Australian Capital Territory

Fair Trading Amendment Act 2002
Act 2002 No 31

An Act to amend the Fair Trading Act 1992 

    
    
Notified under the Legislation Act 2001 on 9 September 2002
(see www.legislation.act.gov.au)

The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory enacts as follows:

1	Name of Act
This Act is the Fair Trading Amendment Act 2002.
2		Commencement
This Act commences on 25 November 2002.
Note 	The naming and commencement provisions automatically commence on the notification day (see Legislation Act 2001, s 75).
3	Act amended
This Act amends the Fair Trading Act 1992.
4	Cash card use disclosure
Section 28A
renumber as section 28B
5	New section 28A
insert
28A	Credit card contracts and increases in credit card limits
	(1)	A credit provider must not enter into a continuing credit contract for a credit card with a debtor unless the credit provider has carried out a satisfactory assessment process.
	(2)	A credit provider must not increase the amount of credit available under a continuing credit contract for a credit card unless—
	(a)	the debtor has requested the increase in writing, or the credit provider has offered the debtor the increase and the debtor has accepted the offer in writing; and
	(b)	the credit provider has carried out a satisfactory assessment process.
	(3)		For this section, a satisfactory assessment process, in relation to a debtor, is an assessment of the debtor’s financial situation sufficient to satisfy a diligent and prudent credit provider that the debtor has a reasonable ability to repay the amount of credit provided or to be provided.
	(4)		Without limiting subsection (3), an assessment process is a satisfactory assessment process only if the credit provider—
	(a)	asks the debtor for a statement of the debtor’s financial situation, including—
	(i)	income; and
	(ii)	all credit accounts and applicable limits and balances; and 
	(iii)	repayment commitments; and
	(b)	takes the statement into account in making the assessment.
	 (5)		In this section:
credit card–see section 28 (4).
continuing credit contract—see the Consumer Credit (Australian Capital Territory) Code, schedule 1, section 1 (1), definition of continuing credit contract.
Note 1	The Code, sch 1, s 1 (1) defines a continuing credit contract as a credit contract under which—
	(a)		multiple advances of credit are contemplated; and 
	(b)		the amount of available credit ordinarily increases as the amount of credit is reduced.
Note 2	The Consumer Credit (Australian Capital Territory) Code is defined in the Legislation Act 2001, dict, pt 1.  For the latest republication of the code, see www.legislation.act.gov.au.
credit provider, in relation to a credit contract, means a person who provides credit under the credit contract in the course of a business of providing credit or as part of or incidentally to any other business of the credit provider, and includes a prospective credit provider.
debtor means a person (other than a guarantor) who is liable to pay for (or to repay) credit, and includes a prospective debtor.

Endnote
Republication of amended laws
1	For the latest republications of amended laws, see www.legislation.act.gov.au.

[Presentation speech made in Assembly on 6 March 2002]

I certify that the above is a true copy of the Fair Trading Amendment Bill 2002 which was passed by the Legislative Assembly on 29 August 2002.

		Clerk of the Legislative Assembly

© Australian Capital Territory 2002