NATIONAL CRIME AUTHORITY ACT 1984 No. 41, 1984 - SECT 4 Interpretation

NATIONAL CRIME AUTHORITY ACT 1984 No. 41, 1984 - SECT 4

4. (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears-

"acting member" means a person, not being a member, who is acting as Chairman
or as a member other than the Chairman;

"appoint" includes re-appoint;

"Authority" means the National Crime Authority established by section 7;

"business" includes-

   (a)  any profession, trade, employment or vocational calling;

   (b)  any transaction or transactions, whether lawful or unlawful, in the
        nature of trade or commerce (including the making of a loan); and

   (c)  any activity, whether lawful or unlawful, carried on for the purposes
        of gain, whether or not the gain is of a pecuniary nature and whether
        the gain is direct or indirect;

"Chairman" means Chairman of the Authority;

"document" includes any book, register or other record of information, however
compiled, recorded or stored;

"Federal Court" means the Federal Court of Australia;

"Inter-Governmental Committee" or "Committee" means the Inter-Governmental
Committee referred to in section 8;

"Judge" means-

   (a)  a Judge of a court created by the Parliament or of a court of a State
        or Territory; or

   (b)  a person who has the same designation and status as a Judge of a court
        created by the Parliament;

"law enforcement agency" means-

   (a)  the Australian Federal Police;

   (b)  a Police Force of a State; or

   (c)  any other authority or person responsible for the enforcement of the
        laws of the Commonwealth or of the States;

"legal practitioner" means a barrister, a solicitor, a barrister and
solicitor, or a legal practitioner, of the High Court or of the Supreme Court
of a State or Territory;

"member" means member of the Authority and includes the Chairman;

"member of the staff of the Authority" means-

   (a)  a member of the staff referred to in sub-section 47 (1);

   (b)  a person engaged under sub-section 48 (1); or

   (c)  a person referred to in section 49 whose services are made available
        to the Authority;

"officer of a State" includes-

   (a)  a Minister of the Crown of a State;

   (b)  a member of either House of the Parliament of a State or, if there is
        only one House of the Parliament of a State, a member of that House;

   (c)  a person holding or acting in an office (including a judicial office)
        or appointment, or employed, under a law of a State; and

   (d)  a person who is, or is a member of, an authority or body established
        for a public purpose by or under a law of a State or is an officer or
        employee of such an authority or body;

"officer of a Territory" includes-

   (a)  a person holding or acting in an office (including a judicial office)
        or appointment, or employed, under a law of a Territory; and

   (b)  a person who is, or is a member of, an authority or body established
        for a public purpose by or under a law of a Territory or is an officer
        or employee of such an authority or body;

"officer of the Commonwealth" includes-

   (a)  a Minister of State of the Commonwealth;

   (b)  a member of either House of the Parliament of the Commonwealth;

   (c)  a person holding or acting in an office (including a judicial office)
        or appointment, or employed, under a law of the Commonwealth; and

   (d)  a person who is, or is a member of, an authority or body established
        for a public purpose by or under a law of the Commonwealth or is an
        officer or employee of such an authority or body,
but does not include an officer of a Territory;

"participating State" means a State the Premier of which-

   (a)  has notified the Prime Minister that the State will participate in the
        activities of the Inter-Governmental Committee; and

   (b)  has not subsequently notified the Prime Minister that the State will
        not participate in the activities of the Committee;

"passport" means an Australian passport or a passport issued by the Government
of a country other than Australia;

"relevant criminal activity" means any circumstances implying, or any
allegations, that a relevant offence may have been, or may be being, committed
against a law of the Commonwealth, of a State or of a Territory;

"relevant offence" means an offence-

   (a)  that involves 2 or more offenders and substantial planning and
        organization;

   (b)  that involves, or is of a kind that ordinarily involves, the use of
        sophisticated methods and techniques;

   (c)  that is committed, or is of a kind that is ordinarily committed, in
        conjunction with other offences of a like kind; and

   (d)  that involves theft, fraud, tax evasion, currency violations, illegal
        drug dealings, illegal gambling, obtaining financial benefit by vice
        engaged in by others, extortion, violence, bribery or corruption of,
        or by, an officer of the Commonwealth, an officer of a State or an
        officer of a Territory, bankruptcy and company violations, harbouring
        of criminals, forging of passports, armament dealings or illegal
        importation or exportation of fauna into or out of Australia, or that
        involves matters of the same general nature as one or more of the
        foregoing, or that is of any other prescribed kind,
but-

   (e)  does not include an offence committed in the course of a genuine
        dispute as to matters pertaining to the relations of employees and
        employers by a party to the dispute, unless the offence is committed
        in connection with, or as part of, a course of activity involving the
        commission of a relevant offence other than an offence so committed;

   (f)  does not include an offence the time for the commencement of a
        prosecution for which has expired; and

   (g)  does not include an offence that is not punishable by imprisonment or
        is punishable by imprisonment for a period of less than 3 years;

"special investigation" means an investigation that the Authority is
conducting in the performance of its special functions;

"State" includes the Northern Territory;

"Task Force" includes a body of persons that is similar to a Task Force,
however the body is described;

"Territory" does not include the Northern Territory;

"the Commonwealth Minister" or "the Minister" means the Minister of State
administering this Act.

(2) Where the Authority suspects that an offence that is not a relevant
offence as defined in sub-section (1) may be directly or indirectly connected
with, or may be a part of, a course of activity involving the commission of a
relevant offence as so defined, whether or not the Authority has identified
the nature of that relevant offence, the first-mentioned offence shall, for so
long only as the Authority so suspects, be deemed, for the purposes of this
Act, to be a relevant offence.

(3) In this Act-

   (a)  a reference to the Parliament of a State shall, in relation to the
        Northern Territory, be construed as a reference to the Legislative
        Assembly of that Territory;

   (b)  a reference to the Governor of a State shall, in relation to the
        Northern Territory, be construed as a reference to the Administrator
        of that Territory;

   (c)  a reference to the Premier of a State shall, in relation to the
        Northern Territory, be construed as a reference to the Chief Minister
        of that Territory; and

   (d)  a reference to a Minister of the Crown of a State shall, in relation
        to the Northern Territory, be construed as a reference to a person
        holding Ministerial office within the meaning of the
        Northern Territory  (Self-Government) Act 1978 .