ABSTRACT
For constitutional reasons, the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (the Act) targets companies (technically, ‘corporations in trade or commerce’) as the primary contraveners of its provisions, both civil and criminal. It is provided in the Act, however, that non-corporates (most obviously, natural persons, such as the company’s officers, employees and agents) and for that matter, other companies, can participate in the company’s contravention. The constitutionality of these provisions has been confirmed.2 For convenience, this party, whose liability is derivative in the sense that a company in trade or commerce must commit a contravention, may be termed the secondary participant.
