Credit (Administration) Act 1984

For the purpose of ascertaining whether the provisions of any of the cognate Acts are being or have been complied with by a credit provider or for the purpose of enabling the Commissioner to prepare a report for the State Administrative Tribunal, the Commissioner, or any other person authorised in writing in that behalf by the Commissioner may —

enter premises where the business of the credit provider or the business of a person with whom the credit provider has a trade or tie agreement, is being carried on; and

require the production of records; and

inspect and require explanations of any record; and

take notes, copies and extracts of or from any record or statement produced pursuant to this section.

Where the Commissioner or an authorised person referred to in subsection (1), requires production under that subsection of a record that is not in writing, or is not written in the English language, or is not decipherable on sight, the requirement to produce the record shall be deemed to be a requirement to produce, in addition to the record if it is in writing, or instead of the record if it is not in writing, a statement, written in the English language and decipherable on sight, containing the whole of the information in the record.

A person shall not —

wilfully delay or obstruct the Commissioner, an authorised person or any other person in the exercise of powers under this section; or

refuse or fail to produce, or conceal or attempt to conceal, any record or statement the person is required under subsection (1) or (2) to produce; or

being a credit provider or, where the credit provider is a body corporate, an officer of the credit provider refuses or fails to answer a question or give an explanation relating to any such record or statement put to or required of, him or her by a person entitled to require production of the record or statement who first informs him or her that he or she is required and obliged by this section to answer the question or give the explanation; or

being a credit provider or, where the credit provider is a body corporate, an officer of the credit provider gives to a question relating to any record or statement an answer that he or she knows is false or misleading or gives an explanation of any record or statement that he or she knows is a false or misleading explanation.