Suggest a correction

In the MPA Act, after section 97, insert —“False information97A. A person —

who intentionally alters, suppresses or destroys any information or any document or material which the person has been required to provide to the Authority or any duly authorised officer of the Authority under or for the purposes of this Act;

who, in providing any information or any document or material required to be provided to the Authority or any duly authorised officer of the Authority under or for the purposes of this Act or in connection with any function or power of the Authority under this Act, provides any information or document or material that the person knows or ought reasonably to know that, or is reckless as to whether, it is false or misleading in a material particular; or

who, in relation to any application under or for the purposes of this Act, makes a statement that the person knows or ought reasonably to know that, or is reckless as to whether, it is false or misleading in a material particular,shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.Purpose for which powers are exercisable97B. An authorised officer of the Authority may exercise the powers set out in section 97C for all or any of the following purposes:

to detect and investigate offences under this Act;

to determine whether there are grounds for taking any regulatory action under Part 12;

to determine whether any information given to the Authority or any duly authorised officer of the Authority under any provision of this Act is correct.Powers of entry, etc., at premises and vessels 97C.—

An authorised officer of the Authority may, without warrant, enter at any reasonable time and remain at —

any premises or vessel that a licensee or former licensee has an office or keeps records that relate to any regulated service undertaken by the licensee or former licensee;

any premises or vessel that the authorised officer believes on reasonable grounds is used for the carrying on of a business or a trade (but not as a residence) of a regulated service; or

any premises or vessel that the authorised officer believes on reasonable grounds that an offence under the Act is being or has been committed,provided that where the premises is a residence, entry is made only if the occupier of the premises has consented to the entry or after giving 6 hours’ prior notice of that intended entry.

Upon entering any premises or vessel under subsection (1), an authorised officer may do all or any of the following:

examine any thing or observe any activity conducted in or on the premises or vessel;

inspect the premises or vessel and any document or article or other thing in or on the premises or vessel;

make a still or moving image or recording of the premises or vessel and any document or article or other thing in or on the premises or vessel;

inspect any document or article found in or on the premises or vessel and take extracts from, or make copies of, any such document or article;

seize any document or article found in or on the premises or vessel if, in the opinion of the authorised officer —

the inspection or copying of or extraction from the document or article cannot reasonably be performed without taking possession;

the document or article may be interfered with or destroyed unless possession is taken; or

the document or article may be required as evidence in any criminal proceedings or regulatory action instituted or commenced under this Act;

operate electronic equipment in or on the premises or vessel;

take into or onto the premises or vessel any equipment and materials as the authorised officer requires for the purpose of exercising powers under this section in relation to those premises.

For the purposes of subsection (2), if any information in a document or article required by an authorised officer is kept in electronic form —

the power of an authorised officer to inspect the document or article includes the power —

to access any computer or other equipment (including a mobile telephone) in which the information is stored; and

to require any person having charge of, or otherwise concerned with the operation of, the computer or equipment to provide assistance in gaining such access; and

the power of an authorised officer to seize such document includes the power —

to make copies of the document in legible or electronic form; and

to transfer the information from the document to a disk, tape or other storage device.

If an authorised officer under subsection (3)(b) is unable to make copies of the document or transfer the information from the document, any authorised officer may —

seize the computer or other equipment (including a mobile telephone) in which the document or information is stored, as evidence in proceedings for an offence under any provision of this Act; and

require any person having charge of, or otherwise concerned with the operation of, the computer or equipment to disclose any password or access code for gaining access to the document or information held in the computer or equipment.

The power under subsection (2)(f) to operate electronic equipment in or on any premises or vessel includes the power —

to use a disk, tape or other storage device that is in or on the premises or vessel and can be used with the equipment or in association with the equipment;

to operate electronic equipment in or on the premises or vessel to put the relevant data in documentary form and remove the documents so produced from the premises or vessel, as the case may be; and

to operate electronic equipment in or on the premises or vessel to transfer the relevant data to a disk, tape or other storage device that —

is brought into or onto the premises or vessel for the exercise of the power; or

is in or on the premises or vessel and the use of which for that purpose has been agreed in writing by the occupier of the premises or the owner of the vessel,and to remove the disk, tape or other storage device from those premises or vessel, as the case may be.”.