New South Wales Consolidated Acts New South Wales Consolidated Acts(cf 1946 No 13, ss 21F (6), (8) and (12), 25 (5)-(8) and 27J)
(1) A person must not:(a) without reasonable excuse, refuse or fail to comply with any notice given or requirement made, or to answer any question asked, by an authorised officer under this Act or the regulations, or(b) provide information or give evidence in purported compliance with a requirement made or question asked by an authorised officer under this Act or the regulations knowing the information or evidence to be false or misleading in a material particular, or(c) wilfully delay, hinder or obstruct an authorised officer in the exercise of the officer’s functions under this Act or the regulations, or(d) falsely represent himself or herself to be an authorised officer.Maximum penalty: 500 penalty units (in the case of a corporation) and 150 penalty units (in any other case).
(2) If an authorised officer makes a requirement under section 30 (2) (b), of a person who appears to the officer to be doing electrical wiring work, that person is not guilty of the offence of failing to comply with that requirement if it is proved that the person was not actually doing the electrical wiring work.
(3) It is a sufficient defence to a prosecution for an offence arising under subsection (1) (a) by reason of the failure of a defendant to answer a question asked by an authorised officer under a power conferred by this Act or the regulations if the defendant satisfies the court that the defendant did not know, and could not with reasonable diligence ascertain, the answer to the question.
(4) A person cannot be prosecuted for both an offence against this section and an offence against section 23 (Obstruction etc of officers) of the Fair Trading Act 1987 in relation to the same act or omission.