23   Delegation

(1)  The Minister, corporation or Director-General may, by instrument in writing, under seal (in the case of the corporation), delegate any of the Minister’s, the corporation’s or the Director-General’s functions conferred or imposed by or under this or any other Act as are specified in the instrument to:

(a)  any officer of the Department,

(b)  any officer, employee or servant of whose services the Director-General makes use in pursuance of this or any other Act,

(c)  (Repealed)

(c1)  a development corporation under the Growth Centres (Development Corporations) Act 1974 or an officer or employee of any such corporation for the purposes of that Act,

(c2)  any other public authority or an officer or employee of any other public authority,

(d)  a council,

(e)  an officer or employee of a council,

(f)  the Planning Assessment Commission, or

(g)  a joint regional planning panel,

      and may, by such an instrument, revoke wholly or in part any such delegation.

(1A)  The Planning Assessment Commission may, by instrument in writing and with the approval of the Minister, delegate any of the Commission’s functions conferred or imposed by or under this or any other Act.

(1B)  A joint regional planning panel may, by instrument in writing and with the approval of the Minister, delegate any of the panel’s functions conferred or imposed by or under this or any other Act to a council for an area situated wholly or partly in a part of the State for which the panel is appointed.

(2)  A function, the exercise of which has been delegated under this section, may, while the delegation remains unrevoked, be exercised from time to time in accordance with the terms of the delegation.

(3)  A delegation under this section may be made subject to such conditions or limitations as to the exercise of any of the functions delegated, or as to time or circumstance, as may be specified in the instrument of delegation.

(4)  Notwithstanding any delegation under this section, the Minister, corporation, Director-General, Commission or panel, as the case may be, may continue to exercise all or any of the functions delegated.

(5)  Any act or thing done or suffered by a delegate while acting in the exercise of a delegation under this section shall have the same force and effect as if the act or thing had been done or suffered by the Minister, corporation, Director-General, Commission or panel, as the case may be, and shall be deemed to have been done or suffered by the Minister, corporation, Director-General, Commission or panel, as the case may be.

(6)  An instrument purporting to be signed by a delegate of the Minister, corporation, Director-General, Commission or panel, in the capacity as such a delegate, shall in all courts and before all persons acting judicially be received in evidence as if it were an instrument executed by the Minister, corporation, Director-General, Commission or panel, as the case may be, under seal (in the case of the corporation), and, until the contrary is proved, shall be deemed to be an instrument signed by a delegate of the Minister, corporation, Director-General, Commission or panel, as the case may be, under this section.

(7)  The Director-General shall cause to be published in the Gazette a notice setting out the details of any instrument referred to in subsection (1), but this subsection does not affect the provisions of subsection (1).

(8)  Nothing in this section authorises the delegation of:

(a)  the power of delegation conferred by this section, or

(a1)  the function of the Minister under Part 3A of determining whether to approve under section 75J the carrying out of a critical infrastructure project or under section 75O the concept plan for a critical infrastructure project, or

(b)  any function of the Minister conferred by section 80 (7), 117 or 118 or by section 130 (4).

(9)  Any matter or thing done and any contract entered into by a person acting in accordance with a delegation under this section shall not, if the matter or thing was done or the contract was entered into in good faith for the purpose of exercising the function delegated, subject the person to any action, liability, claim or demand.