Commentary on Sections Part 1 – Registration of Consultant Lobbyists Section 14: Civil penalties
51.This section enables the Registrar to choose to impose a civil penalty instead of prosecuting a person for committing any of the offences set out in section 12. The defence of due diligence does not apply in relation to a penalty and for the purposes of civil penalties a person’s conduct also includes a failure to act. It is anticipated that the Registrar will wish to pursue this option for less serious instances of non-compliance, for example due to administrative oversight.