Real Estate and Business Agents Act 1978

The moneys standing to the credit of the Fidelity Account are the only property of the chief executive officer available for the satisfaction of any judgment obtained against the State in relation to the Fidelity Account, or for the payment of any claim allowed by the chief executive officer; but if at any time the moneys standing to the credit of the Fidelity Account are not sufficient to provide for the satisfaction of all such judgments and claims they shall, to the extent to which they are not so satisfied, be charged against the future accumulations of the Fidelity Account.

The chief executive officer may determine the order in which the judgments and claims charged against the Fidelity Account as provided in subsection (1) shall be satisfied, and may, if the amount accumulated is not sufficient to wholly satisfy all those judgments and claims, satisfy any of those judgments or claims in whole or in part.

Without limiting the discretion of the chief executive officer, the chief executive officer shall in applying the Fidelity Account towards the settlement of any of the judgments and claims referred to in subsection (2), have regard to the following rules —

the chief executive officer shall take into consideration the relative degrees of hardship suffered or likely to be suffered by the several claimants in the events of their claims against the Fidelity Account not being satisfied in whole or in part;

claims for amounts not exceeding $2 500 shall, except in special circumstances, be satisfied in full before claims for amounts exceeding $2 500 are satisfied to a greater extent than $2 500;

where all other considerations are equal, claimants shall have the priority as between themselves, according to the dates of the judgments or the dates when the claims were admitted by the chief executive officer, as the case may be.