Criminal Assets Confiscation Act 2005

For the purposes of this Act, the following rules apply when determining whether property is proceeds or an instrument of an offence:

property is proceeds of an offence if it is—

wholly derived or realised, whether directly or indirectly, from the commission of the offence; or

partly derived or realised, whether directly or indirectly, from the commission of the offence, whether the property is situated within or outside the

property is an instrument of an offence if it is—

used in, or in connection with, the commission of an offence;

intended to be used in, or in connection with, the commission of an offence, whether the property is situated within or outside the

property becomes proceeds of an offence or an instrument of an offence (as the case requires) if it is—

wholly or partly derived or realised from the disposal of, or other dealing with, proceeds of the offence or an instrument of the offence;

wholly or partly acquired using proceeds of the offence or an instrument of the offence, including as a result of a previous application of this section;

property remains proceeds of an offence or an instrument of an offence even if it is—

credited to an account; or

disposed of or otherwise dealt with;

property can be proceeds of an offence or an instrument of an offence even if no person has been convicted of the offence.

Subject to this section, property only ceases to be proceeds of an offence or an instrument of an offence if—

it is acquired by a third party for sufficient consideration without the third party knowing, and in circumstances that would not arouse a reasonable suspicion, that the property was proceeds of an offence or an instrument of an offence (as the case requires); or

it vests in a person from the distribution of the estate of a deceased person, having been previously vested in a person from the distribution of the estate of another deceased person while the property was still proceeds of an offence or an instrument of an offence (as the case requires); or

it vests in a person from the distribution of the estate of a deceased person in accordance with the forfeiture rule or a forfeiture modification order under the Forfeiture

it has been distributed in accordance with—

an order in proceedings under the Family Law Act 1975 of the Commonwealth with respect to the property of the parties to a marriage or de facto relationship, or either of them; or

a financial agreement or Part VIIIAB financial agreement within the meaning of that Act, and 6 years have elapsed since that distribution; or

it has been distributed in accordance with an order in proceedings under the Domestic Partners Property

it is acquired by a person as payment for reasonable legal expenses incurred in connection with an application under this Act or defending a criminal charge; or

a forfeiture order in respect of the property is satisfied;

a recognised Australian restraining order or a recognised

it is otherwise sold or disposed of under this Act;

in any other circumstances specified in the regulations.

If—

a person once owned property that was proceeds of an offence or an instrument of an offence; and

the person ceased to be the owner of the property and (at that time or a later time) the property stopped being proceeds of an offence or an instrument of the offence under subsection (2) (other than under subsection (2)(f)); and

the person acquires the property again, then the property becomes proceeds of an offence or an instrument of the offence again (as the case requires).

Subsection (2)(c) does not apply if, despite the distribution referred to in that paragraph, the property is still subject to the effective control of a person who—

has been convicted of; or

has been charged with, or who is proposed to be charged with;

has committed, or is suspected of having committed, the offence in question.