Legal news
Withholding information whilst negotiating agreements can amount to misleading and deceptive conduct. However, the recent Supreme Court decision in Sec New Line Pty Ltd v Muffin Break Pty Ltd provides important guidance on when silence will become deceptive, specifically in the context of lease and franchising renewals.
The High Court deemed a tertiary college’s enrolment processes to be unconscionable for creating a risk of unsuitable student enrolment and found that senior management may be held liable as accessories for the actions of the business if they were aware of the primary matters which made the conduct unreasonable.
The specific wording of a contract is crucial to its interpretation and may be beneficial or a trap to parties. Many parties fail to understand the implications that the well-known phrase ‘subject to contract’ will have on their agreements. Masters v Cameron (1954) 91 CLR 353 is the leading Australian case which examines the consequences of certain wording on parties to a contract, and whether such wording leads to an enforceable and binding contract.
On 23 November 2022, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) released Taxation Ruling TR 2022/3, finalising its views on personal services income (PSI) and personal services businesses (PSB).
