The Consumer Guarantee Remedial Regime: Some Uncertainties and the Role of Common Law Analogy

Abstract

The Australian Consumer Law introduced a new regime of ‘consumer guarantees’ accompanied by a unique remedial regime applying specifically to failures to comply with those guarantees. The challenge posed by this kind of new legislative regime is to develop a thorough understanding of its meaning and scope in a context where its provisions are unlikely to be frequently considered by courts. This paper aims to contribute to the interpretative process by considering tribunal decisions dealing with the consumer guarantee remedial regime and, in particular, the identification of ‘major’ failures and compensation for ’leasonably foreseeable’ losses. More generally, the paper considers the proper rel..