George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Senator, the answer to your question is that any affiliate—and the best example I can give you which I think is readily understandable is a contractor; somebody who is not an officer or an employee of the organisation but an external contractor performing a particular function—is bound by two things. They are bound by the law and they are bound by the terms of their contract. There is no general exemption from legal liability in relation to a contractor. If they were to be indemnified by the organisation, that indemnity against a public liability, for example—they cannot be indemnified against a breach of the law, of course—would have to be found in the terms of their contract.