Commissions of Inquiry Act 1995

In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears –

act includes an omission or failure to act;

adverse finding means a finding of a Commission under section 19 that is adverse to the interests of a person;

authorised Commissioner hearing means a hearing of a Commission that is held as referred to in section 5A(1);

Commission means a Commission established under section 4;

Commissioner means a member of a Commission;

counsel means an Australian legal practitioner;

function includes duty;

misconduct means conduct by a person that could reasonably be considered likely to result in a criminal charge, civil liability, disciplinary proceedings, or other legal proceedings, being brought against that person in respect of the conduct;

officer of the Commission includes any person appointed under section 6 to assist a Commission and any person whose services are made available to a Commission under section 7;

reasonable excuse, in relation to an act by a person, means – if the person is a witness, or providing information, to a Commission, an excuse that would excuse the act by a witness in proceedings of a similar nature in a court of law; or if the person is the subject of a notice, or warrant in relation to a Commission, an excuse that would excuse the act by a person summoned before a court of law in proceedings of a similar nature in the court; or in any case, an excuse that the Commission considers reasonable in the circumstances in relation to the act by the person;

vehicle includes an aircraft and a vessel.