Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v. Keating

Catchwords

Constitutional law – Powers of the Commonwealth Parliament – Social Security Legislation – Retrospective application of offence – Section 66A of the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 (Cth) ('the Administration Act') retrospectively creates duty for applicant to inform Centrelink of income increases – Applicant charged with three counts of obtaining financial advantage contrary to s 135(1) for failing to report increases in her income to Centrelink – Whether s 66A of the Administration Act invalid in so far as it operates retrospectively – Whether the sending or deemed receipt of a notice under s 68 of the Administration Act is sufficient to give rise to a duty under law to perform an action for the purposes of s 4.3(b) of the Criminal Code (Cth).

Short Particulars