30Reliance on advice of others

30 Reliance on advice of others

30 Reliance on advice of others

(1) Reliance by a Board member on the advice of others is, unless the contrary is proved, taken to be reasonable for the purposes of proceedings brought to determine whether the Board member has performed a duty under this Part or an equivalent general law duty, but only if—

(a) the advice is from a trustworthy source as provided by this section, and

(b) the reliance was made in good faith, and

(c) the reliance was made after making an independent assessment of the advice, having regard to the Board member’s knowledge of the Corporation concerned and the complexity of the structure and operations of the Corporation.

(2) Advice is from a trustworthy source for the purposes of this section only if it is the advice of—

(a) a member of the staff of the Corporation concerned whom the Board member believes on reasonable grounds to be reliable and competent in relation to the matters concerned, or

(b) a professional adviser or expert in relation to matters that the Board member believes on reasonable grounds to be within the person’s professional or expert competence, or

(c) another Board member in relation to matters within the Board member’s authority, or

(d) a committee of Board members on which the Board member did not serve in relation to matters within the committee’s authority.

(3) In this section, a reference to the advice of others is a reference to information, or professional or expert advice, given or prepared by others.