South Australian Consolidated Acts

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN CO-OPERATIVE AND COMMUNITY HOUSING ACT 1991 - SECT 36

36—Control of payments to members etc

        (1)         Except as authorised by or under this or any other Act, by order of a court or tribunal, or by determination of the Minister, a registered housing co-operative must not make a gift or payment, or grant a benefit, to—

            (a)         a member of the co-operative; or

            (b)         a person who is an associate of a member of the co-operative.

        (2)         Subsection (1) does not prevent—

            (a)         any payment relating to a share held by a member;

            (b)         reasonable payments to a person for services provided to the co-operative by the person, other than where those services are provided by the person in his or her capacity as a member of the co-operative;

            (c)         the reimbursement of costs or expenses incurred by a person on behalf of the co-operative;

            (d)         any payment made to discharge (wholly or in part) any liability of the co-operative to the person to whom the payment is made;

            (e)         any payment due under a tenancy agreement;

            (f)         any reasonable subsidisation of rent, or the provision of a benefit through a rent-relief programme in a case of need;

            (g)         the grant or renewal of a tenancy;

            (h)         the making of a payment or the granting of a benefit authorised by the regulations.

        (3)         In this section—

"member" of a co-operative includes a former member of the co-operative.

        (4)         If a co-operative contravenes subsection (1), the co-operative is not guilty of an offence but each officer of the co-operative is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: $10 000 or imprisonment for 2 years.

        (5)         Where—

            (a)         a person is convicted of an offence against subsection (4); and

            (b)         the court by which the person is convicted is satisfied that the co-operative or another person has suffered loss or damage as a result of the act or omission that constituted the offence,

the court may, in addition to imposing a penalty under that subsection—

            (c)         order the convicted person to pay compensation to the co-operative or other person, as the case may be, of such amount as the court specifies;

            (d)         order the convicted person to undertake, in accordance with the terms of the order, specified work for the benefit of the co-operative.

        (6)         Where a person contravenes or fails to comply with a provision of this section and a co-operative suffers loss or damage as a result of the contravention or failure, the co-operative may, whether or not the person has been convicted of an offence against this section, recover from the person as a debt due to the co-operative by action in a court of competent jurisdiction an amount equal to that loss or damage.