Australian Capital Territory Numbered Acts Australian Capital Territory Numbered Acts(1) A licensee commits an offence if—
(a) the licensee receives money (including any proceeds of a benefit) for the purposes of a collection conducted by the licensee; and
(b) the licensee fails to pay the money, in full and without any deductions for expenses, into an account in accordance with this section.
Maximum penalty: 200 penalty units, imprisonment for 2 years or both.
(2) The licensee must pay the money into a trust bank account that is used exclusively for money received for the purposes of the collection or of collections that include the collection.
(3) The money must be paid into the account as soon as practicable (but within 5 banking days) after the day the licensee receives it.
(4) However, if the money is paid by direct deposit or electronic transfer into another account kept by the licensee, the licensee must pay the money into an account mentioned in subsection (2) on the next banking day after the day the licensee becomes aware of the payment.
(5) An offence against this section is a strict liability offence.
(6) In this section:
"banking day", for an account that is kept at a branch of an authorised deposit-taking institution, means a day (other than a Saturday or Sunday) when the branch is open for business.
Note For the meaning of authorised deposit-taking institution , see Legislation Act, dict, pt 1.
"trust bank account" means a trust account that—
(a) is kept with an authorised deposit-taking institution; and
(b) has a name that indicates that it contains the proceeds of a collection; and
(c) can only be operated by the signature of at least 2 people.