Queensland Numbered Acts

PUBLIC SECTOR ACT 2022 - SECT 269

269 Civil liability of prescribed person for engaging in conduct in official capacity

(1) A prescribed person does not incur civil liability for engaging, or for the result of engaging, in conduct in an official capacity.

(2) If subsection (1) prevents liability attaching to a prescribed person, the liability attaches instead as follows—

(a) if paragraph (b) does not apply—to the State;

(b) if, at the time the prescribed person engaged in the conduct, the person did so as a member of a body corporate or the governing body of a body corporate, or as a person who was employed or appointed by, or a delegate of, a body corporate—the body corporate.

(3) If liability attaches to the State under subsection (2) (a) , the State may recover contribution from the prescribed person but only if the conduct was engaged in—

(a) other than in good faith; and

(b) with gross negligence.

(4) If liability attaches to a body corporate under subsection (2) (b) , the body corporate may recover contribution from the prescribed person but only if the conduct was engaged in—

(a) other than in good faith; and

(b) with gross negligence.

(5) In a proceeding under subsection (3) or (4) to recover contribution, the amount of contribution recoverable is the amount found by the court to be just and equitable in the circumstances.

(6) In this section—

"civil liability" , of a prescribed person for engaging, or for the result of engaging, in conduct in an official capacity, means liability of any type for the payment of an amount by the prescribed person because of—

(a) a claim based in tort, contract or another form of action in relation to the conduct or result, including, for example, breach of statutory duty or defamation and, for a fatal injury, includes a claim for the deceased’s dependants or estate; or

(b) a complaint made under a law that provides a person may complain about the conduct or result to an entity established under the law, other than a complaint to start criminal proceedings, including, for example, a complaint under the Justices Act 1886 ; or

(c) an order of a court to pay costs relating to a proceeding for an offence against a law in relation to the conduct or result, unless the proceeding was for an offence by the prescribed person.

Examples of types of liability—

1 a liability because of an agreement or an order under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 or the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cwlth) requiring payment of an amount to a complainant, however described, under the Act

2 a liability because of an obligation under an agreement to settle a proceeding, or an order of a court or tribunal, to do something that involves paying an amount, including an obligation to rectify damage to a building or to publish an apology in a newspaper

"conduct" means an act or an omission to perform an act.

"engage in conduct in an official capacity" means engage in conduct as part of, or otherwise in connection with, a person’s role as a prescribed person, including, for example, engage in conduct under or purportedly under an Act.

Example of a prescribed person engaging in conduct in an official capacity—

a prescribed person making a decision in relation to an application for a licence