s 225

False or misleading documents

In force

Fault‑based offence

(1)

A person commits an offence if:

(a)

a document:

(i)

is required under or for the purposes of this Act; or

(ii)

is lodged with or submitted to ASIC under or for the purposes of this Act; and

(b)

the person:

(i)

makes, or authorises the making of, a statement in the document; or

(ii)

omits, or authorises the omission of, a matter or thing from the document; and

(c)

the person knows that the document is materially false or misleading because of the statement or omission.

Criminal penalty: 5 years imprisonment.

Note:

For when a document is materially false or misleading, see subsection (5).

Strict liability offence—failure to take reasonable steps

(2)

A person commits an offence of strict liability if:

(a)

a document:

(i)

is required under or for the purposes of this Act; or

(ii)

is lodged with or submitted to ASIC under or for the purposes of this Act; and

(b)

the person:

(i)

makes, or authorises the making of, a statement in the document; or

(ii)

omits, or authorises the omission of, a matter or thing from the document; and

(c)

the document is materially false or misleading because of the statement or omission; and

(d)

the person did not take all reasonable steps to ensure that the document was not materially false or misleading because of the statement or omission.

Criminal penalty: 20 penalty units.

Note 1:

For when a document is materially false or misleading, see subsection (5).

Note 2:

For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code.

Civil penalty—knowledge or recklessness

(3)

A person contravenes this subsection if:

(a)

a document:

(i)

is required under or for the purposes of this Act; or

(ii)

is lodged with or submitted to ASIC under or for the purposes of this Act; and

(b)

the person:

(i)

makes, or authorises the making of, a statement in the document; or

(ii)

omits, or authorises the omission of, a matter or thing from the document; and

(c)

the person knows that, or is reckless as to whether, the document is materially false or misleading because of the statement or omission.

Civil penalty: 5,000 penalty units.

Note:

For when a document is materially false or misleading, see subsection (5).

Civil penalty—failure to take reasonable steps

(4)

A person contravenes this subsection if:

(a)

a document:

(i)

is required under or for the purposes of this Act; or

(ii)

is lodged with or submitted to ASIC under or for the purposes of this Act; and

(b)

the person:

(i)

makes, or authorises the making of, a statement in a document; or

(ii)

omits, or authorises the omission of, a matter or thing from a document; and

(c)

the document is materially false or misleading because of the statement or omission; and

(d)

the person did not take all reasonable steps to ensure that the document was not materially false or misleading because of the statement or omission.

Civil penalty: 5,000 penalty units.

Note:

For when a document is materially false or misleading, see subsection (5).

When a document is materially false or misleading

(5)

For the purposes of this section, a document is materially false or misleading if:

(a)

the document includes a statement that:

(i)

is false in a material particular or materially misleading; or

(ii)

is based on information that is false in a material particular or materially misleading, or has omitted from it a matter or thing the omission of which renders the document materially misleading; or

(b)

a matter or thing is omitted from the document and, without the matter or thing, the document is false in a material particular or materially misleading.

Authorisations

(6)

For the purposes of this section, a person who votes in favour of a resolution approving, or who otherwise approves, a document is taken to have authorised:

(a)

the making of any statement in the document; and

(b)

the omission of any matter or thing from the document.

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