ACCC takes international training college to court; Legal startup LawPath takes in $1.3 million in funding: Midday Roundup

An international training college based in New South Wales will face the Federal Court following a joint investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and NSW Fair Trading.

Unique International College is due to appear at a directions hearing in Sydney next month over allegations it breached Australian Consumer Law when selling courses in NSW between July last year and September this year.

The ACCC and NSW Fair Trading allege the college made false or misleading representations and engaged in misleading or deceptive and unconscionable conduct.

In a joint statement from the regulatory bodies, NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said it is alleged the sales process used by Unique included free incentives, unfair tactics and the failure to provide clear and accurate information about the price of the courses and the nature of the VET FEE-HELP loan on offer.

“It is important that colleges are upfront with prospective students and clearly explain the price of the courses they are offering. Consumers need to be able to fully understand what they are agreeing to before making a decision to sign up to a course. The VET FEE-HELP loan incurred by students is a lifetime debt,” Stowe said.

Legal startup LawPath snaps up $1.3 million in funding

Legal startup LawPath has raised $1.3 million in a bid to accelerate its growth and improve its online platform.

The raise was led by Canva investors Macdoch Ventures and Adcock Group as well as a syndicate led by Ben Keeble.

Lawpath provides legal document templates to more than 13,000 small businesses and has raised $2.4 million to date.

Co-founder and chief executive Damien Andreasen said in a statement many industries are being disrupted and the legal industry is no different.

“LawPath has experienced increased demand for its services in recent months and this funding round will allow us to cater to that growing need for innovative, accessible and affordable legal advice, to ensure Australian SMBs are compliant and can spend more time focused on growing their business,” Andreasen said.

“Macdoch and Adcock are fantastic partners for LawPath. We strategically looked to private equity and high net worth investors for this round because we feel strongly that our funding comes from sources who are heavily invested in our mission to make legal easy for Australian businesses.”

Shares down on open

Aussie shares have followed in the footsteps of international markets this morning by dipping into the red.

The S&P/ASX 200 benchmark was down 1.3 points, falling 0.02% to 5348 points at 11:48am AEST. On Monday, the Dow Jones closed 23.65 points lower, down 0.13% to 17,623.05 points.