Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION ACT 1979 - SECT 23

             (1)  For the purposes of carrying out the Organisation's functions, an authorised officer or employee may:

                     (a)  ask an operator of an aircraft or vessel questions relating to the aircraft or vessel, or its cargo, crew, passengers, stores or voyage; or

                     (b)  request an operator of an aircraft or vessel to produce documents relating to the aircraft or vessel, or its cargo, crew, passengers, stores or voyage, that are in the possession or under the control of the operator.

             (2)  A person who is asked a question or requested to produce a document under subsection (1) must answer the question or produce the document as soon as practicable.

Offence

             (3)  A person commits an offence if:

                     (a)  the person is an operator of an aircraft or vessel; and

                     (b)  the person is asked a question or requested to produce a document under subsection (1); and

                     (c)  the person fails to answer the question or produce the document.

Penalty:  60 penalty units.

             (4)  Subsection (3) is an offence of strict liability.

Note:          For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code .

             (5)  It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against subsection (3) if the person charged had a reasonable excuse for:

                     (a)  failing to answer the question; or

                     (b)  failing to produce the document.

             (6)  The Director‑General, or a senior officer of the Organisation appointed by the Director‑General in writing to be an authorising officer for the purposes of this subsection, may authorise, in writing, an officer or employee of the Organisation, or a class of such officers or employees, for the purposes of this section.

             (7)  In this section:

"authorised officer or employee" means an officer or employee who is authorised under subsection (6) for the purposes of this section.

"operator" has the meaning given by section 4 of the Customs Act 1901 .

"senior officer of the Organisation" means an officer of the Organisation who holds or performs the duties of an office that is:

                     (a)  equivalent to a position occupied by an SES employee; or

                     (b)  designated as an office of Coordinator by the Director‑General under section 85.