Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) If a requirement under section 453 - 1 or 453 - 5 has been made to produce a book, a person must not:
(a) in any case--engage in conduct that results in the concealment, destruction, mutilation or alteration of the book; or
(b) if a book is in a particular State or Territory--engage in conduct that results in the taking or sending of the book out of that State or Territory or out of Australia.
Penalty: 200 penalty units or imprisonment for 5 years, or both.
(2) It is a defence to a prosecution for a contravention of subsection (1) if it is proved that the defendant did not intend to defeat the purposes of this Act.
Note: A defendant bears a legal burden in relation to a matter mentioned in subsection (2) (see section 13.4 of the Criminal Code ).