I have signed a contract to hire a venue to host a sales conference. I have now been contacted by their events co-ordinator asking me whether I will be serving food at the sales conference. I said that I plan to have my own caterer who I have worked with before. The co-ordinator told me that if I will be serving food I need to use someone from their list of approved caterers otherwise I will not be allowed to go ahead with the venue hire. It is too late to source another venue as I have already listed this venue on our marketing materials. Do I have any choice in this?
Lawyer Answers (1): Answers from lawyers are general preliminary responses. They are not formal legal advice and cannot taken account of all your circumstances. They do not create a lawyer–client relationship.
Answer by Dilani Mudalige, Yokine 6060 WA
- The venue can suggest a list of caterers for you to use but it may be illegal for them to insist that you use the catering services from a specified person or business as a condition of providing you with the venue hire service. This type of behaviour may constitute third-line forcing. The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) prohibits third-line forcing.
- If the venue is threatening to cancel the hire you should review the termination provisions in the contract you signed to check the circumstances under which they can terminate. You may wish to have a lawyer assist you with this.
- If you do want to go ahead with the venue hire but still want to use your own caterer it may be worthwhile having a lawyer speak to the venue on your behalf to inform them of the illegality of third-line forcing. There is a possibility they may not have been aware that this is prohibited by law.
Before you speak to the venue you should make sure that what they are doing is third line forcing. You should always consult a lawyer to ensure that you are on solid legal ground before enforcing your rights against another party.