# Criminal liability of executive officers of bodies corporate

> act-s245AT — as in force on 2026-06-04 — C2026C00232 · Compilation No. 171 — https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2026C00232/latest/text

245AT Criminal liability of executive officers of bodies corporate
          (1) An executive officer of a body corporate commits an offence if:
               (a) the body commits an offence (the sponsorship-related
                   offence) against this Subdivision; and
               (b) the officer knew that, or was reckless or negligent as to
                   whether, the sponsorship-related offence would be
                   committed; and
               (c) the officer was in a position to influence the conduct of the
                   body in relation to the sponsorship-related offence; and
               (d) the officer failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent the
                   sponsorship-related offence being committed.
               Penalty: 360 penalty units.
          (2) In determining whether the executive officer of the body corporate
              failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent the
              sponsorship-related offence being committed by the body, a court
              must have regard to:









                 (a) what action (if any) the officer took towards ensuring that the
                     body’s employees, agents and contractors had a reasonable
                     knowledge and understanding of the requirements to comply
                     with this Subdivision, insofar as those requirements affected
                     the employees, agents or contractors concerned; and
                 (b) what action (if any) the officer took when he or she became
                     aware that the body was committing the sponsorship-related
                     offence.
          (3) Subsection (2) does not limit subsection (1).