contravention, to which the notice relates". It thereby directs attention to the particular contravention in question. Here, the infringement notice alleged that X Corp had contravened s 57 of the Online Safety Act. Section 57 relevantly provides that "[a] person must comply with a notice under subsection 56(2)". The alleged contraventions, then, comprise failures to comply with a s 56(2) notice. Section 56(2) relevantly empowers the Commissioner to require a provider "by written notice" to "prepare a report" about certain matters, in a specified manner and form, and to "give the report to the Commissioner" within a certain time. When the Commissioner gives written notice under s 56(2), the provider thereby comes under obligations to engage in conduct, by preparing a report and giving it to the Commissioner. The conduct of X Corp that is alleged to have constituted contraventions of s 57 is thus the focus. The "place" that s 104(1)(e)(iii) requires to be identified is therefore a geographical place connected with the conduct of X Corp and the obligation imposed by the Online Safety Act. It is not necessary for me to essay any view as to where that place was. It is enough to conclude that the contraventions alleged did not occur in the report in any relevant sense. On the supposition that the contraventions took place they occurred by failing to furnish a report that complied with s 56(2) within the time allowed. Noting again that the Commissioner did not submit that, as a matter of statutory construction, there was no need for any place to be identified in the infringement notice, it follows that the infringement notice failed to comply with s 104(1)(e)(iii) because it did not identify the place of the contraventions.
180 What consequences for the validity of the infringement notice flow from this conclusion?
181 X Corp submitted that the failure of the infringement notice to identify the place of the contraventions resulted in the invalidity of the notice. Among its reasons for this position, X Corp submitted that s 104 of the Regulatory Powers Act employs mandatory language, which makes it clear that substantial compliance is insufficient to establish the validity of an infringement notice.
182 X Corp also identified, as a pragmatic consideration, the fact that specifying the location of the alleged contraventions could have indicated which was the correct legal entity to whom the notice should have been directed. It was not explained to my satisfaction how including the place of the contraventions could have any bearing on that contested question.
183 X Corp also submitted that s 104(1)(e)(iii) of the Regulatory Powers Act "aligns with the general law to the effect that where there is a charge for an offence, the place of that offence must be specified". In support of this supposed position at general law, X Corp referred to
