Section 191 — Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986: Acting commissioners

(1) The Minister may appoint a person to act in the office of a commissioner: (a) during a vacancy in that office; or (b) during any period, or during all periods, when the holder of that office: (i) is absent from duty or from Australia; (ii) is suspended under section 188; or (iii) is, for any other reason, unable to perform the functions of that office. (2) An appointment of a person under subsection (1) may be expressed to have effect only in such circumstances as are specified in the instrument of appointment. (3) A person appointed to act during a vacancy in an office of commissioner shall not continue so to act for more than 12 months. (4) The Minister may: (a) determine the terms and conditions of appointment, including remuneration and allowances, of a person appointed under this section; and (b) at any time, terminate such an appointment. (5) Where a person is acting in the office of a commissioner in accordance with paragraph (1)(b) and that office becomes vacant while that person is so acting, that person may, subject to subsections (2) and (6), continue so to act until the Minister otherwise directs, the vacancy is filled or a period of 12 months from the date on which the vacancy occurred expires, whichever first happens. (6) The appointment of a person to act in the office of a commissioner ceases to have effect if the person resigns the appointment by writing signed by the person and delivered to the Minister. (7) While a person is acting in an office of a commissioner, the person has, and may exercise, all the powers, and shall perform all the functions, of the commissioner in whose office the person is acting. (8) The validity of anything done by a person purporting to act under subsection (1) shall not be called in question on the ground that the occasion for the person’s appointment had not arisen, that there is a defect or irregularity in or in connection with the person’s appointment, that the person’s appointment had ceased to have effect or that the occasion for the person to act had not arisen or had ceased.