Australian Capital Territory Numbered Acts Australian Capital Territory Numbered Acts54. After section 80 of the Principal Act, the following sections are inserted:
“80A. (1) Where, in proceedings for an offence, it is necessary to establish the state of mind of a body corporate in relation to particular conduct, it is sufficient to show—
(a) that the conduct was engaged in by a director, servant or agent of the body corporate within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority; and
(b) that the director, servant or agent had that state of mind.
“(2) Any conduct engaged in on behalf of a body corporate by a director, servant or agent of the body corporate within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority shall be taken, for the purposes of a prosecution for an offence, to have been engaged in also by the body corporate unless the body corporate establishes that it took reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence to avoid the conduct.
“(3) Where, in proceedings for an offence, it is necessary to establish the state of mind of a person other than a body corporate in relation to particular conduct, it is sufficient to show—
(a) that the conduct was engaged in by a servant or agent of the person within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority; and
(b) that the servant or agent had that state of mind.
“(4) Any conduct engaged in on behalf of a person other than a body corporate by a servant or agent of the person within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority shall be taken, for the purposes of a prosecution for an offence, to have been engaged in also by the first-mentioned person unless the first-mentioned person establishes that the first-mentioned person took reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence to avoid the conduct.
“(5) Where—
(a) a person other than a body corporate is convicted of an offence; and
(b) the person would not have been convicted of the offence if subsections (3) and (4) had not been enacted;
the person is not liable to be punished by imprisonment for that offence.
“(6) A reference in subsection (1) or (3) to the state of mind of a person includes a reference to—
(a) the knowledge, intention, opinion, belief or purpose of the person; and
(b) the person's reasons for the intention, opinion, belief or purpose.
“(7) A reference in this section to a director of a body corporate includes a reference to a constituent member of a body corporate incorporated for a public purpose by a law of the Territory, the Commonwealth, another Territory or a State.
“(8) A reference in this section to engaging in conduct includes a reference to failing or refusing to engage in conduct.
“(9) In this section, ‘offence' means an offence against this Act or the regulations.
“80B. Where a body corporate is convicted of an offence against this Act or the regulations, the penalty that the Court may impose is a fine not exceeding 5 times the maximum amount that, but for this section, the Court could impose as a pecuniary penalty for that offence.”.