Electronic Transactions Act 1999

For the purposes of a law of the Commonwealth, unless otherwise agreed between the originator and the addressee of an electronic communication:

the electronic communication is taken to have been dispatched at the place where the originator has its place of business; and

the electronic communication is taken to have been received at the place where the addressee has its place of business.

For the purposes of the application of subsection (1) to an electronic communication:

a party’s place of business is assumed to be the location indicated by that party, unless another party demonstrates that the party making the indication does not have a place of business at that location; and

if a party has not indicated a place of business and has only one place of business, it is to be assumed that that place is the party’s place of business; and

if a party has not indicated a place of business and has more than one place of business, the place of business is that which has the closest relationship to the underlying transaction, having regard to the circumstances known to or contemplated by the parties at any time before or at the conclusion of the transaction; and

if a party has not indicated a place of business and has more than one place of business, but paragraph (c) does not apply—it is to be assumed that the party’s principal place of business is the party’s only place of business; and

if a party is a natural person and does not have a place of business—it is to be assumed that the party’s place of business is the place of the party’s habitual residence.

A location is not a place of business merely because that is:

where equipment and technology supporting an information system used by a party are located; or

where the information system may be accessed by other parties.

The sole fact that a party makes use of a domain name or email address connected to a specific country does not create a presumption that its place of business is located in that country.