37Offences

#### 37 Offences 37 Offences > > (1) A person shall not— > > > > > (a) without lawful excuse, wilfully obstruct, hinder or resist the Ombudsman or an officer of the Ombudsman in the exercise of the Ombudsman’s or officer’s powers under this or any other Act, > > > > > (b) without lawful excuse, refuse or wilfully fail to comply with any lawful requirement of the Ombudsman or an officer of the Ombudsman under this or any other Act, or > > > > > (c) wilfully make any false statement to or mislead, or attempt to mislead, the Ombudsman or an officer of the Ombudsman in the exercise of the Ombudsman’s or officer’s powers under this or any other Act. > > > > Maximum penalty—100 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years, or both. > > > (2) A person shall not directly or indirectly— > > > > > (a) where he or she is not the Ombudsman—represent that he or she is the Ombudsman, > > > > > (b) where he or she has not been appointed under section 7 as acting Ombudsman—represent that he or she has been so appointed, > > > > > (c) where he or she is not a Deputy Ombudsman—represent that he or she is a Deputy Ombudsman, > > > > > (c1) where he or she is not an Assistant Ombudsman—represent that he or she is an Assistant Ombudsman, > > > > > (c2) where he or she has not been appointed under section 8B as an acting Deputy Ombudsman or an Assistant Ombudsman—represent that he or she has been so appointed, > > > > > (d) (Repealed) > > > > > (d1) where he or she is not a person to whom a delegation has been made pursuant to section 10A—represent that he or she is such a person, > > > > > (e) where he or she is not an officer of the Ombudsman—represent that he or she is an officer of the Ombudsman, or > > > > > (f) where he or she is not engaged in the administration or execution of this Act or of any other Act in so far as it confers or imposes on the Ombudsman or an officer of the Ombudsman any function—represent that he or she is so engaged. > > > > Maximum penalty—50 penalty units or imprisonment for 12 months, or both. > > > (3) For the purposes of subsection (2), a person represents that a state of affairs exists if the person does or says anything, or causes, permits or suffers anything to be done or said, whereby it is represented, or whereby a belief may be induced, that the state of affairs exists. > > > (4)–(7) (Repealed) > > **s 37:** Am 1978 No 81, Sch 1 (4); 1983 No 189, Schs 1 (12), 2 (11) (12); 1993 No 47, Sch 1; 1996 No 29, Sch 4 \[9\]; 2002 No 42, Sch 3 \[12\]–\[14\]; 2020 No 30, Sch 1.29\[11\] \[12\]; 2022 No 14, Sch 5\[15\] (am 2022 No 39, Sch 3\[3\]) \[16\] (am 2022 No 39, Sch 3\[3\]) \[17\]; 2022 No 39, Sch 1\[18\].