Customs Act 1901

Where an application is made, the Comptroller‑General of Customs shall not grant a broker’s licence if, in his or her opinion:

where the application is made by a natural person:

the applicant is not a fit and proper person; or

the applicant is not qualified to be a customs broker; or

a person who would participate in the work of the applicant, if the applicant were a customs broker, is not a fit and proper person; or

where the application is made by a company:

a director of the company is not a fit and proper person; or

a person who would participate in the work of the company, if the company were a customs broker, is not a fit and proper person; or

the company is not a fit and proper company to hold a broker’s licence; or

where the application is made by a partnership:

a partner in the partnership is not a fit and proper person; or

a person who would participate in the work of the partnership, if the partnership were a customs broker, is not a fit and proper person.

For the purposes of subsection (1), an applicant shall be taken to be qualified to be a customs broker if, and only if:

except where the applicant has been exempted under subsection (3), the applicant has completed a course of study or instruction approved under subsection (5); and

the applicant has acquired experience that, in the opinion of the Comptroller‑General of Customs, fits the applicant to be a customs broker.

The Comptroller‑General of Customs may, by writing signed by him or her, exempt an applicant from the requirements of paragraph (2)(a) where, having regard to the experience or training of the applicant, he or she considers that it is appropriate to do so.

The Comptroller‑General of Customs shall, in determining whether a person is a fit and proper person for the purposes of paragraph (1)(a), (b) or (c) (other than subparagraph (1)(b)(iii)), have regard to:

any conviction of the person for a prescribed offence committed within the 10 years immediately preceding the making of the application; and

whether the person has been refused a transport security identification card, or has had such a card suspended or cancelled, within the 10 years immediately preceding the making of the application; and

whether the person is an undischarged bankrupt; and

any misleading statement made in the application by or in relation to the person; and

where any statement by the person in the application was false—whether the person knew that the statement was false.

The Comptroller‑General of Customs shall, in determining whether a company is a fit and proper company to hold a broker’s licence for the purposes of subparagraph (1)(b)(iii), have regard to:

any conviction of the company for an offence against this Act committed within the 10 years immediately preceding the making of the application and at a time when a person who is a director, officer or shareholder of the company was a director, officer or shareholder of the company;

any conviction of the company for an offence under a law of the Commonwealth, of a State or of a Territory that is punishable by a fine of $5,000 or more, being an offence committed within the 10 years immediately preceding the making of the application and at a time when a person who is a director, officer or shareholder of the company was a director, officer or shareholder of the company;

whether a receiver of the property, or part of the property, of the company has been appointed;

whether the company is under administration within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001;

whether the company has executed under Part 5.3A of that Act a deed of company arrangement that has not yet terminated;

whether the company is under restructuring within the meaning of that Act;

whether the company has made, under Division 3 of Part 5.3B of that Act, a restructuring plan that has not yet terminated;

whether the company is being wound up.

The Comptroller‑General of Customs may, after obtaining and considering the advice of the Committee, approve, in writing, a course or courses of study or instruction that fits or fit a person to be a customs broker.