Victorian Numbered Acts Victorian Numbered Acts(1) A person must not cause, permit, aid or abet a person who is not a licensee to carry on a conveyancing business.
Penalty: For a natural person, 240 penalty units;
For a corporation, 1200 penalty units.
(2) Sub-section (1) does not apply to a person if the person carrying on the conveyancing business is—
(a) an Australian legal practitioner; or
(b) an incorporated legal practice and the conveyancing work is carried out on its behalf by an Australian legal practitioner.
(3) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against sub-section (1) to prove that the defendant—
(a) took all reasonable steps to prevent the person who is not a licensee from carrying on a conveyancing business; or
(b) did not know and could not reasonably have been expected to have known that the person who is not a licensee was representing themselves as a licensee.
(4) If a licensee is convicted of an offence under sub-section (1), in addition to any penalty, the court—
(a) must order that the licensee's licence be cancelled and delivered up to the court; and
(b) may order that the licensee be disqualified either permanently or for the period specified by the court from holding a licence.
(5) If a licence is delivered up to a court under this section, the licence and a copy of any order of the court relating to the licence must be sent as soon as practicable by the proper officer of the court to the Authority.