• Specific Year
    Any

CORPORATIONS (ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER) ACT 2006 - SECT 339.65 Qualification and experience: audit firm

CORPORATIONS (ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER) ACT 2006 - SECT 339.65

Qualification and experience: audit firm

  (1)   A person (the defendant ) contravenes this subsection if:

  (a)   one of the following imposes a requirement in relation to the audit of a financial report of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation:

  (i)   an applied provision of the Corporations Act;

  (ii)   regulations made for the purposes of section   333 - 15;

  (iii)   a determination by the Registrar under section   336 - 1 or 336 - 5; and

  (b)   the requirement is that, if the auditor is an audit firm, the audit firm must have a member or members who have particular qualifications or experience; and

  (c)   at a particular time, a firm acts as auditor in relation to the financial report or a part of it; and

  (d)   at that time, the firm does not have a member or members who satisfy the requirement referred to in paragraph   (b); and

  (e)   the defendant is a member of the firm at that time; and

  (f)   the defendant is aware of the circumstances referred to in paragraphs   (c) and (d) at that time.

Penalty:   25 penalty units or imprisonment for 6 months, or both.

  (2)   A person (the defendant ) contravenes this subsection if:

  (a)   one of the following imposes a requirement in relation to the audit of a financial report of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation:

  (i)   an applied provision of the Corporations Act;

  (ii)   regulations made for the purposes of section   333 - 15;

  (iii)   a determination by the Registrar under section   336 - 1 or 336 - 5; and

  (b)   the requirement is that, if the auditor is an audit firm, the audit firm must have a member or members who have particular qualifications or experience; and

  (c)   at a particular time, a firm acts as auditor in relation to the financial report or a part of it; and

  (d)   at that time, the firm does not satisfy the requirement referred to in paragraph   (b); and

  (e)   the defendant is a member of the firm at that time.

Penalty:   10 penalty units.

  (3)   For the purposes of an offence based on subsection   (2), strict liability applies to the physical elements of the offence specified in paragraphs   (2)(a) and (b).

Note 1:   For strict liability , see section   6.1 of the Criminal Code .

Note 2:   Subsection   (4) provides a defence.

  (4)   A member of an audit firm does not commit an offence at a particular time because of a contravention of subsection   (2) if the member either:

  (a)   does not know at that time of the circumstances that constitute the contravention of subsection   (2); or

  (b)   does know of those circumstances at that time but takes all reasonable steps to correct the contravention as soon as possible after the member becomes aware of those circumstances.

Note:   A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters in subsection   (4) (see subsection   13.3(3) of the Criminal Code ).