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35 Bond L. Rev. 1 (2023)

handle is hein.journals/bondlr35 and id is 1 raw text is: Still Jammed! Lingering Questions About
the Statutory Unconscionability Doctrine
Post Stubbings v Jams 2 Pty Ltd (2022) 399
ALR 409
MARK GIANCASPRO*
Abstract
The High Court of Australia recently delivered its highly
anticipated judgment in Stubbings v Jams 2 Pty Ltd (2022) 399
ALR 409 ('Stubbings (HCA)'). The case represents the most
recent examination of the unsettled statutory doctrine of
unconscionability in the land's highest judicial forum.
Regrettably, the High Court spurned the opportunity to clarify
several lingering questions that continue to plague the doctrine.
These questions concern matters ranging from the proper
distinction between the various unconscionability provisions in
the consumer law to the requirements needed under each. This
article extrapolates what it can from Stubbings (HCA) and other
leading cases to try and add clarity to the frequently litigated but
poorly understood statutory unconscionability doctrine.
I   Introduction
The High Court of Australia in Stubbings v Jams 2 Pty Ltd' had a
glorious opportunity. The case provided the perfect chance to clear up
some   of the   confusion  burdening  the  maligned   doctrine  of
unconscionability as enshrined in the Australian Consumer Law
('ACL') and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission
Act2001 (Cth) ('ASICAcf). Unfortunately for practitioners, scholars,
and consumers alike, the chance was, respectfully, spurned. As a result,
despite arising on the facts and through the parties' submissions, a
variety of lingering questions about the scope, content and application
of the doctrine remain. This article identifies some of these questions
and attempts to offer guidance as to the ostensible status quo regarding
each. Part II provides important context as to how the equitable concept
of unconscionability came to be, before Part III traces the doctrine's
long and tortured entrance into the statutory regime governing
* LLB (Hons.), LP, PhD. Senior Lecturer, Law School, University of Adelaide.

1   (2022) 399 ALR 409 ('Stubbings (HCA)').

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