Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated ActsPower to administer oath or affirmation
(1) A commissioner may administer an oath or affirmation to a person appearing as a witness before the commission.
Note: This means that proceedings before the commission are judicial proceedings for the purposes of Part III of the Crimes Act 1914 , which creates various offences relating to judicial proceedings.
Refusal to be sworn or to answer questions
(2) A person appearing as a witness at an inquiry by a commission must not:
(a) refuse or fail to be sworn or to make an affirmation; or
(b) refuse or fail to answer a question that the person is required to answer by the commissioner (or the commissioner presiding at the inquiry if there is more than one commissioner for the inquiry); or
(c) refuse or fail to produce a document that the person was required to produce by a summons served on the person.
Offence
(3) A person who contravenes subsection (2) commits an offence punishable on conviction by imprisonment for not more than 6 months, a fine of not more than 30 penalty units, or both.
Note: Subsection 4B(3) of the Crimes Act 1914 lets a court fine a body corporate up to 5 times the maximum amount the court could fine a person under this subsection.
No privilege against self - incrimination
(4) An individual is not excused from answering a question or producing a document on the ground that answering the question or producing the document would tend to incriminate the individual or to expose the individual to a penalty.
Answers and documents cannot be used in criminal proceedings
(5) However, none of the following is admissible in evidence in criminal proceedings against the individual (except proceedings under section 491):
(a) the answer to the question;
(b) the production of the document;
(c) any information, document or thing obtained as a direct or indirect consequence of answering the question or producing the document.
Sworn witnesses may also give written evidence on oath
(6) A commission may permit a person who is appearing as a witness before the commission and has been sworn or has made an affirmation to give evidence by tendering a written statement and verifying it by oath or affirmation.