530Civil penalty provision for false or misleading documents

530  Civil penalty provision for false or misleading documents

 (1) An entity is liable to a civil penalty if:

 (a) the entity produces a document to another person; and

 (b) the entity does so knowing that the document is false or misleading in a material particular; and

 (c) the document is produced in compliance or purported compliance with this Act.

Civil penalty: 100 penalty units.

 (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to an entity that produces a document if the document is accompanied by a written statement signed by the person specified in subsection (3):

 (a) stating that the document is, to the knowledge of the person, false or misleading in a material particular; and

 (b) setting out, or referring to, the material particular in which the document is, to the knowledge of the person, false or misleading.

Note: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in this subsection: see section 96 of the Regulatory Powers Act.

 (3) For the purposes of subsection (2), the statement must be signed by the following person:

 (a) if the entity is an individual—the individual;

 (b) if the entity is a body corporate—a competent officer of the body corporate;

 (c) if the entity is a partnership—one of the partners;

 (d) if the entity is an unincorporated association—a member of the association’s governing body.

Division 2—General rules about offences and civil penalty provisions