Section 154G Crimes Act 1900
Car or Boat Rebirthing

Section 154G of the Crimes Act contains the offence of “facilitating organised car or boat rebirthing activities” and reads as follows:

154G Facilitating organised car or boat rebirthing activities

(1) A person who facilitates a car or boat rebirthing activity that is carried out on an organised basis knowing that:
(a) it is a car or boat rebirthing activity, and
(b) it is carried out on an organised basis,
is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: imprisonment for 14 years.

(2) For the purposes of this section, a
“car or boat rebirthing activity” is an activity involving one or more of the following:
(a) the stealing of a motor vehicle or vessel or the receiving of a stolen motor vehicle or stolen vessel,
(b) the interference with a motor vehicle or vessel, or a part of a motor vehicle or vessel, or a unique identifier, for the purpose of concealing the fact that a motor vehicle or vessel, or any part of a motor vehicle or vessel, is stolen,
(c) the affixing of stolen parts to a motor vehicle or vessel,
(d) the interference with a unique identifier, being a unique identifier that wholly or partly identifies a motor vehicle or vessel for registration under a law of any jurisdiction, for the purpose of disguising or misrepresenting the identity of a motor vehicle or vessel,
(e) the registration, in this or any other jurisdiction, of a stolen motor vehicle or stolen vessel, or of a motor vehicle or vessel that has had stolen parts affixed to it,
(f) the supply of, or offering to supply, a stolen motor vehicle or stolen vessel.

(3) A person
“facilitates” a car or boat rebirthing activity if the person:
(a) takes, or participates in, any step, or causes any step to be taken, that is part of the activity, or
(b) provides or arranges finance for any step that is part of the activity, or
(c) provides the premises in which any step that is part of the activity is taken, or allows any step that is part of the activity to be taken in premises of which the person is the owner, lessee or occupier or of which the person has the care, control or management.

(4) A car or boat rebirthing activity is carried out on an
“organised basis” if:
(a) it is planned, organised, structured or otherwise carried out in such a manner as to indicate that the activity is carried out on more than one occasion and involves more than one participant, and
(b) it is carried out for profit or gain.

(5) In proceedings for an offence against this section, for the purpose of proving that an activity was carried out on an organised basis, or that the accused knew it was carried out on an organised basis, it is not necessary to prove:
(a) that the accused knew any of the participants in the activity or that any of the participants knew each other, or
(b) that the activity was planned, organised, structured or otherwise carried out under the direction of any particular person or persons or in any hierarchical manner, or
(c) that the same participants were involved on each occasion on which the activity was carried out.

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