Proportionality principles from criminal sentencing apply to civil penalties under the Fair Work Act but with modifications reflecting the primarily deterrent purpose of civil penalty regimes; in particular, considerations of general and specific deterrence may allow for what is considered proportionate to cover a wider field than with imprisonment. The Court has power under s 545(1) of the Fair Work Act to make orders prohibiting a union from indemnifying an individual officer against penalties, and such orders are appropriate where the contravener has a history of contumelious disregard for the law and the union has access to large funds to pay penalties. A blockade accompanied by a contemporaneous threat may constitute a single course of conduct, but a further threat made the following day after a deliberate return to the site constitutes a separate course of conduct.
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