whether, in the particular case, the review applicant was denied natural justice. It was thus a purpose of the statutory scheme to invalidate some, but not all, exercises of power in breach of the relevant statutory conditions.
192 On one view, s 104 of the Regulatory Powers Act is similarly concerned with affording fair notice of the details of alleged contraventions to those who receive infringement notices. The context is thus allied to the context of procedural fairness, but the relevance of SZIZO does not turn on that. Rather, SZIZO illustrates that, where a condition on the exercise of a statutory power has not been observed, it may be a purpose of a statute to invalidate only some exercises of power made in breach of the statutory condition. Indeed, SZIZO demonstrates that it may be a purpose of an empowering statute to invalidate certain exercises of power by reference to "the extent and consequences of the departure" from the requirements of the statute: see SZIZO at [35]. In the particular context of SZIZO, the Court held at [36] that determining the consequences of a failure to comply with ss 441G and 441A for the validity of subsequent statutory activity "will require consideration of whether in the events that occurred the applicant was denied natural justice".
193 In my view, it is not a purpose of s 104(1)(e)(iii) to invalidate the issue of an infringement notice without reference to the consequences of non-compliance with that provision.
194 In the Replacement Explanatory Memorandum that accompanied the Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Bill 2014 (Cth) at [177], infringement notices are described as follows: "An infringement notice is a notice of a pecuniary penalty imposed on a person by statute setting out particulars of an alleged contravention of a law." The Replacement Explanatory Memorandum also states at 5 that "[t]he Bill engages the right to a fair and public hearing through the creation of an infringement notice scheme".
195 The scheme of the Regulatory Powers Act illustrates that infringement notices are designed to provide a means of imposing sanctions for contravention of certain regulatory obligations that stands as an alternative to curial proceedings. Section 107(1)(a) provides, in effect, that if a person pays the amount stated in an infringement notice before the deadline stated in the notice, any liability of the person for the contravention alleged in the notice is discharged.
196 It is in this context that s 104(1) provides that "[a]n infringement notice must" fulfil certain requirements. In general terms, these requirements relate to details concerning –
- (a) the provision of, and authority for, the infringement notice itself (ss 104(1)(a)–(d));
