New South Wales Consolidated Acts

OMBUDSMAN ACT 1974 - SECT 37

37 Offences

(1) A person shall not:

(a) without lawful excuse, wilfully obstruct, hinder or resist the Ombudsman or an officer of the Ombudsman in the exercise of the Ombudsman’s or officer’s powers under this or any other Act,

(b) without lawful excuse, refuse or wilfully fail to comply with any lawful requirement of the Ombudsman or an officer of the Ombudsman under this or any other Act, or

(c) wilfully make any false statement to or mislead, or attempt to mislead, the Ombudsman or an officer of the Ombudsman in the exercise of the Ombudsman’s or officer’s powers under this or any other Act.

Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.

(2) A person shall not directly or indirectly:

(a) where he or she is not the Ombudsman-represent that he or she is the Ombudsman,

(b) where he or she has not been appointed under section 7 as acting Ombudsman-represent that he or she has been so appointed,

(c) where he or she is not a Deputy Ombudsman-represent that he or she is a Deputy Ombudsman,

(c1) where he or she is not an Assistant Ombudsman-represent that he or she is an Assistant Ombudsman,

(c2) where he or she has not been appointed under section 8B as an acting Deputy Ombudsman or an Assistant Ombudsman-represent that he or she has been so appointed,

(d) where he or she is not a special officer of the Ombudsman-represent that he or she is a special officer of the Ombudsman,

(d1) where he or she is not a person to whom a delegation has been made pursuant to section 10A-represent that he or she is such a person,

(e) where he or she is not an officer of the Ombudsman-represent that he or she is an officer of the Ombudsman, or

(f) where he or she is not engaged in the administration or execution of this Act or of any other Act in so far as it confers or imposes on the Ombudsman or an officer or special officer of the Ombudsman any function-represent that he or she is so engaged.

Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), a person represents that a state of affairs exists if the person does or says anything, or causes, permits or suffers anything to be done or said, whereby it is represented, or whereby a belief may be induced, that the state of affairs exists.

(4) A person who uses, causes, inflicts or procures any violence, punishment, damage, loss or disadvantage to any person for or on account of:

(a) his or her making a complaint to the Ombudsman, or

(b) his or her assisting the Ombudsman, or

(c) any evidence given by him or her to the Ombudsman,

is guilty of an indictable offence.

Maximum penalty: 200 penalty units or imprisonment for 5 years, or both.

(5) An employer who dismisses any employee from his or her employment, or prejudices any employee in his or her employment, for or on account of the employee assisting the Ombudsman is guilty of an indictable offence.

Maximum penalty: 200 penalty units or imprisonment for 5 years, or both.

(6) In any proceedings for an offence against subsection (5), it lies on the employer to prove that any employee shown to have been dismissed or prejudiced in his or her employment was so dismissed or prejudiced for some reason other than the reasons mentioned in subsection (5).

(7) In this section, a reference to a person assisting the Ombudsman is a reference to a person who:

(a) has appeared, is appearing or is to appear as a witness before the Ombudsman, or

(b) has complied with or proposes to comply with a requirement under section 18, or

(c) has assisted, is assisting or is to assist the Ombudsman in some other manner.