Northern Territory Consolidated Acts

CONSUMER AFFAIRS AND FAIR TRADING ACT - SECT 23

(1) A person shall not:

(a) hinder or obstruct an authorised officer in the exercise by the officer of a power conferred by this Part;

(b) assault, or directly or indirectly threaten, an authorised officer while the officer is exercising a power conferred by this Part; or

(c) impersonate an authorised officer.

Penalty: If the offender is a natural person - 400 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years.

If the offender is a body corporate - 2 000 penalty units.

(2) A person who:

(a) fails to answer a question asked by an authorised officer pursuant to section 21(4)(a);

(b) fails to comply with a requirement of an authorised officer under section 21(4)(b) or (c); or

(c) fails to comply with a notice under section 22(2),

is, to the extent that the person is capable of answering the question or complying with the requirement or notice (but subject, in a case falling within paragraph (a) or (b), to subsection (3)) guilty of an offence.

Penalty: If the offender is a natural person - 100 penalty units.

If the offender is a body corporate - 500 penalty units.

(3) A person is not guilty of an offence by reason of a failure mentioned in subsection (2)(a) or (b) unless, before the failure, the authorised officer warned the person that it would be an offence for the person not to answer the question or, as the case may be, comply with the requirement.

(4) A person who:

(a) gives to a question asked by an authorised officer pursuant to section 21(4)(a) an answer that the person knows to be false or misleading in a material particular;

(b) gives pursuant to a requirement of an authorised officer under section 21(4)(c) an explanation that the person knows to be false or misleading in a material particular; or

(c) in purported compliance with a notice under section 22(2), knowingly furnishes information, produces a document or gives evidence that is false or misleading in a material particular,

is guilty of an offence.

Penalty: If the offender is a natural person - 100 penalty units or imprisonment for 6 months.

If the offender is a body corporate - 500 penalty units.