Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

INSURANCE ACT 1973 - SECT 24

             (1)  A person commits an offence if:

                     (a)  the person is a disqualified person; and

                     (b)  the person is or acts as one of the following:

                              (i)  a director or senior manager of a general insurer (other than a foreign general insurer);

                             (ii)  a senior manager, or agent in Australia for the purpose of section 118, of a foreign general insurer;

                            (iii)  a director or senior manager of an authorised NOHC;

                            (iv)  a director or senior manager of a corporate agent; and

                     (c)  for a person who is a disqualified person only because he or she was disqualified under section 25A--the person is disqualified from being or acting as that director, senior manager or agent in Australia (as the case requires).

Penalty:  Imprisonment for 2 years.

             (2)  A person commits an offence if:

                     (a)  the person is a disqualified person; and

                     (b)  the person is or acts as one of the following:

                              (i)  a director or senior manager of a general insurer (other than a foreign general insurer);

                             (ii)  a senior manager, or agent in Australia for the purpose of section 118, of a foreign general insurer;

                            (iii)  a director or senior manager of an authorised NOHC;

                            (iv)  a director or senior manager of a corporate agent; and

                     (c)  for a person who is a disqualified person only because he or she was disqualified under section 25A--the person is disqualified from being or acting as that director, senior manager or agent in Australia (as the case requires).

Penalty:  60 penalty units.

             (3)  Subsection (2) is an offence of strict liability.

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

             (4)  A body corporate commits an offence if:

                     (a)  a person is a disqualified person; and

                     (b)  the person is or acts as one of the following:

                              (i)  if the body corporate is a general insurer (other than a foreign general insurer)--a director or senior manager of the insurer;

                             (ii)  if the body corporate is a foreign general insurer--a senior manager, or agent in Australia for the purpose of section 118, of the insurer;

                            (iii)  if the body corporate is an authorised NOHC--a director or senior manager of the NOHC;

                            (iv)  if the body corporate is a corporate agent--a director or senior manager of the corporate agent; and

                     (c)  for a person who is a disqualified person only because he or she was disqualified under section 25A--the person is disqualified from being or acting as that director, senior manager or agent in Australia (as the case requires); and

                     (d)  in any case--the body corporate allows the person to be or act as a director, senior manager or agent in Australia (as the case requires).

Penalty:  250 penalty units.

             (5)  A body corporate commits an offence if:

                     (a)  a person is a disqualified person; and

                     (b)  the person is or acts as one of the following:

                              (i)  if the body corporate is a general insurer (other than a foreign general insurer)--a director or senior manager of the insurer;

                             (ii)  if the body corporate is a foreign general insurer--a senior manager, or agent in Australia for the purpose of section 118, of the insurer;

                            (iii)  if the body corporate is an authorised NOHC--a director or senior manager of the NOHC;

                            (iv)  if the body corporate is a corporate agent--a director or senior manager of the corporate agent; and

                     (c)  for a person who is a disqualified person only because he or she was disqualified under section 25A--the person is disqualified from being or acting as that director, senior manager or agent in Australia (as the case requires); and

                     (d)  in any case--the body corporate allows the person to be or act as a director, senior manager or agent in Australia (as the case requires).

Penalty:  60 penalty units.

             (6)  Subsection (5) is an offence of strict liability.

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

             (8)  A failure to comply with this section does not affect the validity of an appointment or transaction.

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

Note 2:       Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code sets out the general principles of criminal responsibility.

Note 3:       If a body corporate is convicted of an offence against this section, subsection 4B(3) of the Crimes Act 1914 allows a court to impose a fine of up to 5 times the penalty above.