Requirement for person to assist with applications for civil penalty orders
219VB Requirement for person to assist with applications for civil penalty orders
A person commits an offence if:
the Secretary requires, in writing, the person to give all reasonable assistance in connection with an application for a civil penalty order; and
the person fails to comply with the requirement.
Penalty: 10 penalty units.
A requirement made under subsection (1) is not a legislative instrument.
The Secretary may require a person to assist under subsection (1) only if:
it appears to the Secretary that the person is unlikely to have:
contravened the civil penalty provision to which the application relates; or
committed an offence constituted by the same, or substantially the same, conduct as the conduct to which the application relates; and
the Secretary suspects or believes that the person can give information relevant to the application.
The Secretary cannot require a person to assist under subsection (1) if the person is or has been a lawyer for the person suspected of contravening the civil penalty provision to which the application relates.
The Federal Court of Australia or the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) may order a person to comply with a requirement under subsection (1) in a specified way. Only the Secretary may apply to the court for an order under this subsection.
For the purposes of this section, it does not matter whether the application for the civil penalty provision has actually been made.
Subsection (1) does not abrogate or affect the law relating to legal professional privilege, or any other immunity, privilege or restriction that applies to the disclosure of information, documents or other things.
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