Commonwealth Numbered Acts Commonwealth Numbered Acts(1) If a Court is satisfied that a person has contravened a civil penalty provision, the Court may order the person to pay the Commonwealth a pecuniary penalty.
(2) An order under subsection (1) is to be known as a civil penalty order .
Determining amount of pecuniary penalty
(3) In determining the pecuniary penalty, the Court may have regard to all relevant matters, including:
(a) the nature and extent of the contravention; and
(b) the nature and extent of any loss or damage suffered as a result 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 this Act to have engaged in any similar conduct; and
(e) the extent to which the person has co-operated with the authorities; and
(f) if the person is a body corporate:
(i) the level of the employees, officers or agents of the body corporate involved in the contravention; and
(ii) whether the body corporate exercised due diligence to avoid the contravention; and
(iii) whether the body corporate had a corporate culture conducive to compliance.
(4) The pecuniary penalty payable under subsection (1) by a body corporate must not exceed:
(a) in the case of a contravention of subsection 26(1), (2) or (5)--500 penalty units for each contravention; or
(b) otherwise--10,000 penalty units for each contravention.
(5) The pecuniary penalty payable under subsection (1) by a person other than a body corporate must not exceed:
(a) in the case of a contravention of subsection 26(1), (2) or (5)--100 penalty units for each contravention; or
(b) otherwise--2,000 penalty units for each contravention.
Civil enforcement of penalty
(6) A pecuniary penalty is a civil debt payable to the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth may enforce the civil penalty order as if it were an order made in civil proceedings against the person to recover a debt due by the person. The debt arising from the order is taken to be a judgement debt.