Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated ActsActs relating to elections, appointments, organisation's rules
(1) Subject to this section and section 321, all acts done in good faith by a collective body of an organisation or branch of an organisation, or by persons purporting to act as such a collective body, are valid in spite of any invalidity that may later be discovered in:
(a) the election or appointment of the collective body, any member of the collective body or the persons or any of the persons purporting to act as the collective body; or
(b) the making or alteration of a rule of the organisation or branch.
Acts done by person holding or purporting to hold office
(2) Subject to this section and section 321, all acts done in good faith by a person holding or purporting to hold an office or position in an organisation or branch are valid in spite of any invalidity that may later be discovered in:
(a) the election or appointment of the person; or
(b) the making or alteration of a rule of the organisation or branch.
Meaning of purporting to be member or office holder
(3) For the purposes of this section:
(a) a person is not to be treated as purporting to act as a member of a collective body of an organisation or as the holder of an office or position in an organisation unless the person has, in good faith, purported to be, and has been treated by officers or members of the organisation as being, such a member or the holder of the office or position; and
(b) a person is not to be treated as purporting to act as a member of a collective body of a branch of an organisation or as the holder of an office or position in the branch unless the person has, in good faith, purported to be, and has been treated by officers or members of the branch as being, such a member or the holder of the office or position.
Meaning of good faith
(4) For the purposes of this section:
(a) an act is to be treated as done in good faith until the contrary is proved; and
(b) a person who has purported to be a member of a collective body of an organisation or branch is to be treated as having done so in good faith until the contrary is proved; and
(c) knowledge of facts from which an invalidity arises is not of itself to be treated as knowledge that the invalidity exists; and
(d) an invalidity in:
(i) the election or appointment of a collective body of a branch of an organisation or any member of such a collective body; or
(ii) the election or appointment of the persons or any of the persons purporting to act as a collective body of a branch; or
(iii) the election or appointment of a person holding or purporting to hold an office or position in a branch; or
(iv) the making or alteration of a rule of a branch;
is not to be treated as discovered before the earliest time proved to be a time when the existence of the invalidity was known to a majority of the members of the committee of management of the branch or to a majority of the persons purporting to act as the committee of management; and
(e) an invalidity in any other election or appointment or in the making or alteration of a rule to which this section applies is not to be treated as discovered before the earliest time proved to be a time when the existence of the invalidity was known to a majority of the members of the committee of management of the organisation or to a majority of the persons purporting to act as that committee of management.
Actions to which this section applies
(5) This section applies:
(a) to an act whenever done (including an act done before the commencement of this section); and
(b) to an act done in relation to an association before it became an organisation.
Certain invalid actions not validated by this section
(6) Nothing in this section validates the expulsion or suspension of, or the imposition of a fine or any other penalty on, a member of an organisation that would not have been valid if this section had not been enacted.
Relationship between this section and Part 3 of Chapter 7
(7) Nothing in this section affects the operation of Part 3 of Chapter 7 (Inquiries into elections).