4Definitions
(1)
In this Act:
authorised inspector means a police
officer or a person appointed as an authorised inspector under section
35.
commercial agent means the holder of
a master licence or operator licence with respect to one or more commercial
agent activities.
commercial agent activity means debt
collection, process serving or repossession of goods.
Commissioner means the Commissioner
of Police.
criminal
intelligence means information classified by the
Commissioner as criminal intelligence within the meaning of the Crimes (Criminal Organisations Control) Act
2009.
debt
collection means:
(a)
any activity carried out by a person on behalf of
a second person (not being his or her employer) in the exercise of the second
person’s rights under a debt owed by a third person,
or
(b)
any activity carried out by a person on his or
her own behalf in the exercise of rights acquired from a second person
(otherwise than in the course of an acquisition or merger of business
interests) under a debt owed by a third person,
being an activity that involves finding the third person
or requesting, demanding or collecting from the third person money due under
the debt.
disqualified corporation
means:
(a)
a corporation that has been convicted or found
guilty of a major offence, or
(b)
a corporation that has, as one of its directors
or as one of the persons concerned in its management, an individual who is a
disqualified individual by virtue of paragraph (c) or (d) of the definition of
disqualified
individual.
disqualified individual
means:
(a)
(b)
an individual who, not being an Australian
citizen, is prohibited from engaging in employment to carry out commercial
agent activities or private inquiry agent activities, or
(c)
an individual who, in the opinion of the
Commissioner, is not a fit and proper person (whether because of subsection
(2A) or otherwise) to hold a licence, or
(d)
an individual who has been convicted or found
guilty of a major offence, or
(e)
in relation to a master licence or an application
for a master licence:
(i)
an individual who does not comply with the
requirements of the regulations with respect to membership of an approved
industry association with respect to the activities to which such a licence
relates, or
(ii)
an individual who is an undischarged bankrupt, or
the subject of a deed of arrangement, under the Bankruptcy Act
1966 of the Commonwealth, or
(f)
an individual who is a director of a disqualified
corporation or is concerned in the management of a disqualified corporation,
or
(g)
an individual who is a controlled member of a
declared organisation within the meaning of the Crimes
(Criminal Organisations Control) Act 2009.
Note—
Controlled members are prohibited from applying
for licences—see section 27 of the Crimes (Criminal
Organisations Control) Act 2009.
investigation of persons means any
activity carried out by a person on behalf of a second person (not being his
or her employer), being an activity that involves finding a third person or
investigating a third person’s business or personal
affairs.
licensee means the holder of a
master licence or operator licence.
major
offence means:
(a)
an offence involving violence, fraud, dishonesty
or theft, being an offence punishable by imprisonment, or
(b)
an offence involving the unlawful possession or
use of a firearm or imitation firearm (within the meaning of the Firearms Act 1996) or other weapon,
or
(c)
an offence involving the unlawful possession or
use of a drug, or
(d)
an offence under Part 2 of the Surveillance Devices Act 2007, or under
corresponding provisions of the law of the Commonwealth or of another State or
Territory, or
(e)
an offence under the Telecommunications
(Interception) Act 1979 of the Commonwealth,
or
(f)
any other offence declared by the regulations to
be a major offence for the purposes of this Act.
master
licence means a licence referred to in section 6
(1).
minor
offence means:
(a)
an offence under section 55 of the Fair Trading Act 1987 (as in force
before its repeal by the Fair Trading Amendment (Australian
Consumer Law) Act 2010), or under section 50 of the
Australian Consumer Law (NSW), or under
a corresponding provision of a law of the Commonwealth or another State or
Territory, or
(b)
an offence under this Act or the regulations,
or
(c)
any other offence declared by the regulations to
be a minor offence for the purposes of this Act.
operator
licence means a licence referred to in section 12
(1).
private
inquiry agent means the holder of a master licence or
operator licence with respect to one or more private inquiry agent
activities.
private
inquiry agent activity means investigation of persons or
surveillance of persons.
process
serving means any activity carried out by a person on behalf
of a second person (not being his or her employer), being an activity that
involves serving legal process on a third person in relation to legal
proceedings to which the second and third persons are, or are intended to be,
parties, regardless of which jurisdiction the legal proceedings are, or are
intended to be, held in.
Register
of Licensees means the Register of Licensees referred to in
section 21.
repossession of goods means any
activity carried out by a person on behalf of a second person (not being his
or her employer), being an activity that involves finding goods held by a
third person or requesting, demanding or seizing such goods.
surveillance of persons means any
activity carried out by a person on behalf of a second person (not being his
or her employer), being an activity that involves the surveillance of a third
person.
(2)
For the purposes of paragraph (a) of the
definition of disqualified corporation and
paragraph (d) of the definition of disqualified individual in
subsection (1), any conviction that is more than 10 years old, and any finding
of guilt that is more than 5 years old, are to be
ignored.
(2A)
For the purposes of paragraph (c) of the
definition of disqualified individual, an
individual is not a fit and proper person to hold a licence under this Act if
the Commissioner has reasonable grounds to believe from information held in
relation to the individual:
(a)
that the individual is a member of, or regularly
associates with one or more members of, a declared organisation within the
meaning of the Crimes (Criminal Organisations
Control) Act 2009, and
(b)
that the nature and circumstances of the
individual’s relationship with the declared organisation or its members
are such that it could reasonably be inferred that improper conduct that would
further the criminal activities of the declared organisation is likely to
occur if the individual were to hold or continue to hold a licence under this
Act.
(3)
Notes included in this Act do not form part of
this Act.
s 4: Am 2005 No 64,
Sch 1.6 [1] [2]; 2007 No 64, Sch 2.1; 2009 No 23, Sch 3.1 [1]–[4]; 2010
No 40, Sch 3.5; 2010 No 107, Sch 3.3.