Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) A person shall not make, or authorise the making of, a statement, whether oral or in writing, if the person knows that the statement is:
(a) false or misleading in a material particular; and
(b) capable of being used in connection with a claim for payment for treatment provided under this Part.
Penalty: Imprisonment for 5 years or 100 penalty units, or both.
(2) Where:
(a) a person (in this subsection referred to as the principal ) makes a statement (in this subsection referred to as the principal's statement ), whether oral or in writing, that is false or misleading in a material particular;
(b) the principal's statement is capable of being used in connection with a claim for payment for treatment provided under this Part;
(c) the material particular in respect of which the principal's statement is false or misleading is substantially based upon a statement (in this subsection referred to as the associate's statement ) made, either orally or in writing, to the principal or to an agent of the principal by another person (in this subsection referred to as the associate ) who is an employee or agent of the principal;
(d) the associate knew that the associate's statement was false or misleading in a material particular; and
(e) the associate knew, or had reasonable grounds to suspect, that the associate's statement would be used in the preparation of a statement of the kind referred to in paragraph (b);
the associate commits an offence punishable on conviction by imprisonment for a period not exceeding 5 years or a fine not exceeding 100 penalty units, or both.
(3) In subsection (2), a reference to an employee of a person shall, in a case where that person is a corporation, be read as a reference to:
(a) a director, secretary, manager or employee of the corporation;
(b) a receiver and manager of any part of the undertaking of the corporation appointed under a power contained in any instrument; or
(c) a liquidator of the corporation appointed in a voluntary winding up.
(5) In this section, a reference to making a statement includes a reference to issuing or presenting a document, and a reference to a statement shall be construed accordingly.