The Australian Consumer Law is enforced in different ways. One method of enforcement is to make a contravention of a provision of the ACL a criminal offence, punishable by a fine.
Another method of enforcement is to impose a pecuniary (money) penalty for a contravention of the ACL without making the contravention a criminal offence. Because the contravention is not made a criminal offence, the penalty is described as a civil pecuniary penalty rather than as a fine.
Under the provisions of the ACL, some contraventions can be treated by the court either as a criminal offence or as a civil breach. This gives the regulators a discretion as to how seriously to treat a particular contravention.