A woman who attempted to sell her same-sex marriage postal survey vote on a number of Launceston Facebook pages at the weekend could face a harsh penalty.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The post, which was first seen about 12.40pm on Sunday, was only online for a few minutes.
A spokeswoman from the Australian Bureau of Statistics said submitting any postal survey form that had been bought or sold would likely be an offence against the Census and Statistics Act 1905 or the Commonwealth Criminal Code.
“The offence against the Census and Statistics Act 1905 carries a maximum penalty of $2,100,” she said.
“The Criminal Code offence carries a maximum penalty of 12 months imprisonment.”
She said the ABS had proactively contacted several online marketplaces, including eBay, Facebook, Amazon, Alibaba and Gumtree to prevent sales.
“To date eBay and Facebook have confirmed listing survey forms or survey responses for sale would not comply with their policies and they will block and remove any such listings,” the spokeswoman said.
Holly Monery
Holly Monery is a journalist for The Examiner newspaper, based in Launceston, Tasmania. Her main area of focus is local government.
Holly Monery is a journalist for The Examiner newspaper, based in Launceston, Tasmania. Her main area of focus is local government.
