What the Law states - Falsification of documents

Crimes Act 1958 - SECT 83A

Falsification of documents

83A. Falsification of documents

(1) A person must not make a false document with the intention that he or she,
or another person, shall use it to induce another person to accept it as
genuine, and by reason of so accepting it to do or not to do some act to that
other person's, or to another person's prejudice.

Penalty: Level 5 imprisonment (10 years maximum).

(2) A person must not use a document which is, and which he or she knows to
be, false, with the intention of inducing another person to accept it as
genuine, and by reason of so accepting it to do or not to do some act to that
other person's, or to another person's prejudice.

Penalty: Level 5 imprisonment (10 years maximum).

(3) A person must not make a copy of a document which is, and which he or she
knows to be, a false document, with the intention that he or she, or another
person, shall use it to induce another person to accept it as a copy of a
genuine document and by reason of so accepting it to do or not to do some act
to that other person's, or to another person's prejudice.

Penalty: Level 5 imprisonment (10 years maximum).

(4) A person must not use a copy of a document which is, and which he or she
knows to be, a false document, with the intention of inducing another person
to accept it as a copy of a genuine document and by reason of so accepting it
to do or not to do some act to that other person's, or to another person's
prejudice.

Penalty: Level 5 imprisonment (10 years maximum).

(5) A person must not have in his or her custody, or under his or her control,
a document which is, and which he or she knows to be, false, with the
intention that the person or another shall use it to induce another person to
accept it as genuine, and by reason of so accepting it to do or not to do some
act to that other person's, or to another person's, prejudice.

Penalty: Level 5 imprisonment (10 years maximum).

(5A) A person must not, with the intention that he or she may commit an
offence against subsection (1), make, or have in his or her custody, or under
his or her control, a machine or implement, or paper or other material, which
is, and which he or she knows to be, specially designed or adapted for the
making of a document which, if made by him or her, would be false.

Penalty: Level 5 imprisonment (10 years maximum).

(5B) A person must not, with the intention that another person may commit an
offence against subsection (1), make, or have in his or her custody, or under
his or her control, a machine or implement, or paper or other material, which
is, and which he or she knows to be, specially designed or adapted for the
making of a document which, if made by that other person, would be false.

Penalty: Level 5 imprisonment (10 years maximum).

(5C) A person must not, without lawful excuse, make or have in his or her
custody, or under his or her control, a machine or implement, or paper or
other material, which is and which the person knows to be specially designed
or adapted for the making of a document which, if made by him or her, would be
false.

Penalty: Level 6 imprisonment (5 years maximum).

(6) For the purpose of this section, a document is false if it purports-

   (a)  to have been made in the form in which it is made by a person who did
        not in fact make it in that form; or

   (b)  to have been made in the form in which it is made on the authority of
        a person who did not in fact authorise its making in that form; or

   (c)  to have been made in the terms in which it is made by a person who did
        not in fact make it in those terms; or

   (d)  to have been made in the terms in which it is made on the authority of
        a person who did not in fact authorise its making in those terms; or

   (e)  to have been altered in any respect by a person who did not in fact
        alter it in that respect; or

   (f)  to have been altered in any respect on the authority of a person who
        did not in fact authorise the alteration in that respect; or

   (g)  to have been made or altered on a date on which, or at a place at
        which, or otherwise in circumstances in which, it was not in fact made
        or altered; or

   (h)  to have been made or altered by an existing person who did not in fact
        exist.

(7) For the purposes of this section, a person is to be treated as making a
false document if the person alters a document so as to make it false in any
respect (whether or not it is false in some other respect apart from that
alteration).

(8) For the purposes of this section, an act or omission is to a person's
prejudice if, and only if, it is one that, if it occurs-

   (a)  will result-

   (i)  in the person's temporary or permanent loss of property; or

   (ii) in the person's being deprived of an opportunity to earn remuneration
        or greater remuneration; or

   (iii) in the person's being deprived of an opportunity to obtain a
        financial advantage otherwise than by way of remuneration; or

   (b)  will result in any person being given an opportunity-

   (i)  to earn remuneration or greater remuneration from the first-mentioned
        person; or

   (ii) to obtain a financial advantage from the first-mentioned person
        otherwise than by way of remuneration; or

   (c)  will be the result of the person's having accepted a false document as
        genuine, or a copy of a false document as a copy of a genuine one, in
        connection with the person's performance of a duty.

(9) In this section-

   (a)  a reference to inducing a person to accept a false document as
        genuine, or a copy of a false document as a copy of a genuine
        document, shall be read as including a reference to causing a machine
        to respond to the document or copy as if it were a genuine document or
        a copy of a genuine document, as the case may be; and

   (b)  if-

   (i)  a machine so responds to a document or copy; and

   (ii) the act or omission intended to be caused by the machine's so
        responding is an act or omission that, if it were an act or omission
        of a person, would be to a person's prejudice within the meaning of
        subsection (1)-

the act or omission intended to be caused by the machine's so responding shall
be deemed to be an act or omission to a person's prejudice.

(10) In proceedings for an offence against this section, if it is necessary to
allege an intent to induce a person to accept a false document as genuine, or
a copy of a false document as a copy of a genuine one, it is not necessary to
allege that the accused intended so to induce a particular person.