Biosecurity Act 2025

If a body corporate is guilty of a prescribed offence, each director and the chief executive officer of the body corporate are guilty of an offence and liable to the same penalty as is prescribed for the principal offence when committed by a natural person unless the director or the chief executive officer (as the case may be) proves that they could not by the exercise of due diligence have prevented the commission of the offence.

If a body corporate is guilty of any other offence under this Act (other than an offence under the regulations), each director and the chief executive officer of the body corporate are guilty of an offence and liable to the same penalty as is prescribed for the principal offence when committed by a natural person if the prosecution proves that—

the director or chief executive officer (as the case may be) knew, or ought reasonably to have known, that there was a significant risk that such an offence would be committed; and

the director or chief executive officer (as the case may be) was in a position to influence the conduct of the body corporate in relation to the commission of such an offence; and

the director or chief executive officer (as the case may be) failed to exercise due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence.

Subsection (2) does not apply if the principal offence is an offence against a section prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this subsection.

A person referred to in this section may be prosecuted and convicted of an offence against this section whether or not the body corporate has been prosecuted or convicted of the principal offence committed by the body corporate.

The regulations may make provision in relation to the criminal liability of a director or the chief executive officer of a body corporate that is guilty of an offence under the regulations.