51   Publishing false or misleading advertisements

(1)  A licensee must not publish or cause to be published in the course of carrying on business as a licensee any statement that:

(a)  is intended or apparently intended by the licensee to promote the sale or lease of any property, and

(b)  is materially false, misleading or deceptive (whether to the licensee’s knowledge or not).

Maximum penalty: 200 penalty units.

(2)  Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), a statement is taken to be false or misleading for the purposes of this section if it is of such a nature that it would reasonably tend to lead to a belief in the existence of a state of affairs that does not in fact exist, whether or not the statement indicates that the state of affairs does exist.

(3)  A statement is published if it is:

(a)  inserted in any newspaper, periodical publication or other publication, or

(b)  publicly exhibited in, on, over or under any building, vehicle or place (whether or not a public place and whether on land or water), or in the air in view of persons being or passing in or on any street or public place, or

(c)  contained in any document gratuitously sent or delivered to any person or thrown or left upon premises in the occupation of any person, or

(d)  broadcast by radio or television, or

(e)  disseminated by means of an Internet website or electronic mail.

(4)  It is a defence to a prosecution against a person for an offence under this section if the person proves that:

(a)  the person took all reasonable precautions against committing the offence, and

(b)  the person believed on reasonable grounds that the statement was true or (in the case of a statement that would reasonably tend to lead to a belief in the existence of a state of affairs that does not in fact exist) the person believed on reasonable grounds that the state of affairs existed, and

(c)  the person had no reason to suspect that the statement was false or misleading.

(5)  Despite any proceedings against a person for an offence under this section (whether resulting in a conviction or otherwise) the person remains liable to all civil proceedings as if the proceedings for an offence had not been taken.

(6)  This section is to be read as being in addition to and not in derogation from any enactment or law relating to false or misleading advertisements or other statements.