Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) Subject to this
Act, the Commissioner shall investigate any decision or recommendation made,
or any act done or omitted, that relates to a matter of administration
and affects any person or body of persons in his or its personal capacity in
or by any department or authority to which this Act applies in the
exercise of any power or function.
(2) References in this
Act to the taking of any action shall be construed as including
references to —
(a) a
failure or refusal to perform any act;
(b) the
formulation of any proposal or intention; and
(c) the
making of any recommendation (including a recommendation to a Minister of the
Crown).
(3) This
section does not authorise or require the Commissioner to investigate
under this Act any decision made by Cabinet or by a Minister of the Crown
or question the merits of any such decision.
(4) Subject to
subsection (5), the Commissioner shall not conduct an investigation under
this Act in respect of any of the following matters, that is to
say —
(a) any
action in respect of which the person aggrieved has or had a right of appeal,
reference, or review to or before a tribunal constituted under any enactment
or by virtue of the Crown’s prerogative; and
(b) any
action in respect of which the person aggrieved has or had a remedy by way of
proceedings in any court of law.
(5) Notwithstanding
anything in subsection (4), the Commissioner may conduct any
investigation notwithstanding that the person aggrieved has or had such a
right or remedy as is referred to in that subsection if he is satisfied
that, in the particular circumstances, it is not reasonable to expect him to
resort, or to have resorted, to it.
(6) The Commissioner
shall not conduct an investigation into any action taken by a person acting as
legal adviser or as counsel.
(7) The powers of the
Commissioner under this Act in relation to any action taken by a
department or authority may be exercised notwithstanding that that action was
taken on behalf of, or in the exercise of any functions conferred on, an
authority to which this Act does not apply, but nothing in this Act authorises
or requires the Commissioner to question the merits of any decision made by
such an authority.
(8) The powers of the
Commissioner to investigate any action may, if in all the circumstances he
considers it proper so to do, be exercised in respect of action taken before
the coming into operation of this Act.
[Section 14 amended by No. 68 of 1976
s. 4; No. 124 of 1984 s. 4; No. 78 of 1996 s. 21; No.
78 of 2003 s. 72(1).]