83Limitation period for prosecutions

83 Limitation period for prosecutions

(1)  Proceedings for an offence against this Act may be brought within the latest of the following periods to occur:

(a) within 2 years after the offence first comes to the notice of the Director;

(b) within 1 year after a coronial report was made or a coronial inquiry or inquest ended, if it appeared from the report or the proceedings at the inquiry or inquest that an offence had been committed against this Act;

(c) if a notice of defect, issued under the regulations, has been given in relation to the offence, within 6 months after –

(i) the notice of defect is contravened; or

(ii) it comes to the notice of the Director that the notice of defect has been contravened.

(2)  A proceeding for an offence may be brought after the end of the applicable limitation period in subsection (1) if fresh evidence relevant to the offence is discovered and the court is satisfied that the evidence could not reasonably have been discovered within the applicable limitation period.