Housing Act 2001

The objective of this clause is to provide an amnesty—

to encourage a person to notify the Corporation if the person is incorrectly or improperly obtaining a benefit from the Corporation, and

to encourage a person to notify the Corporation of any change in the person’s circumstances that removes or reduces the person’s entitlement to a benefit from the Corporation, and

to protect any such person from prosecution or civil proceedings in respect of the matters notified before the end of the amnesty period.

In this clause—

A person cannot be prosecuted for a fraud offence in respect of any conduct that would constitute such an offence if the person notifies the Corporation of the person’s conduct—

before the end of the amnesty period, and

before the Corporation has commenced an investigation into the conduct.

If a person notifies the Corporation in accordance with subclause (3), no action or proceeding may be brought by the Corporation to recover any penalty, damages or other monies from the person in respect of—

the conduct constituting the fraud offence that occurred before the notification, or

the benefit that the person incorrectly or improperly obtained, as a result of that conduct, from the Corporation before the notification.

The onus of proving that a notification took place for the purposes of this clause is on the person who made the notification.

This clause does not apply to any prosecution or to any action or proceeding commenced before the commencement of this clause.

Nothing in this clause prevents the Corporation from varying, cancelling or refusing to grant any benefit under this Act as a result of any notification given under this clause.