Tasmanian Consolidated Acts Tasmanian Consolidated Acts
(1) Subject to subsection (3), in a prosecution under this Act in relation to a contravention of a provision of this Act, it is a defence if the defendant establishes –
(a) that the contravention in respect of which the proceeding was instituted was due to reasonable mistake; or
(b) that the contravention in respect of which the proceeding was instituted was due to reasonable reliance on information supplied by another person; or
(c) that –
(i) the contravention in respect of which the proceeding was instituted was due to the act or default of another person, to an accident or to some other cause beyond the defendant's control; and
(ii) the defendant took reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence to avoid the contravention.
(2) In subsection (1)(b) and (c), "another person" does not include a person who was –
at the time when the contravention occurred.(a) a servant or agent of the defendant; or
(b) in the case of a defendant being a body corporate, a director, servant or agent of the defendant –
(3) If a defence provided by subsection (1) involves an allegation that a contravention was due to reliance on information supplied by another person or to the act or default of another person, the defendant is not, without leave of the court, entitled to rely on that defence unless he has, not later than 7 days before the day on which the hearing of the proceeding commences, served on the person by whom the proceeding was instituted a notice in writing giving such information that would identify or assist in the identification of the other person as was then in the defendant's possession.
(4) In a proceeding under this Act in relation to a contravention of a provision of this Act committed by the publication of an advertisement, it is a defence to establish that the defendant is a person whose business it is to publish or arrange for the publication of advertisements and that the defendant received the advertisement for publication in the ordinary course of business and did not know and had no reason to suspect that its publication would amount to a contravention of a provision of this Act.