during a vacancy in the office of Official Receiver; or
(b) during any period, or during all periods, when the Official Receiver is absent from duty or from Australia or is, for any other reason, unable to perform the functions of his or her office.
(7) The validity of anything done by a person purporting to act under this section shall not be called in question on the ground that the occasion for his or her appointment had not arisen, that there is a defect or irregularity in or in connection with his or her appointment, that the appointment had ceased to have effect or that the occasion for him or her to act had not arisen or had ceased.
17B Arrangements for services of State and Northern Territory Magistrates
(1) The Governor-General may arrange with the Governor of a State for the performance of the functions of a magistrate under this Act by all or any of the persons who from time to time hold office as Magistrates of the State.
(2) The Governor-General may arrange with the Administrator of the Northern Territory for the performance of the functions of a magistrate under this Act by all or any of the persons who from time to time hold office as Magistrates of the Territory.
18 The Official Trustee in Bankruptcy
(1) The corporation sole known as the Official Trustee in Bankruptcy, that existed immediately before this subsection commenced, continues in existence as a body corporate with the same name.
(2) The body corporate continued in existence by force of subsection (1):
(a) has perpetual succession;
(b) may acquire, hold and dispose of real and personal property; and
(c) may sue and be sued in its corporate name.
(4) The Official Trustee shall have such seals as the Minister directs by writing under his or her hand.
(5) The designs of the seals of the Official Trustee shall be as determined by the Minister by writing under his or her hand.
(7) All courts (whether exercising federal jurisdiction or not), and all persons acting judicially, shall take judicial notice of the mark of such a seal affixed on a document and shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, presume that it was duly affixed.
(8) The Official Receiver may exercise the powers, and perform the functions, of the Official Trustee.
(8AA) In exercising powers or performing functions under subsection (8), an Official Receiver must act in the name of, and on behalf of, the Official Trustee.
(8A) All acts and things done in the name of, or on behalf of, the Official Trustee by any Official Receiver, shall be deemed to have been done by the Official Trustee.
(8B) The Inspector-General may exercise any of the powers, and perform any of the functions, of the Official Trustee that are not related to any of the following matters:
(a) a bankruptcy;
(b) control of a debtor’s property under section 50;
(c) a scheme of arrangement or composition under Division 6 of Part IV;
(d) a matter relating to a debt agreement proposal;
(e) Part X administration;
(f) administration under Part XI.
(8C) In exercising powers or performing functions under subsection (8B), the Inspector-General must act in the name of, and on behalf of, the Official Trustee.
(8D) Anything done by the Inspector-General in the name of, or on behalf of, the Official Trustee is taken to have been done by the Official Trustee.
(8E) In subsection (8B):
matter relating to a debt agreement proposal includes:
(a) a debt agreement; and
(b) an activity required or permitted by a debt agreement.
Part X administration means:
(a) an activity that a controlling trustee may or must carry out after consenting to exercise powers given by an authority under section 188 (including control of a debtor’s property under Division 2 of Part X); or
(b) a personal insolvency agreement.
(9) Where, under a provision of this Act, the exercise of a power or the performance of a function by the Official Trustee is dependent upon the opinion, belief or state of mind of the Official Trustee in relation to a matter:
(a) the power may be exercised or the function performed by a person who may exercise the power or perform the function under subsection (8) or (8B), in the name of, or on behalf of, the Official Trustee upon the opinion, belief or state of mind in relation to that matter of the person exercising the power or performing the function; and
(b) any act or thing done in accordance with this subsection shall be deemed to have been done by the Official Trustee.
(10) Where the Official Trustee is one of the trustees of a personal insolvency agreement, composition or scheme of arrangement, a power the exercise of which, or a function the performance of which, is dependent upon the opinion, belief or state of mind of those trustees in relation to a matter may be exercised or performed by those trustees as if the opinion, belief or state of mind in relation to that matter of:
(a) an Official Receiver who; or
(b) another person who with the authority of an Official Receiver;
acts in the name of, or on behalf of, the Official Trustee in the exercise of the power or the performance of the function were the opinion, belief or state of mind in relation to the matter of the Official Trustee.
(11) A reference in a law of the Commonwealth to the Official Receiver of the estate of a bankrupt shall, in relation to the vesting, holding or disposal of property, be read as including a reference to the Official Trustee.
(12) A reference in a law of the Commonwealth to the Official Receiver in Bankruptcy shall be read as including a reference to the Official Trustee.
18AA Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 does not apply to Official Trustee
The Official Trustee is not a Commonwealth authority for the purposes of the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997.
18A Liability of the Official Trustee
(1) The Official Trustee is subject to the same personal liability in respect of an act done, or omitted to be done, by it as:
(a) the trustee of the estate of a bankrupt; or
(b) the trustee of the estate of a deceased debtor; or
(c) the trustee of a composition or scheme of arrangement accepted under Division 6 of Part IV; or
(d) the controlling trustee in relation to a debtor whose property is subject to control under Division 2 of Part X; or
(e) the trustee of a personal insolvency agreement;
as an individual would be subject if the individual had done, or omitted to do, that act as such a trustee.
(2) The Commonwealth is by force of this subsection liable to indemnify the Official Trustee against any personal liability, including any personal liability as to costs, incurred by it:
(a) by reason of subsection (1); or
(b) for any act done, or omitted to be done, by it in carrying out, or purporting to carry out, a direction given, or an order made, by the Court under section 50; or
(c) for any act done, or omitted to be done, by the Official Trustee:
(i) under Part IX; or
(ii) under the authority contained in a debt agreement to deal with the property of the person who is a party (as debtor) to the agreement.
(3) Nothing in subsection (2) affects any right that the Official