Criminal Code Act 1899

A person who, with intent to defraud—

forges a document; or

utters a forged document;

commits a crime.Maximum penalty—

if the document is a valuable security, insurance policy, testamentary instrument (whether the testator is living or dead) or registration document or is evidence of an interest in land—14 years imprisonment; or

if the document is a power of attorney, contract or document kept or issued by lawful authority other than a document mentioned in paragraph (a)—7 years imprisonment; or

otherwise—3 years imprisonment.

Subsection (1) applies whether or not the document is complete and even though it is not, or does not purport to be, binding in law.

In this section—registration document means a document kept or issued by the registrar under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 2023 or an equivalent document kept or issued under a law of another jurisdiction, inside or outside Australia. sch 1 pt 6 div 3 ch 49 s 488 amd 1986 No. 1 s 74; 1988 No. 88 s 5 sch 2; 1990 No. 80 s 3 sch 1; 1997 No. 3 s 90; 2008 No. 55 s 92; 2023 No. 17 s 182 sch 3 pt 1