Business Names Registration Act 2011

PART 2 - OFFENCES RELATING TO BUSINESS NAMES  

SECTION 20   OFFENCE - MUST DISPLAY BUSINESS NAME AT PLACES OPEN TO PUBLIC  

20(1)    
An entity commits an offence if:

(a)    the entity carries on a business under a business name; and

(b)    the entity does not display the name prominently at every place at which the entity carries on the business that is open to the public.

Penalty: 5 penalty units.

20(2)    
Subsection (1) does not apply if:

(a)    the entity is an individual and the name is the individual ' s name; or

(b)    the entity is a corporation and the name is the corporation ' s name; or

(c)    the entity is a partnership and the name consists of all of the partners ' names; or

(d)    the name is registered to the entity on a notified State/Territory register; or

(e)    an Act of the Commonwealth, a referring/adopting State or an affected Territory, or an instrument made under such an Act, specifies the name as the name of the entity; or

(f)    the entity is a government body; or

(g)    the entity is a notified successor in relation to the name; or

(h)    the Minister has exempted the entity from the requirement in relation to the business name and the place, under subsection (4) ; or

(i)    other circumstances prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph apply.

20(3)    
Subsection (1) does not require an entity to display a name at a place in circumstances where:

(a)    it would be contrary to the law of the Commonwealth or of a referring/adopting State or an affected Territory to display the name at that place; or

(b)    displaying the name at the place would directly or indirectly give rise to a representation that would be contrary to the law of the Commonwealth or of a referring/adopting State or an affected Territory; or

(c)    the use of the name by the entity would be contrary to the law of the Commonwealth or of a referring/adopting State or an affected Territory.

Note 1:

A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters in subsections (2) and (3) : see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code .

Note 2:

As an example, the law of a referring/adopting State or an affected Territory may prohibit advertising in relation to gambling. A sign relating to gambling would not therefore be required to be displayed under this Act.

20(4)    
The Minister may, by determination in writing, exempt an entity from the requirement to display a specified name at a specified place, if the Minister is satisfied that the display of that name at that place would create a serious risk to:

(a)    public safety; or

(b)    significant infrastructure such as:

(i) transport infrastructure; or

(ii) energy infrastructure; or

(iii) communications infrastructure; or

(iv) water infrastructure.

The determination is not a legislative instrument.

20(5)    
Subsection (1) is an offence of strict liability.

Note:

For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code .