Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) Where it is necessary, for the purposes of this Act, to establish the state of mind of a body corporate in respect of conduct engaged in, or deemed by subsection (2) to have been engaged in, by the body corporate, it is sufficient to show that a director, employee or agent of the body corporate, being a director, employee or agent by whom the conduct was engaged in within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority, had that state of mind.
(2) Any conduct engaged in on behalf of a body corporate:
(a) by a director, employee or agent of the body corporate within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority; or
(b) by any other person at the direction or with the consent or agreement (whether express or implied) of a director, employee or agent of the body corporate, where the giving of the direction, consent or agreement is within the scope of the actual or apparent authority of the director, employee or agent;
shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to have been engaged in by the body corporate unless the body corporate establishes that it took reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence to avoid the conduct.
(3) Where it is necessary, for the purposes of this Act, to establish the state of mind of a person in relation to conduct deemed by subsection (4) to have been engaged in by the person, it is sufficient to show that an employee or agent of the person, being an employee or agent by whom the conduct was engaged in within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority, had that state of mind.
(4) Conduct engaged in on behalf of a person other than a body corporate:
(a) by an employee or agent of the person within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority; or
(b) by any other person at the direction or with the consent or agreement (whether express or implied) of an employee or agent of the first - mentioned person, where the giving of the direction, consent or agreement is within the scope of the actual or apparent authority of the employee or agent;
shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to have been engaged in by the first - mentioned person unless the first - mentioned person establishes that that person took reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence to avoid the conduct.
(5) A reference in this section to the state of mind of a person includes a reference to the knowledge, intention, opinion, belief or purpose of the person and the reasons for the intention, opinion, belief or purpose.
(6) A reference in this section to a director of a body corporate includes a reference to a constituent member of a body corporate incorporated for a public purpose by a law of the Commonwealth, of a State or of a Territory.