Checklist · In-House / General Counsel

Compulsory regulator notice response checklist (ASIC s 33 and ACCC s 155 notices)

A step-by-step checklist for an in-house team that receives a compulsory notice from ASIC or the ACCC: triage, preservation, scope negotiation, search records, privilege schedule, signed response and close-out.

Kind: Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
Where it applies: Australia, Commonwealth
AI use: Red Keep AI out of the decisive steps. A lawyer does the work.
Law stated as at: 18 October 2026
Status: Maintained. Checked on 18 October 2026 against the 6 authorities it cites, for Australia and Commonwealth.
Version: 1
Source: Written for this library

When to use it

Use from the day a notice to produce documents, furnish information or attend is served on the organisation under section 33 of the ASIC Act or section 155 of the Competition and Consumer Act. Adapt it for other regulators’ compulsory notices, checking the power relied on in the notice itself.

Used for these tasks

Build a hold notice and a response pack for a regulator notice

Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.

How AI may be used

AI may index, de-duplicate and organise the collected documents and keep the deadline log, but the lawyer decides scope, responsiveness, privilege and every word of the signed response.

AI may

De-duplicate, thread and cluster the collected documents and prepare a draft production index with control numbers
Extract dates, custodians and document types into the search log so the scope and limitations description can be written by the lawyer
Flag documents that mention lawyers or legal advice for human privilege review, without deciding the claim

AI must not

Must not decide whether a document is responsive, privileged or outside the notice; a person reviews every document the tool marks as non-responsive or privileged
Must not draft the information furnished in answer to a s 155(1)(a) notice or any statement the competent officer signs
Must not process the notice, the collected documents or privileged material in a tool that retains inputs or trains on them, or outside the organisation’s approved environment
Must not be used to delete, overwrite or re-save original documents or metadata once a preservation notice is in force

The lawyer checks

The power relied on, the matter described in the notice, the return date and any agreed variation are confirmed in writing with the regulator
Each privilege claim is itemised and supported by facts showing the dominant purpose, with no blanket claims and masked copies for part-privileged documents (INFO 165)
The written description of the scope and limitations of the search is accurate, including any technology-assisted review method used (s 155(5B)(c))
The competent officer who signs the response has read it and every statement has been checked against the source documents (s 155(5)(b))

Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.

Authorities

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