Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) A person appearing as a witness at a hearing (whether summoned to appear or not) must not:
(a) refuse or fail to be sworn or to make an affirmation; or
(b) refuse or fail to answer a question that he or she is required by a Committee member to answer; or
(c) refuse or fail to produce a document that he or she is required under this Act to produce.
(1A) Subsection (1) does not apply if the person has a reasonable excuse.
Note: The defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in subsection (1A). See subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code .
(1B) An offence under subsection (1) is an offence of strict liability.
Note: For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code .
(2) A person must not:
(a) give an answer to a question knowing the answer to be false or misleading in a material particular; or
(b) produce a document knowing the document to contain a statement that is false or misleading in a material particular, without identifying the respects in which he or she knows it to be false or misleading.
(3) A person is not excused from answering a question or producing a document under subsection (1) on the ground that the answer, or production of the document, may incriminate the person.
(4) An answer given or document produced under subsection (1), and any information or thing (including any document) obtained as a direct or indirect result of answering the question or producing the document, is not admissible in evidence against the person in any criminal proceedings.
(5) Subsection (4) does not apply in proceedings for an offence against subsection (2).
(6) It is a defence in proceedings for an offence of refusing or failing, without reasonable excuse, to produce a document at a hearing if the document was not relevant to the subject matter of the hearing.
Note: The defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in subsection (6). See subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code .
(7) This section does not apply to the person under review.