Business Names Registration Act 2011

PART 2 - OFFENCES RELATING TO BUSINESS NAMES

SECTION 18 OFFENCE - CARRYING ON A BUSINESS UNDER AN UNREGISTERED BUSINESS NAME

18(1)
An entity commits an offence if:

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

(b)

the name is not registered to the entity as a business name on the Business Names Register.

Penalty: 30 penalty units.

[ CCH Note: S 18(1) will be amended by No 69 of 2020 (as amended by No 35 of 2022), s 3 and Sch 1 item 116, by substituting " in accordance with this Act " for " on the Business Names Register " in para (b), effective 1 July 2026 or a day or days to be fixed by Proclamation. For application and transitional provisions, see note under s 23(2) .]

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

Note:

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

18(3)
Subsection (1) is an offence of strict liability.

Note:

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

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