Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATION ACT 1985 - SECT 16AA

             (1)  This section applies for the purposes of a prosecution for:

                     (a)  an offence created by a provision in this Act or the regulations; or

                     (b)  an offence created by section 6 of the Crimes Act 1914 , or section 11.1, 11.2, 11.4 or 11.5 of the Criminal Code , that relates to an offence referred to in paragraph (a).

             (2)  If it is necessary to prove the state of mind of a body corporate in relation to particular conduct, it is enough to show that:

                     (a)  the conduct was engaged in by a director, employee or agent of the body corporate within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority; and

                     (b)  the director, employee or agent had the state of mind.

             (3)  If:

                     (a)  conduct is engaged in on behalf of a body corporate by a director, employee or agent of the body corporate; and

                     (b)  the conduct is within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority;

the conduct is taken, for the purposes of the prosecution of an offence against this Act, to have been engaged in also by the body corporate unless the body corporate establishes that it took reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence to avoid the conduct.

             (4)  In this section:

"director" , in relation to a body that:

                     (a)  is incorporated for a public purpose by a law of the Commonwealth, of a State or of a Territory; and

                     (b)  is constituted by one or more members;

means the member, or any of the members, constituting the body.

"engage in conduct" includes fail or refuse to engage in conduct.

"state of mind" , in relation to a person, includes:

                     (a)  the person's knowledge, intention, opinion, belief or purpose; and

                     (b)  the person's reasons for the intention, opinion, belief or purpose.