Offences by bodies corporate and partnerships
164 Offences by bodies corporate and partnerships
Where an offence under this Act is found to have been committed by a body corporate, then —
[(a) deleted]
if the offence was committed in respect of licensed premises, any manager who was supervising and managing the premises at the time the offence was committed is also taken to have committed an offence unless it is proved that —
such direction had been given; and
such supervision had been exercised or caused to be exercised,
by that manager as were reasonably necessary to ensure that an offence against this Act would not be committed,
and the manager shall be liable to the same penalty as is prescribed for the principal offence.
Where the ground upon which a complaint under section 95 is made out and the Tribunal imposes, or is empowered to impose, a penalty on a licensee who is a body corporate, then —
if the grounds upon which the complaint was made are found —
to have occurred with the consent or connivance of; or
to be attributable to any failure to take all reasonable steps to secure compliance by the body corporate with this Act on the part of,
any officer or other person concerned in the management of the body corporate, or any person purporting to act in any such capacity, then the Tribunal may impose a penalty under section 96 on that person as well as a penalty on the body corporate; and
the Tribunal may impose a penalty under section 96 on any manager who was supervising and managing the premises at the time the grounds upon which the complaint was made occurred, as well as on the licensee, unless it is proved that —
such direction had been given; and
such supervision had been exercised or caused to be exercised,
by that manager as were reasonably necessary to ensure that the grounds upon which the complaint was made would not occur.
In this section officer, in relation to a body corporate, includes a person who is an officer of the body corporate within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth.
Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsections (1) and (1a) apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with functions of management as if the member were a director of the body corporate.
Where this Act provides that a licensee commits an offence, or that a proper cause for disciplinary action under section 96 is made out in respect of a licensee, in specified circumstances —
the reference to the licensee shall be construed as a reference to each person who holds the licence; and
if that licence is held by a person who is a member of a partnership which is directly or indirectly interested in the business conducted under that licence, or the profits or proceeds of the business, each member of the partnership is liable for the offence, or to have disciplinary action taken against him or her.
A person referred to in this section may, on the request of the complainant or prosecutor be dealt with in the same proceedings as the body corporate is dealt with if the court is satisfied that the person had reasonable notice that the complainant or prosecutor intended to make that request.
[Section 164 amended: No. 12 of 1998 s. 89; No. 10 of 2001 s. 220; No. 84 of 2004 s. 80; No. 73 of 2006 s. 106; No. 56 of 2010 s. 20; No. 9 of 2023 s. 93; No. 20 of 2025 s. 67 and 122.]
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