The Full Federal Court has unanimously dismissed 'barely arguable' appeals brought by Latitude Finance Australia (Latitude) and Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd (Harvey Norman) over misleading conduct and false or misleading representations they made in a national advertising campaign promoting a 60-month interest free and no deposit payment method for goods purchased at Harvey Norman stores.
The advertisements were published and broadcast thousands of times across Australia between January 2020 and August 2021 in newspapers, on radio and on television.
ASIC was concerned the advertisements masked that consumers were required to take out a credit card, such as the Latitude GO Mastercard, to purchase goods, and were liable to pay monthly account service fees and, up to 15 March 2021, also establishment fees.
In dismissing the appeals at the hearing on 28 August 2025, the Full Court agreed with the assessment and conclusions of the trial judge that these undisclosed conditions were material.
In their Honours' written judgment delivered on 3 September 2025, Justices O'Bryan, Cheeseman and Bennett stated it was 'regrettable that the final determination of remedies in this proceeding has been delayed by the unmeritorious applications for leave to appeal' and that 'the decision of the primary judge is not attended by any real doubt and that the draft grounds of appeal lack merit and are barely arguable.'
In confirming that 'the promotional message was misleading', the Full Court rejected submissions that ordinary and reasonable consumers 'would know it was too good to be true' and observed that 'there is no reason for a consumer to doubt or second guess the simple terms of the advertised offer.'
Their Honours went on to hold, 'the promotional message was clear and very attractive to consumers. It concerned the financial terms on which goods could be purchased at Harvey Norman stores. In our view, ordinary and reasonable consumers would have assumed that the offer made in the advertisements was stated accurately, particularly in light of Australia's strong consumer protection laws.'
ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said, 'This is an important win for consumers. ASIC took this case because we believed many consumers were unaware of the financial arrangements they were entering into, and they deserved to be fully informed.
'This decision reinforces the importance of truthful advertising,' the Deputy Chair said.
The matter will be listed for a hearing on a date to be set, where ASIC will seek pecuniary penalties, adverse publicity orders, an injunction and costs.
