Telecommunications (Interception Capability) Act 2004

27 Pecuniary penalty for contravention of compliance order

• (1) If the High Court is satisfied, on the application of a surveillance agency, that a person has acted in contravention of a compliance order, the court may order the person to pay to the Crown any pecuniary penalty that the court determines to be appropriate.

  (2) The amount of any pecuniary penalty under subsection (1) must not exceed $500,000.

  (3) In the case of a continuing contravention of a compliance order, the court may, in addition to any pecuniary penalty ordered to be paid under subsection (1), impose a further penalty of $50,000 for each day or part of a day during which the contravention continues.

  (4) The standard of proof in any proceedings under this section is the standard of proof that applies in civil proceedings.

  (5) Proceedings under this section may be commenced within 3 years after the matter giving rise to the contravention was discovered or ought reasonably to have been discovered.