Competition and Consumer Act 2010

An SPF consumer, of a regulated service, is any of the following:

a natural person, or a small business operator, who is or may be provided or purportedly provided the service in Australia;

a natural person who:

is ordinarily resident in Australia; and

is or may be provided or purportedly provided the service outside of Australia by a regulated entity that satisfies the residency requirements in subsection (2).

The regulated entity satisfies the residency requirements if it:

is an Australian resident (within the meaning of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997); or

is so providing or purportedly providing the service through a permanent establishment (within the meaning of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997) in Australia.

For paragraph (1)(a), a person who is a small business operator at the time the person is impacted by a scam continues to be an SPF consumer for that time even if the business later has 100 or more employees.

Sections 58GA to 58GC extend the meaning of person for partnerships, unincorporated associations and trusts.

Subsection (1) includes the provision or purported provision of a regulated service:

directly or indirectly to the person; or

whether or not under a contract, arrangement or understanding with the person; or

whether or not the regulated entity providing the service knows that the person is:

a natural person; or

a small business operator; or

that involves the supply of goods.

This is not an exhaustive list.

However, the person is not an SPF consumer of the regulated service if a condition prescribed by the SPF rules applies to the person in relation to regulated services of that kind.

In this section:

in the case of the person being a body corporate:

the sum of the person’s employees, and the employees of any body corporate related to the person, is less than 100 employees; and

the person’s annual turnover during the last financial year is less than $10 million; and

in the case of the person not being a body corporate:

the person has less than 100 employees; and

the person’s annual turnover (worked out as if the person were a body corporate) during the last financial year is less than $10 million; and

in every case—the business has a principal place of business in Australia.

Section 4B (about consumers) does not apply to this Part.