5Meaning of conviction etc. of offence

#### 5 Meaning of conviction etc. of offence (1) For the purposes of this Act, a person shall be taken to be convicted of an offence if: (a) the person is convicted, whether summarily or on indictment, of the offence; (b) the person is charged with, and found guilty of, the offence but is discharged without conviction; (c) a court, with the consent of the person, takes the offence, of which the person has not been found guilty, into account in passing sentence on the person for another offence; or (d) the person absconds in connection with the offence. (2) For the purposes of this Act, a person’s conviction of an offence shall be taken to be quashed: (a) where the person is to be taken to have been convicted of the offence by reason of paragraph (1)(a)—if the conviction is quashed or set aside; (b) where the person is to be taken to have been convicted of the offence by reason of paragraph (1)(b)—if the finding of guilt is quashed or set aside; (c) where the person is to be taken to have been convicted of the offence by reason of paragraph (1)(c)—if either of the following events occur: (i) the person’s conviction of the other offence referred to in that paragraph is quashed or set aside; (ii) the decision of the court to take the offence into account in passing sentence for that other offence is quashed or set aside; or (d) where the person is to be taken to have been convicted of the offence by reason of paragraph (1)(d)—if, after the person is brought before a court in respect of the offence, the person is discharged in respect of the offence or a conviction of the person for the offence is quashed or set aside. (3) For the purposes of this Act, a person shall be taken to have been convicted of an offence in a particular State or Territory if: (a) where the person is to be taken to have been convicted of the offence by reason of paragraph (1)(a)—the person was convicted of the offence in a court in that State or Territory; (b) where the person is to be taken to have been convicted of the offence by reason of paragraph (1)(b)—the person was discharged without conviction by a court in that State or Territory; (c) where the person is to be taken to have been convicted of the offence by reason of paragraph (1)(c)—the offence was taken into account by a court in that State or Territory in passing sentence on the person for the other offence referred to in that paragraph; or (d) where the person is to be taken to have been convicted of the offence by reason of paragraph (1)(d)—the information alleging the commission of the offence by the person was laid in that State or Territory. (4) For the purposes of this Act, where a person is to be taken to have been convicted of an offence in a particular State or Territory by reason of paragraph (3)(d), the person shall be taken to have been so convicted before the Supreme Court of that State or Territory. (5) A reference in this Act, in relation to a person’s conviction of an offence, to the commission of the offence shall, where the person is to be taken to have been convicted of the offence by reason of paragraph (1)(d), be read as a reference to the alleged commission of the offence by the person. (6) This section does not apply to a foreign serious offence.