National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009

The court may order a person (the defendant) to compensate another person (the plaintiff) for loss or damage suffered by the plaintiff if:

the defendant has contravened a civil penalty provision or has committed an offence against this Act (other than the National Credit Code); and

the loss or damage resulted from the contravention or commission of the offence.

An order may be made under this subsection whether or not a declaration of contravention has been made under section 166.

The court may make the order only if:

the plaintiff or ASIC (on behalf of the plaintiff) applies for an order under this section; and

the application is made within 6 years of the day the cause of action that relates to the contravention or commission of the offence accrued.

For the purposes of paragraph (2)(a), ASIC may make an application on behalf of the plaintiff, but only if the plaintiff has given consent in writing before the application is made.

If the court makes the order, the amount of compensation specified in the order that is to be paid to the plaintiff may be recovered as a debt due to the plaintiff.