Regulatory Powers (Standardisation Reform) Act 2017 (124 of 2017)

Schedule 4   Amendments of the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Legislation

Part 1   Amendments

Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Payroll Levy Collection Act 1992

44   After section 13

Insert:

13A Civil penalty provisions

Enforceable civil penalty provisions

(1) Each civil penalty provision of this Act is enforceable under Part 4 of the Regulatory Powers Act.

Note: Part 4 of the Regulatory Powers Act allows a civil penalty provision to be enforced by obtaining an order for a person to pay a pecuniary penalty for the contravention of the provision.

Authorised applicant

(2) For the purposes of Part 4 of the Regulatory Powers Act, the Corporation, on behalf of the Commonwealth, is an authorised applicant in relation to the civil penalty provisions of this Act.

(3) The Corporation may, by writing under its seal, delegate its powers as an authorised applicant in relation to the civil penalty provisions of this Act to:

(a) a member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation; or

(b) a person employed by the Corporation; or

(c) a person engaged by the Corporation under a contract; or

(d) a person employed by a person referred to in paragraph (c).

Relevant court

(4) For the purposes of Part 4 of the Regulatory Powers Act, each of the following courts is a relevant court in relation to the civil penalty provisions of this Act:

(a) the Federal Court;

(b) the Federal Circuit Court.

Additional matters to be taken into account in determining a pecuniary penalty

(5) In addition to the matters the court must take into account under subsection 82(6) of the Regulatory Powers Act in determining the pecuniary penalty for the contravention of a civil penalty provision of this Act, if the person who contravened the civil penalty provision is a body corporate, the court must take into account:

(a) the level of the employees, officers or agents of the body corporate involved in the contravention; and

(b) whether the body corporate exercised due diligence to avoid the contravention; and

(c) whether the body corporate had a corporate culture conducive to compliance.

13B Civil penalty provisions contravened by executive officers

An executive officer of a body corporate contravenes this section if:

(a) the body corporate contravenes a civil penalty provision; and

(b) the officer knew that the contravention would occur; and

(c) the officer was in a position to influence the conduct of the body in relation to the contravention; and

(d) the officer failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent the contravention.

Civil penalty: 60 penalty units.

13C Establishing whether an executive officer took reasonable steps to prevent the contravention of a civil penalty provision

(1) For the purposes of section 13B, in determining whether an executive officer of a body corporate failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent the contravention of a civil penalty provision, a court is to have regard to:

(a) what action (if any) the officer took towards ensuring that the body's employees, agents and contractors have a reasonable knowledge and understanding of the requirements to comply with this Act, in so far as those requirements affect the employees, agents or contractors concerned; and

(b) what action (if any) the officer took when the officer became aware that the body was contravening this Act.

(2) This section does not, by implication, limit the generality of section 13B.