23Power to take possession of property

23 Power to take possession of property

(1) The Minister or an emergency services officer may, for the purposes of responding to an emergency, take possession and make use of a person’s property. (2) Before the Minister or an emergency services officer takes possession and makes use of property belonging to, or usually under the control of, the Defence Department or the Australian Defence Force, the Minister or officer must be satisfied that the Senior Australian Defence Force Officer at HMAS Creswell, or a person authorised by the Senior Australian Defence Force Officer, has been consulted. (3) However, subsection (2) does not apply if the requirement to be consulted has been waived by: (a) the Secretary of the Defence Department; or (b) the Chief of the Defence Force; or (c) the Senior Australian Defence Force Officer at HMAS Creswell; or (d) a person authorised by the Senior Australian Defence Force Officer to waive the requirement. (4) If the Minister or an emergency services officer takes possession and makes use of a person’s property under subsection (1), the person is entitled to receive a reasonable amount of compensation, as determined by the Minister, for the possession and use of the property. (5) The person may apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal for review by the Tribunal of the Minister’s determination under subsection (4) in relation to compensation.