Personal Liability for Corporate Fault Reform Bill 2012 passes the House of Representatives today
November 1, 2012
The Personal Liability for Corporate Fault Bill passed the Houe of Representatives today. The bills web page is found here.
The Bill arose from the Council of Australian Governments’ National Partnership Agreement to Deliver a Seamless National Economy whose aim is to remove regulatory burdens on directors and corporate officers that cannot be justified on public policy grounds, and to minimise inconsistency between Australian jurisdictions in the application of personal liability for corporate fault in government laws.
The relevant COAG Principles are
- Where a corporation contravenes a statutory requirement, the corporation should be held liable in the first instance.
- Directors should not be liable for corporate fault as a matter of course or by blanket imposition of liability across an entire Act.
- A ‘designated officer’ approach to liability is not suitable for general application.
- The imposition of personal criminal liability on a director for the misconduct of a corporation should be confined to situations where: Read the rest of this entry »
