National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009

In any proceedings (whether brought under this Code or not) in which a party claims that a lease is a consumer lease to which this Part applies, it is presumed to be such unless the contrary is established.

It is presumed for the purposes of this Code that goods hired under a lease are not hired wholly or predominantly for personal, domestic or household purposes if the lessee declares, before entering the lease, that the goods are hired wholly or predominantly for business purposes, unless the contrary is established.

However, the declaration is ineffective if, when the declaration was made, the lessor or a person (the prescribed person) of a kind prescribed by the regulations:

knew, or had reason to believe; or

would have known, or had reason to believe, if the lessor or prescribed person had made reasonable inquiries about the purpose for which the goods were hired;

If the declaration is ineffective under subsection (3), paragraph 170(1)(a) is taken to be satisfied in relation to the lease.

A declaration under this section is to be substantially in the form (if any) required by the regulations and is ineffective for the purposes of this section if it is not.

A person commits an offence if:

the person engages in conduct; and

the conduct induces a debtor to make a declaration under this section that is false or misleading in a material particular; and

the declaration is false or misleading in a material particular.

Strict liability applies to paragraph (6)(c).

For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code.