Northern Territory Consolidated Acts

ASSOCIATIONS ACT - SECT 90

    (1)     If:

        (a)     an incorporated association has incurred a debt; and

        (b)     immediately before the debt was incurred:

            (i)     there were reasonable grounds to expect that the association would not be able to pay all its debts as and when they became due; or

            (ii)     there were reasonable grounds to expect that, if the association incurred the debt, it would not be able to pay all its debts as and when they became due; and

        (c)     the association was at the time when the debt was incurred, or became at a later time, an incorporated association to which this Division applies;

a person who was an officer of the association, or who took part in the management of the association, when the debt was incurred is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty:     400 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years.

    (2)     It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against subsection (1) if the defendant proves:

        (a)     that the debt was incurred without the defendant's express or implied authority or consent; or

        (b)     that when the debt was incurred the defendant did not have reasonable cause to expect:

            (i)     that the association would not be able to pay all its debts as and when they became due; or

            (ii)     that, if the association incurred that debt, it would not be able to pay all its debts as and when they became due.

    (3)     If:

        (a)     an incorporated association has done an act (including the making of a contract or the entering into of a transaction) with intent to defraud creditors of the association or of another person or for another fraudulent purpose; and

        (b)     the association was at the time when it did the act, or becomes at a later time, an incorporated association to which this Division applies;

a person who was concerned in the doing of the act with that intent or for that purpose is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty:     400 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years.

    (4)     A certificate issued by a court stating that a person specified in the certificate:

        (a)     was convicted of an offence against subsection (1) in relation to the debt specified in the certificate incurred by the association specified in the certificate; or

        (b)     was convicted of an offence against subsection (3) in relation to the association specified in the certificate;

is, in any proceedings, prima facie evidence of the matters stated in the certificate.

    (5)     A document purporting to be a certificate issued under subsection (4) is, unless the contrary is established, taken to be a certificate issued under subsection (4) and to have been duly issued.