Withdrawal of civil expiation notices
86H Withdrawal of civil expiation notices
The
Responsible authority may withdraw a civil expiation notice with respect to all or any of the alleged civil penalty contraventions to which the notice relates if—
the
Responsible authority is of the opinion that the person to whom the notice was given did not commit the contravention or contraventions or that the notice should not have been given for the contravention or contraventions; or
the notice is defective; or
the
Responsible authority decides that proceedings should be commenced for a civil penalty order against the person for the contravention or contraventions.
A civil expiation notice may be withdrawn under subsection (1) despite payment of an expiation fee, but in that event the amount paid must be refunded.
However, a civil expiation notice cannot be withdrawn for the purposes of commencing proceedings for a civil penalty order for a civil penalty contravention if an expiation fee has been paid for the contravention and the period of 60 days from the date of the notice has expired.
If a civil expiation notice is withdrawn under subsection (1) despite payment of an expiation fee, proceedings for a civil penalty order for a civil penalty contravention to which the notice related may be commenced, but the fact that the person to whom the notice was given paid an expiation fee is not admissible in those proceedings as evidence against the person.
The
Responsible authority must withdraw a civil expiation notice if it becomes apparent that the person to whom the notice was given did not receive the notice until after the period for payment of the expiation fee, or has never received it, as a result of error on the
part of the Responsible authority or failure of the postal system.
However, a civil expiation notice cannot be withdrawn under subsection (5) if the expiation fee has been paid or proceedings have been commenced for a civil penalty order against the person to whom the notice was given.
A notice of withdrawal must specify the reason for withdrawal and include any information required by the regulations.
If a civil expiation notice is withdrawn by the Responsible authority in respect of an alleged civil penalty contravention and the notice of withdrawal does not specify that the notice is withdrawn for the purposes of commencing proceedings for a civil penalty order against the person, proceedings cannot be commenced for a civil penalty order for the contravention unless the person has been given a fresh civil expiation notice and allowed the opportunity to expiate the contravention.
This provision refers to the regulations (the regulations
). Made under this Act:
- Fair Trading (Building and Construction Industry Dispute Resolution Code) Regulations 2017
- Fair Trading (Fuel Pricing Information) Regulations 2021
- Fair Trading (Mining and Resources Industry Land Access Dispute Resolution Code) Regulations 2018
1 more instrument made under this Act are listed on the Act’s overview.
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