Div 1Registration

Division 1—Registration 7—Registrar and officers (1) The Governor may appoint a Registrar of Motor Vehicles and such deputy registrars of motor vehicles as the Governor considers necessary for the administration of this Act. (2) A deputy registrar may, subject to and in accordance with any directions given by the Registrar, act on behalf of the Registrar— (a) during the absence of the Registrar; (b) at any time in any matters allotted to the deputy registrar by the Registrar. (4) The Registrar may delegate any powers or functions of the Registrar under this Act or any other Act to— (a) a person for the time being occupying a specified office or position; or (b) a specified person or specified body of persons that, in the opinion of the Registrar, has appropriate qualifications or experience to exercise the relevant powers or functions. (5) A power or function delegated under this section may, if the instrument of delegation so provides, be further delegated. (6) A delegation under this section— (a) must be by instrument in writing; and (b) may be absolute or conditional; and (c) does not derogate from the power of the delegator to act in any matter; and (d) is revocable at will by the delegator. (7) A person to whom a power or function is delegated under this section must not contravene, or fail to comply with, a condition to which the delegation is subject. Maximum penalty: $10 000 or imprisonment for two years. 8—The register (1) The Registrar must keep a register of motor vehicles. (2) The register must contain such information as the Registrar thinks necessary for the administration of this Act, and will be in a form fixed by the Registrar. (3) The Registrar may, on the Registrar's own initiative or on application by any person, correct or alter the register if satisfied that an entry in the register is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate. 9—Duty to register (1) A person must not drive an unregistered motor vehicle, or cause an unregistered motor vehicle to stand, on a road. Maximum penalty: $7 500. (1a) However, subsection (1) does not apply to a person who drives a motor vehicle, or causes a motor vehicle to stand, if the person proves that the person— (a) drove the motor vehicle, or caused the motor vehicle to stand, in prescribed circumstances; and (b) did not know that the motor vehicle was unregistered. (1b) For the purposes of subsection (1a), a person may prove a matter referred to in that subsection by furnishing to the Commissioner of Police a statutory declaration in accordance with any requirements prescribed by the regulations. (1c) It is a defence to a charge of an offence against subsection (1) if the defendant was not a registered owner or the registered operator of the vehicle and the defendant proves that the defendant did not know, and could not reasonably be expected to have known, that the vehicle was unregistered. (3) If an unregistered motor vehicle is driven or found standing on a road, the owner of the vehicle is guilty of an offence. Maximum penalty: $7 500. (4) It is a defence to a charge of an offence against subsection (1) or (3) to prove that the motor vehicle was driven or left standing on a road in circumstances in which this Act permits a motor vehicle without registration to be driven on a road. (4a) It is a defence to a charge of an offence against subsection (3) to prove that— (a) the vehicle was not driven or left standing on the road by the defendant; and (b) the defendant had taken reasonable steps to ensure that any person lawfully entitled to use the motor vehicle would have been aware that the vehicle was unregistered. (5) It is a defence to a charge of an offence against subsection (3) to prove that, in consequence of some unlawful act, the vehicle was not in the possession or control of the defendant at the time it was driven or left standing on the road. (6) It is a defence to a charge of an offence against subsection (3) where the defendant is the last registered owner or last registered operator to prove that the defendant was not the owner or the operator of the motor vehicle, as the case may be, at the time of the alleged offence. (6a) The provisions of Schedule 1 apply to an offence against this section if evidence relating to the offence was obtained through the operation of a photographic detection device. (6b) A motor vehicle is driven or caused to stand by a person in prescribed circumstances for the purposes of subsection (1a) if— (a) the person is not an owner or the registered operator of the vehicle and the person is required by the person's employer to drive the vehicle, or to cause the vehicle to stand, in the course of the person's employment; or (b) the motor vehicle is driven or caused to stand in circumstances declared by the regulations. owner, in relation to a motor vehicle, includes the last registered owner and the last registered operator of the vehicle, but does not include a person who takes the vehicle on hire; unregistered motor vehicle means a motor vehicle without registration in force under this Act.