Corp was prejudiced by the fact that the notice did not identify where the failure to comply with s 57 of the Online Safety Act occurred. No prejudice, or even potential prejudice, is apparent. To the contrary, I accept the Commissioner's submission that X Corp had everything it needed to know in order to consider the allegations made against it in the infringement notice.
201 For these reasons, I conclude that the failure of the infringement notice to identify the place of the contraventions did not, in the circumstances of this case, spell invalidity for the notice.
202 It remains to consider X Corp's reliance on Goodman. In that decision, Hampel J was dealing with an appeal on a question of law from the Magistrates' Court of Victoria to the Supreme Court of Victoria under s 92 of the Magistrates' Court Act 1989 (Vic). The appellant had been convicted by a magistrate of an offence against s 49(1)(e) of the Road Safety Act 1986 (Vic) for failing to furnish a breath sample for analysis on 1 July 1988. The underlying criminal proceeding had proceeded on an information laid on 14 July 1988. That original information made no reference to the place at which the offence was alleged to have been committed. For various reasons, the hearing of the original information was adjourned several times. On 22 February 1990, a separate information was laid in respect of the same offence. This new information gave the place of the offence as Windsor. The new information was struck out for having been issued more than 12 months after the alleged offence, contrary to a statutory time limit. For this reason, the old information was heard by a magistrate on 16 July 1991. The magistrate allowed the information to be amended by the insertion of the place of the alleged offence, and convicted the appellant.
203 The ground of appeal before Hampel J was that the magistrate had erred by holding that allowing an amendment in these circumstances would not amount to the laying of a fresh information outside the 12-month time limit. This question fell to be determined by reference to s 50 of the Magistrates' Court Act. In substance, s 50 relevantly provided that the Court must not allow objections on the basis of defects or errors of substance or form, but may allow for an amendment to correct the defect or error.
204 Hampel J held at 148 that the omission from the original information of the place of the alleged offence was not a defect or error within the ambit of s 50. Accordingly, his Honour held that the magistrate had erred in allowing the amendment. Along the way, Hampel J referred to the following dictum of Latham CJ in Johnson v Miller (1937) 59 CLR 467 at 479 –
The complaint must show upon its face that what is charged is an offence according to law, and it is sufficient if it sets forth the acts which are relied upon as constituting the
