Commonwealth Numbered Acts Commonwealth Numbered ActsApplication for order
(1) The Secretary may apply to the Federal Court for an order that a person, who is alleged to have contravened a civil penalty provision, pay the Commonwealth a pecuniary penalty.
(2) The Secretary must make the application within 6 years of the alleged contravention.
Court may order person to pay pecuniary penalty
(3) If the Federal Court is satisfied that the person has contravened the civil penalty provision, the court may order the person to pay to the Commonwealth such pecuniary penalty for the contravention as the court determines to be appropriate.
Note: Subsection (5) sets out the maximum penalty that the court may order the person to pay.
(4) An order under subsection (3) is a civil penalty order .
Determining pecuniary penalty
(5) The pecuniary penalty must not be more than:
(a) if the person is a body corporate--5 times the amount of the pecuniary penalty specified for the civil penalty provision; and
(b) otherwise--the amount of the pecuniary penalty specified for the civil penalty provision.
(6) In determining the pecuniary penalty, the court may take into account all relevant matters, including:
(a) the nature and extent of the contravention; and
(b) the nature and extent of any loss or damage suffered because of the contravention; and
(c) the circumstances in which the contravention took place; and
(d) whether the person has previously been found by a court in proceedings under one or more of the following to have engaged in any similar conduct:
(i) this Act;
(ii) the Crimes Act 1914 or the Criminal Code in relation to this Act.