9‑15 Revocation of approval9‑15 Revocation of approval

9‑15 Revocation of approval

(1) The Secretary may revoke the approval of an individual to conduct audits if the individual requests the Secretary, in writing, to do so or the Secretary is satisfied of any of the following: (a) the individual is no longer a fit and proper person (having regard to the matters referred to in section 372 of the Act); (b) the individual does not have the necessary competency (for example, the knowledge, training, skills or experience) to conduct audits of the kind covered by the approval (including the conditions of the approval); (c) the individual failed to show competency in conducting audits; (d) an audit conducted by the individual, or an audit report given to the Secretary by the individual, was not objective, independent, fair or accurate; (e) an audit conducted by the individual was not completed and the audit report did not give any reasonable explanation why the audit was not completed; (f) an audit report given to the Secretary by the individual was incomplete; (g) the individual failed to comply with a requirement prescribed by Division 2 of this Part that applied in relation to an audit conducted by the individual; (h) the individual contravened a condition of the approval; (i) the individual made a statement that was false, misleading or incomplete, or for which there were no reasonable grounds: (i) in the application for approval; or (ii) in a document required to be provided under the Act; (j) the individual gave information or a document that was false, misleading or incomplete, or for which there were no reasonable grounds: (i) to the Secretary or to another person performing functions or exercising powers under the Act; or (ii) to the Secretary or the Department under a prescribed agriculture law.

Note: A decision to revoke an individual’s approval to conduct audits (other than at the request of the individual) is a reviewable decision (see section 11‑1 of this instrument) and the Secretary must give the holder of the approval written notice of the decision (see section 382 of the Act).

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b) or (c), the Secretary may assess the competency of an approved auditor at any time and in any way the Secretary considers appropriate. (3) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(d), the Secretary may consider any interests, pecuniary or otherwise, of the individual that conflict or could conflict with the conduct of an audit by the individual. (4) If the Secretary decides to revoke an individual’s approval to conduct audits (other than at the request of the individual), the Secretary must give the individual a written notice stating: (a) that the approval is to be revoked; and (b) the reasons for the revocation; and (c) the date the revocation is to take effect.