Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated ActsComputer - based decisions
(1) The Minister may, by writing, arrange for the use, under the Minister's control, of computer programs for any purposes for which the Minister may, or must, under this Act or the regulations:
(a) make a decision; or
(b) exercise any power or comply with any obligation; or
(c) do anything else related to making a decision or exercising a power or complying with an obligation.
(2) The Minister is taken to have:
(a) made a decision; or
(b) exercised a power or complied with an obligation; or
(c) done something else related to the making of a decision or the exercise of a power or the compliance with an obligation;
that was made, exercised, complied with or done by the operation of a computer program under such an arrangement.
Minister may substitute his or her own decision
(3) The Minister may substitute a decision (the substituted decision ) for a decision (the initial decision ) made by the operation of a computer program under such an arrangement if:
(a) a notice under section 49 relates to the computer program and to the initial decision; and
(b) the notice states that the computer program was not functioning correctly; and
(c) the substituted decision could have been made under the same provision of this Act or the regulations as the initial decision; and
(d) the substituted decision is more favourable to the applicant.
(4) The Minister does not have a duty to consider whether to exercise the power under subsection (3) in respect of any decision, whether he or she is requested to do so by the applicant or by any other person, or in any other circumstances.
(5) Subsection (3) has effect despite any law of the Commonwealth, or any rule of common law, to the contrary effect.
Exceptions
(5A) This section does not apply in relation to anything done under Subdivision C of Division 3 of Part 2 (citizenship cessation).
Arrangement not a legislative instrument
(6) An arrangement under subsection (1) is not a legislative instrument.