The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, holding that the Local Court did not err in recording a conviction and imposing a $15,000 fine on a corporate defendant that carried on business as an unlicensed real estate agent for over 13 months contrary to s 17(1) of the Agents Licensing Act 1979 (NT). The Court reaffirmed that general deterrence is the paramount sentencing consideration for breaches of regulatory legislation, and that s 8(1) of the Sentencing Act has restricted application to such offences, following Hales v Adams [2005] NTSC 86 as approved by the Court of Appeal in Rigby v Benfell [2020] NTCA 9. The advertent nature of the non-compliance, the reminder notices received, and the extended period of unlicensed operation justified the conviction; the absence of prior convictions alone was insufficient to warrant a non-conviction order, and the onus was on the appellant to demonstrate disproportionate extra-curial consequences, which it failed to discharge.
The full text is available to signed-in members.