Commonwealth of Australia v King

The Commonwealth of Australia has brought a civil penalty action against Mr King for multiple contraventions of sections 117, 125, and 129 of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 (Cth). Mr King is alleged to have provided or offered to provide vocational education and training courses and issued purported VET statements of attainment without proper registration. The parties have agreed on a range of penalties, the appropriate amount of which is the issue before the court. The court must consider the relevant penalty principles in determining the appropriate penalty.

The key legal issue for the court was to determine the appropriate penalty for Mr King's contraventions of the Act. The court had to consider the nature and seriousness of the contraventions, Mr King's conduct, and the relevant penalty principles set out in the Act. The court found that Mr King had engaged in multiple contraventions of the Act and that he had admitted the contraventions and cooperated in the production of a statement of agreed facts. The court also found that the agreed submissions on the appropriate range of penalties were appropriate. In determining the appropriate penalty, the court considered the relevant penalty principles and the agreed submissions on the appropriate range of penalties. The court found that a penalty of $125,000 was appropriate.

The court imposed a civil penalty of $125,000 on Mr King and made the other orders which were agreed upon by the parties. The court also ordered Mr King to pay the Commonwealth's costs of the proceedings, which were agreed to be fixed at $75,000. The court noted that the Commonwealth should provide a short minute of order giving effect to these reasons within 21 days. Entry of orders is dealt with in Rule 39.32 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.