Conveyancers Licensing Act 2003

An authorised officer may exercise the powers conferred by this section for the purpose of—

ascertaining whether the provisions of this Act or the regulations are being complied with or have been contravened, or

investigating a complaint made or intended to be made under this Act, or

obtaining evidence, records or information in relation to a matter that constitutes or may constitute a contravention of this Act or the regulations.

An authorised officer may enter and inspect at any reasonable time any premises that the officer believes on reasonable grounds are being used for the carrying on of a conveyancing business, whether or not the business is being carried on by a licensee.

While on premises entered under this section or under the authority of a search warrant under this Part, an authorised officer may do any one or more of the following—

require any person on those premises to produce any records in the possession or under the control of that person relating to the conduct of the conveyancing business, and (in the case of records stored electronically) to produce any such record in written form,

inspect, take copies of or extracts from, or make notes from, any such records, and for that purpose may take temporary possession of any such records,

take possession of any such records if the authorised officer considers it necessary to do so for the purpose of obtaining evidence or protecting evidence from destruction,

take such photographs, films and audio, video and other recordings as the authorised officer considers necessary,

require any person on those premises to answer questions or otherwise furnish information in relation to the carrying on of the conveyancing business or a contravention of a provision of this Act or the regulations,

require the owner or occupier of those premises to provide the authorised officer with such assistance and facilities as is or are reasonably necessary to enable the authorised officer to exercise the functions of an authorised officer under this section.

An authorised officer is not entitled to enter a part of premises used for residential purposes, except—

with the consent of the occupier of the part, or

under the authority of a search warrant.