19BFailure to remove face covering

19B Failure to remove face covering

19B Failure to remove face covering

(1) A person who is required by a police officer in accordance with section 19A to remove a face covering must not, without special justification, fail or refuse to comply with the requirement.

Maximum penalty—

(a) in the case of a person who is required to remove a face covering following a requirement under section 14 or 19A(1)(c)—50 penalty units or 12 months imprisonment, or both, or

(b) in any other case—2 penalty units.

(2) A person has a special justification for not removing a face covering if (and only if)—

(a) the person has a legitimate medical reason for not removing the face covering, or

(b) the person has any other excuse for not removing the face covering that is an excuse of a kind prescribed by the regulations.

(3) The onus of proof of a special justification lies on the person claiming to have the special justification.

s 19B: Ins 2011 No 45, Sch 1 [5]. Am 2014 No 31, Schs 2 [7], 3 [13]; 2025 No 86, Sch 4[3].