Decided 04 May 1954 Location Australia Court High Court of Australia | Subsequent action(s) none End date May 4, 1954 | |
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Full case name Australian Woollen Mills Pty. Ltd. v. The Commonwealth Citation(s) [1954 HCA 20; (1954) 92 CLR 424]] Judge(s) sitting Dixon CJ, Williams, Webb, Fullagar, and Kitto JJ Similar Pharmaceutical Society of GB v Boot, Byrne & Co v Leon Van Tienhove, Butler Machine Tool Co L, Chappell & Co Ltd v Nestle Co, Thornton v Shoe Lane Parking Ltd | ||
Australian Woollen Mills Pty. Ltd. v. The Commonwealth [1954] HCA 20; (1954) 92 CLR 424] is a leading case regarding what is a legally binding offer.
Contents
Background
On 30 June 1946, the Australian government introduced a subsidy for woollen manufacturers. In 1948, the Australian government discontinued paying the subsidy, leaving AWB with a substantial amount of wool on hand, that had not received the subsidy. As a result, AWB sued for breach of contract, whilst the government denied laibilty on the grounds that there was no legally binding contract between the parties.
Held
The High Court ruled that there was no legally binding contract between the parties, as all the government had done was merely make a statement on government policy (ie. the subsidy), which alone was not an offer capable of acceptance. The court stated "what is alleged to be an offer should have been intended to give rise, on the doing of the act, to an obligation ... in the absence of such an intention, actual or imputed, and alleged "offer" cannot lead to a contract: there is, indeed, in such a case no true "offer"."