Oh Australia...
Browsing CaseBase for a case I have the name of but no year or citation, and I find this:
Criminal law — Offences — Fortune telling — Definition of word 'pretend'Section 40 provides that 'every person who for personal gain (a) pretends to tell fortunes; to deceive any person, shall be guilty of an offence
Held: The word 'pretend' in the section is used in the sense of 'to profess or claim', and not in the sense of 'to feign or to offer as true' something which is not. Accordingly the offence may be committed by a fortune teller who has a genuine belief in his ability to tell fortunes.
The case in question is Hartwick v Samuels (1976) 14 SASR 209, if anyone wants to try to find it. I couldn't get access to the full document, but now I'm intrigued. Also, saddened that a REAL FORTUNE TELLER can't practise in South Australia.
