Commonwealth Numbered Regulations

DEFENCE (INQUIRY) REGULATIONS 2018 (F2018L00316) - REG 62

             (1)  A person commits an offence if:

                     (a)  the person is a member of the Defence Force; and

                     (b)  the person appears as a witness before an inquiry officer or an IO assistant of the inquiry officer; and

                     (c)  the person fails or refuses to answer a question put to the person by the inquiry officer or the IO assistant; and

                     (d)  the question is relevant to the inquiry officer's inquiry; and

                     (e)  the inquiry officer or IO assistant requires the person to answer the question.

Penalty:  20 penalty units.

             (2)  Subsection (1) does not apply if the person believes on reasonable grounds that the answer to the question is likely to cause damage to the defence, security or international relations of the Commonwealth.

Note:          A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter mentioned in subsection (2) (see section 13.3 of the Criminal Code ).