Manager liability under chain of responsibility laws

Executive officers have clearly established personal liability in many areas of regulation, but did you know that, under the chain of responsibility (CoR) laws, personal liability can extend to senior employees who take on management roles?

Any person "who is concerned or takes part in the management of" a corporation that commits an offence under the CoR laws can be held personally liable.

That means that the scope for personal liability extends beyond directors or chief operating officers to other positions of seniority. Individuals in these roles will need to take similar precautions to meet their CoR obligations.

But when will an employee be senior enough or have enough management responsibility to fit the definition of an executive officer and therefore risk personal liability? In the past, the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and case law had made the position relatively clear, but the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) may have widened the definition in a