Australian Competition and Consumer Commission V Keshow (2005)

1. Keshow sold children’s educational materials to residents of Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. In doing so, he took advantage of the lack of education and commercial experience of his customers. In many instances, having regard to the age of the customers’ children, the educational materials were either not needed or not useful. Keshow also induced his customers to supply an open-ended periodic payment authority authorising payment on the day the customer received payments from Centrelink. In many instances, Keshow continued to receive payments under this arrangement long after he had received the full price of the goods.

Did Keshow’s conduct constitute unconscionable conduct?