45Power to require persons to give information or produce documents

45 Power to require persons to give information or produce documents

(1) Where a Regulatory Authority has reason to believe that a person is capable of furnishing information or producing documents relevant to the performance of the functions of the Regulatory Authority under this Act or the regulations or relating to a contravention or possible contravention of this Act or the regulations or of a relevant safety provision, the Regulatory Authority may, by notice in writing served on the person, require the person: (a) to give to the Regulatory Authority, by writing signed by the person or, in the case of a body corporate, by a competent officer of the body corporate, within the time and in the manner specified in the notice, any such information; or (b) to produce to the Regulatory Authority, or to a person specified in the notice acting on behalf of the Regulatory Authority, in accordance with the notice, any such document. (2) A person must not fail to comply with a notice under this section.

Penalty: 10 penalty units.

(2A) Subsection (2) does not apply to the extent that the person is not capable of complying with that subsection.

Note: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in subsection (2A) (see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code).

(2B) Subsection (2) does not apply if the person has a reasonable excuse.

Note: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in subsection (2B) (see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code).

(2C) An offence under subsection (2) is an offence of strict liability.

Note: For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code.

(3) A person who, pursuant to a notice under this section, produces a document that, to the knowledge of the person, is false or misleading in a material particular shall, upon so producing the document, give to the person to whom the first‑mentioned person is required to produce the document, a statement in writing signed by the first‑mentioned person or, in the case of a body corporate, by a competent officer of the body corporate: (a) stating that the document is, to the knowledge of the first‑mentioned person, false or misleading in a material particular; and (b) setting out, or referring to, the material particular in respect of which the document is, to the knowledge of the first‑mentioned person, false or misleading.

Penalty: Imprisonment for 6 months.

Note: Subsection 4B(2) of the Crimes Act 1914 allows a court to impose an appropriate fine instead of, or in addition to, a term of imprisonment. If a body corporate is convicted of the offence, subsection 4B(3) of the Crimes Act 1914 allows a court to impose a fine of an amount that is not greater than 5 times the maximum fine that could be imposed by the court on an individual convicted of the same offence.