South Australian Numbered Acts

STATUTES AMENDMENT (NATIONAL ENERGY LAWS) (PENALTIES AND ENFORCEMENT) ACT 2020 (NO 37 OF 2020) - SECT 6

6—Insertion of section 2AB

After section 2AA insert:

2AB—Civil penalty amounts for breaches of civil penalty provisions

        (1)         Subject to this section, the civil penalty for a breach of a civil penalty provision is—

            (a)         in the case of a breach of a civil penalty provision, other than a provision prescribed under paragraph (b)

, (c)

or (d)

—

                  (i)         if the breach is by a natural person—

                        (A)         an amount not exceeding $33 900; plus

                        (B)         an amount not exceeding $3 390 for every day during which the breach continues;

                  (ii)         if the breach is by a body corporate—

                        (A)         an amount not exceeding $170 000; plus

                        (B)         an amount not exceeding $17 000 for every day during which the breach continues; or

            (b)         in the case of a breach of a civil penalty provision prescribed by the Regulations for the purposes of this paragraph—

                  (i)         if the breach is by a natural person—

                        (A)         an amount not exceeding $287 000; plus

                        (B)         an amount not exceeding $14 400 for every day during which the breach continues;

                  (ii)         if the breach is by a body corporate—

                        (A)         an amount not exceeding $1 435 000; plus

                        (B)         an amount not exceeding $71 800 for every day during which the breach continues; or

            (c)         in the case of a breach of a civil penalty provision prescribed by the Regulations for the purposes of this paragraph—

                  (i)         if the breach is by a natural person—an amount not exceeding $500 000;

                  (ii)         if the breach is by a body corporate—an amount not exceeding the greater of the following:

                        (A)         $10 000 000;

                        (B)         if the Court can determine the value of any benefit reasonably attributable to the breach of the civil penalty provision that the body corporate, and any body corporate related to the body corporate, has obtained, directly or indirectly—3 times the value of that benefit;

                        (C)         if the Court cannot determine the value of the benefit—10% of the annual turnover of the body corporate during the 12-month period ending at the end of the month in which the body corporate breached, or began breaching, the civil penalty provision; or

            (d)         in the case of a breach of a reliability obligation civil penalty provision—

                  (i)         if the breach is by a natural person—an amount not exceeding $1 435 000;

                  (ii)         if the breach is by a body corporate—

                        (A)         an amount not exceeding $1 435 000 for a breach that relates to a reliability gap period; or

                        (B)         an amount that applies under paragraph (c)(ii)

, as if the reliability obligation civil penalty provision were prescribed by the Regulations for the purposes of paragraph (c)

, for a breach that relates to a second or subsequent reliability gap period.

Note—

See section 67A, which deals with conduct that constitutes a breach of a reliability obligation civil penalty provision on 2 or more occasions in relation to the same reliability gap period.

Note—

See Schedule 2 clause 37A, which provides for the amounts specified in this subsection to be adjusted every 3 years to reflect movements in the consumer price index. The adjusted amounts are published on the AER's website.

        (2)         Subsection (1)(c)(ii)(B)

or (C)

will only apply in a particular case (including by operation of subsection (1)(d)(ii)(B)

) if the AER, in applying for an order under section 61(2)(a), requests that those provisions be applied in that particular case.