Western Australian Current Acts

WATER AGENCIES (POWERS) ACT 1984 - SECT 62

62 .         Damage to land etc. by Minister or Corporation, compensation for etc.

        (1)         In the exercise of the Minister’s powers of entry on to land or to carry out works under this Act or any relevant Act, except where the Act or an agreement relating to the exercise of the power otherwise provides, the Minister shall, in so far as that is practicable, forthwith make good or pay for the making good of, and, in so far as the making good is not practicable pay compensation for, the physical damage done to that land, or any premises or thing on that land, by the Minister in the course and at the time of, and the proximate cause of which is, the exercise or purported exercise of such a power, whether that damage is of a temporary character or a permanent character.

        (2)         Any dispute as to the manner of making good of, or the amount of any payment in respect of, damage under subsection (1), shall be referred to the State Administrative Tribunal and dealt with as if it had come before the Tribunal under Part 10 of the Land Administration Act 1997 .

        (3)         The Crown shall not be liable to pay to any person any amount in respect of damage under subsection (1) unless —

            (a)         within 3 months after the damage is sustained, or within such further period as the Minister may allow, the person delivers in writing to the Minister a claim, or notice of intention to make a claim, for such amount; and

            (b)         where there is no agreement with the Minister on the claim within 12 months after delivery of the claim or the notice, the person, within that time, brings an action against the Crown to establish the requirement for, and entitlement to, payment.

        (4)         In calculating the amount payable under this section regard shall be had to any compensation received for the damage by the claimant pursuant to any other Act, and the amount payable under this section shall be adjusted accordingly.

        (5)         In calculating compensation payable under any other Act regard shall be had to any amount received for the damage by the claimant pursuant to this section, and the body or court so calculating is hereby authorised to take such amount, if any, into account.

        [Section 62 amended: No. 25 of 1985 s. 14; No. 73 of 1995 s. 42; No. 31 of 1997 s. 137(2); No. 55 of 2004 s. 571; No. 38 of 2007 s. 111 and 135; No. 25 of 2012 s. 109.]