure – Contracts regulated by the Consumer Credit (Victoria) Code ("the Code") – Loans to consumers for payment of seminar fees – "Holdback" arrangement between the credit provider and seminar suppliers by which the credit provider retained for itself a portion of the moneys advanced – Whether, for the purposes of s 15(B)(a)(ii) of the Code, the holdbacks were part of "the amount of credit" and "amounts payable", and whether the credit provider was one of the "persons, bodies or agents (including the credit provider)" to whom the amount of credit was to be paid – Relevance of the legislative purpose of providing information to debtors – Relevance of "truth in lending" considerations.Statutes – Interpretation – Purposive interpretation – Ascertaining legislative purpose.Words and phrases – "amount of credit", "holdback", "precontractual disclosure", "truth in lending".Consumer Credit (Victoria) Code (Vic), s 15.GLEESON CJ, GUMMOW,...