Fencing company fined and ordered to repay $200,000 compensation
- Office of Fair Trading investigation results in a tradie and his fencing and decking company being fined $45,000
- They have been ordered to repay almost $200,000 in compensation to three dozen consumers
- They pled guilty to 36 breaches of Australian Consumer Law over a nine-month period.
An Office of Fair Trading (OFT) investigation has resulted in a tradie and the company of which he is the sole director being fined $45,000 and ordered to repay dozens of affected consumers almost $200,000.
Tradie Brendan Hawxwell and Cre8tive Construction Group Pty Ltd pled guilty in Wynnum Magistrates Court on Thursday, 12 March 2026, to 36 breaches of Australian Consumer Law.
The charges followed a lengthy OFT investigation that pinpointed 36 complainants being owed $196,833.
Hawxwell and his company received tens of thousands of dollars in deposits, ranging from $1,100 to more than $17,000 over a nine-month period in 2023.
However, they failed to supply the goods or services within a stated, or reasonable, time.
The goods and services they failed to supply included Colorbond and wooden fencing, decking, roofing, automatic sliding gates, letterboxes, and a roller door.
One consumer, who was quoted $20,379 for a 31-metre timber post, a wire-mesh fence and a concrete retaining wall, paid a deposit of $11,207, but nothing was supplied.
On another occasion, a consumer paid a deposit of $17,797 for decking, fly roof and a privacy screen, but again nothing was provided.
In handing down the sentence, Magistrate Zachary Sarra fined Hawxwell $15,000 and his company $30,000 and ordered them to repay consumers a total of $196,833.
After receiving numerous complaints about Hawxwell and his company, OFT issued a public warning to Queenslanders in March 2024 advising them not to deal with this trader.
Acting Fair Trading Commissioner Craig Turner said Queensland consumers can rest assured that breaches of the Australian Consumer Law are taken very seriously.
“Let this be a warning to all operators that you need to treat consumers with respect and follow the Australian Consumer Law, otherwise you run the risk of being investigated, taken to court and prosecuted,” Mr Turner said.
“The Office of Fair Trading will always do what we can to assist consumers who have been affected by breaches of the Australian Consumer Law.”
If you haven't received goods or services that you've paid for and haven't been able to resolve the issue with the trader, you can make a complaint to the Office of Fair Trading at http://www.qld.gov.au/fairtrading.
ENDS
MEDIA CONTACT: Department of Justice media media.relations@justice.qld.gov.au