Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) If the Minister has reason to believe that a person is capable of giving information or producing documents about matters that are relevant to the exercise by the Minister of his or her powers under this Act, the Minister may, by notice in writing served on that person, require that person:
(a) to give any such information to the Minister within the period and in the manner specified in the notice; or
(b) to produce any such documents to the Minister within the period and in the manner specified in the notice; or
(c) to make copies of any such documents and to produce those copies to the Minister within the period and in the manner specified in the notice.
(2) A notice under subsection (1) must set out the effects of subsections (5) and (9) of this section and sections 137.1 and 137.2 of the Criminal Code .
(3) The regulations may prescribe scales of expenses to be allowed to persons required to give information or produce documents under this section.
(4) A person is entitled to be paid by the Commonwealth reasonable compensation for complying with a requirement covered by paragraph (1)(c).
(5) A person must not, without reasonable excuse, refuse or fail to comply with a notice under subsection (1).
Penalty: Imprisonment for 6 months.
Note: Subsection 4B(2) of the Crimes Act 1914 allows a court to impose an appropriate fine instead of, or in addition to, a term of imprisonment. If a body corporate is convicted of an offence, subsection 4B(3) of that Act allows a court to impose a fine of an amount that is not greater than 5 times the maximum fine that could be imposed by a court on an individual convicted of the same offence.
(9) A person is not excused from giving information or producing a document or a copy of a document under this section on the ground that the information or the production of the document or copy might tend to incriminate the person, but:
(a) giving the information or producing the document or copy; or
(b) any information, document or thing obtained as a direct or indirect consequence of giving the information or producing the document or copy;
is not admissible in evidence against the person in any criminal proceedings other than a prosecution for an offence against this section or an offence against section 137.1 or 137.2 of the Criminal Code that relates to this section.
(10) The Minister may inspect a document or copy produced under this section and may make and retain copies of, or take and retain extracts from, such a document or copy.
(11) The Minister may retain a copy of a document produced in accordance with a requirement covered by paragraph (1)(c).
(12) The Minister may, for the purposes of this Act, take, and retain for as long as is necessary for those purposes, a document produced under this section.
(13) The person otherwise entitled to possession of the document is entitled to be supplied, as soon as practicable, with a copy certified by the Minister to be a true copy.
(14) The certified copy must be received in all courts and tribunals as evidence as if it were the original.
(15) Until a certified copy is supplied, the Minister must, at such times and places as the Minister thinks appropriate, permit the person otherwise entitled to possession of the document, or a person authorised by that person, to inspect and make copies of, or take extracts from, the document.