731 Liability of councillors, employees and other persons
A matter or thing done by the Minister, the Director-General, a council, a councillor, a member of a committee of the council or an employee of the council or any person acting under the direction of the Minister, the Director-General, the council or a committee of the council does not, if the matter or thing was done in good faith for the purpose of executing this or any other Act, and for and on behalf of the Minister, the Director-General, the council or a committee of the council, subject a councillor, a member, an employee or a person so acting personally to any action, liability, claim or demand.
732 Exemption from liability—accreditation and certification
A council, a councillor and an employee of a council do not incur any liability as a consequence of:(a) the council’s acting in accordance with section 92 (Approval where an accreditation is in force), or(b) the council’s satisfying itself as to a matter referred to in section 93 (Certification by qualified persons) by relying on a certificate referred to in that section, or(c) (Repealed)
733 Exemption from liability—flood liable land and land in coastal zone
(1) A council does not incur any liability in respect of:(a) any advice furnished in good faith by the council relating to the likelihood of any land being flooded or the nature or extent of any such flooding, or(b) anything done or omitted to be done in good faith by the council in so far as it relates to the likelihood of land being flooded or the nature or extent of any such flooding.(2) A council does not incur any liability in respect of:(a) any advice furnished in good faith by the council relating to the likelihood of any land in the coastal zone being affected by a coastline hazard (as described in a manual referred to in subsection (5) (b)) or the nature or extent of any such hazard, or(b) anything done or omitted to be done in good faith by the council in so far as it relates to the likelihood of land being so affected.(3) Without limiting subsections (1) and (2), those subsections apply to:(a) the preparation or making of an environmental planning instrument or development control plan, or the granting or refusal of consent to a development application, or the determination of an application for a complying development certificate, under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, and(b) (Repealed)(c) the imposition of any condition in relation to an application referred to in paragraph (a), and(d) advice furnished in a certificate under section 149 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, and(e) the carrying out of flood mitigation works, and(f) the carrying out of coastal management works, and(g) any other thing done or omitted to be done in the exercise of a council’s functions under this or any other Act.(4) Without limiting any other circumstances in which a council may have acted in good faith, a council is, unless the contrary is proved, taken to have acted in good faith for the purposes of this section if the advice was furnished, or the thing was done or omitted to be done, substantially in accordance with the principles contained in the relevant manual most recently notified under subsection (5) at that time.(5) For the purposes of this section, the Minister for Planning may, from time to time, give notification in the Gazette of the publication of:(a) a manual relating to the management of flood liable land, or(b) a manual relating to the management of the coastline.The notification must specify where and when copies of the manual may be inspected.
(6) A copy of the manual must be available for public inspection, free of charge, at the office of the council during ordinary office hours.(7) This section applies to and in respect of:(a) the Crown, a statutory body representing the Crown and a public or local authority constituted by or under any Act, and(b) a councillor or employee of a council or any such body or authority, and(c) a public servant, and(d) a person acting under the direction of a council or of the Crown or any such body or authority,in the same way as it applies to and in respect of a council.(8) In this section, coastal zone has the same meaning as in the Coastal Protection Act 1979, and includes land previously in the coastal zone under that Act.