South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated Acts (1) A committee member
has an interest in a matter before the committee of management if—
(a) the
committee member or an associate of the committee member would, if the matter
were decided in a particular manner, receive or have a reasonable expectation
of receiving a direct or indirect pecuniary benefit or suffer or have a
reasonable expectation of suffering a direct or indirect pecuniary detriment;
or
(b) the
committee member or an associate of the committee member would, if the matter
were decided in a particular manner, obtain or have a reasonable expectation
of obtaining a non-pecuniary benefit or suffer or have a reasonable
expectation of suffering a non-pecuniary detriment,
(not being a benefit or detriment that would be enjoyed or suffered by the
committee member or his or her associate in common with a substantial group
within the particular co-operative).
(2) A committee member
who has an interest in a matter before the committee of management must
disclose the existence of that interest to the committee of management.
Maximum penalty: $5 000 or imprisonment for 1 year.
(3) A disclosure under
subsection (2) must be recorded in the minutes of the
committee of management.
(4) A committee member
who has an interest in a matter before the committee of management—
(a) must
not, except on the request of the committee of management, take part in any
discussion by the committee of management relating to that matter; and
(b) must
not vote in relation to that matter; and
(c)
must, unless the committee of management permits otherwise, be absent from the
meeting room when any such discussion or voting is taking place.
Maximum penalty: $5 000 or imprisonment for 1 year.
(5) It is a defence to
a charge of an offence against this section for the defendant to prove that,
at the time of the alleged offence, the defendant was unaware of his or her
interest in the matter.
(6) The fact that a
committee member has failed to comply with this section in relation to a
matter does not, of itself, invalidate a resolution or decision on that
matter, but, where it appears that the non-compliance may have had a decisive
influence on the passing of the resolution or the making of the decision, the
Supreme Court may, on the application of the Minister, a member of the
co-operative, or any person affected by the resolution or decision, annul the
resolution or decision and make such ancillary orders as it thinks fit.