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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
South Australia
Legislation Interpretation
Bill 2021
A BILL FOR
An Act to provide general rules for the interpretation of Acts and
legislative instruments of the State, to define certain terms used in the Acts
and legislative instruments of the State, to make related amendments to various
Acts, to repeal the
Acts
Interpretation Act 1915
and for other purposes.
Contents
Part 2—Definitions
and rules about the meaning of words
5References to professions registered under
Health Practitioner Regulation National Law
6Definitions to be read in context
7Parts of speech and grammatical
forms
8Inclusion of digital
material
11Meaning of may, must and shall
12Meaning of expressions used in legislative
instruments
13References to signing or execution of
documents
Part 3—General
interpretative provisions
14Interpretation best achieving purpose or
object
15Interpretation so as not to exceed legislative
power
16Act or instrument deemed always
speaking
18Material that is part of
Act or instrument
20Things to be done by Governor to mean by
Governor with advice of Executive Council
21Determining whether Act or instrument binds
Crown
22Date of establishment of State
23Declaration of validity of laws made before
Australia Acts
24Acts taken to be public Acts
25No requirement for separate enacting
words
Part 4—Commencement,
amendment, replacement, repeal and expiry
30Use of headings to indicate amending
provisions
31Effect of repeal, amendment or
expiry
32Saving of administrative
acts and instruments when provisions replaced
33Amendment or repeal of Act in session in which
it was passed
Part 5—Citation
and references
34Citation and references to other
enactments
35References to amended or
replaced Acts, legislative instruments and provisions
37Performance of functions under provision
before commencement
38Certain meetings etc may occur
remotely
39Power to make instrument includes power to
amend or repeal
41Gender balance in nomination of persons for
appointment to statutory bodies
Part 7—Time,
distance, age and amounts
45Part-day public holidays
and periods of time
46References to number of sitting
days
49Rounding down of monetary
amounts
Part 8—Documents
provided under an Act
Part 9—Penalties
and proceedings for offences
53Standard scales for penalties and expiation
fees
54Fines etc to be paid into
Treasury
56Who may proceed for recovery of
penalties
57Interpretation of references to summary
proceedings, complaints etc
58Offences punishable under more than 1
law
Schedule 1—Related amendments,
repeals and transitional provisions
Part 2—Related amendments to
Evidence Act 1929
35AEvidence of date
of assent to Act
3Amendment of section 36—Proof of votes
and proceedings of Parliament
4Amendment of section 37A—Proof of
Gazette
5Amendment of section 37B—Proof of
printing or publishing by Government Printer
Part 3—Related amendments to
Legislation (Fees) Act 2019
6Amendment of section
3—Interpretation
7Amendment of section 5—Fee
notices
Part 4—Related amendments to
Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002
8Amendment of section
3—Interpretation
4AEffect of
publication under this Act
10Amendment of section 5—Program for
revision and publication of legislation
11Amendment of section 7—Alterations that
may be made in revising legislation
12Amendment of section 8—Publication of
legislation
8ASpecial
provisions relating to publication of legislation from website
14Amendment of section
9—Evidence
Part 5—Related amendments to
Subordinate Legislation Act 1978
16Amendment of section 1—Short
title
18Amendment of section 11—Publishing of
regulations
19Amendment of section 16A—Regulations to
which this Part applies
20Amendment of section 16B—Expiry of
regulations to which this Part applies
Part 3B—Commencement of other
legislative instruments
16DCommencement of
legislative instruments other than regulations
22Insertion of sections 16E to
16G
16EGeneral
provisions relating to all legislative instruments
16FDisallowance of
repealing legislative instrument revives repealed instrument
Part 6—Repeal of Acts
Interpretation Act 1915
Part 7—Transitional
provisions
The Parliament of South Australia enacts as
follows:
This Act may be cited as the Legislation Interpretation
Act 2021.
This Act comes into operation on a day to be fixed by
proclamation.
(1) Subject to
subsection (3)
, the provisions of this Act apply—
(a) to this Act; and
(b) to every other Act; and
(c) to every legislative instrument.
(2) This Act applies to an Act or a legislative instrument whether made
before or after the commencement of this Act.
(3) The application of
this Act, or a provision of this Act, to an Act or a legislative instrument, or
to a provision of an Act or a legislative instrument, is subject to a contrary
intention.
Part 2—Definitions
and rules about the meaning of words
In every Act and legislative instrument—
Act means—
(a) an Act of the Parliament of South Australia or an Act or ordinance of
some earlier legislative authority in South Australia; or
(b) an Act of the Imperial Parliament that has been received into the law
of South Australia or applies to South Australia by paramount force;
ADI means an authorised deposit-taking institution within the
meaning of the Banking Act of the Commonwealth;
administrative unit has the same meaning as in the
Public
Sector Act 2009
;
affidavit, in all cases where persons are allowed by law to
affirm or to declare instead of swearing, includes affirmation or
declaration;
amend includes the following, whether effected expressly or
by implication:
(a) omit;
(b) insert;
(c) substitute;
(d) alter;
(e) vary;
appoint includes reappoint;
AS or Australian Standard or
AS/NZS or Australian/New Zealand Standard followed
(in any of those cases) by a number, or a number accompanied by a reference to a
calendar year, means the standard so designated that is published by or under
the authority of Standards Australia (alone or jointly with others);
Australia means the Commonwealth of Australia and, when used
in a geographical sense, includes Norfolk Island, the Territory of Christmas
Island and the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands, but does not include any
other external Territory;
Australia Acts means—
(a) the Australia Act 1986 of the Commonwealth; and
(b) the Australia Act 1986 of the United Kingdom;
Australian citizen means a person who is an Australian
citizen under the provisions of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007
of the Commonwealth;
bank means an ADI that is permitted under the Banking
Act of the Commonwealth to assume or use—
(a) the word
"bank", "banker" or "banking"; or
(b) any other word (whether or not in English) that is of like import to a
word referred to in
paragraph (a)
;
bank cheque or banker's cheque means a cheque
that an ADI draws on itself;
bank holiday means a day that is, under the
Holidays
Act 1910
, a bank holiday;
Banking Act of the Commonwealth or Banking Act
(Cwth) means the Banking Act 1959 of the Commonwealth, as
amended from time to time and includes an Act enacted in substitution for that
Act;
building society means an ADI that is permitted under the
Banking Act of the Commonwealth to assume or use—
(a) the expression
"building society"; or
(b) any other expression (whether or not in English) that is of like
import to the expression referred to in
paragraph (a)
;
business day means a day that is not—
(a) a Saturday or Sunday; or
(b) a public holiday (other than a part-day public holiday—see
section 45
);
calendar month means one of the 12 months of the
calendar year;
calendar year means a period of 12 months beginning on
1 January;
certified mail includes registered post;
commencement, in relation to an Act or a legislative
instrument, or a provision of an Act or a legislative instrument, means the day
or time on which the Act, legislative instrument or provision comes into
operation;
Commonwealth means the Commonwealth of Australia and, when
used in a geographical sense, includes Norfolk Island, the Territory of
Christmas Island and the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands, but does not
include any other external Territory;
confer, in relation to a function, includes give and
impose;
contravene includes fail to comply with;
council or local council means a council within
the meaning of the
Local
Government Act 1999
;
Court of Appeal means the Court of Appeal established as a
division of the Supreme Court;
credit union means an ADI that is permitted under the
Banking Act of the Commonwealth to assume or use—
(a) the expression
"credit union"; or
(b) any expression (whether or not in English) that is of like import to
the expression referred to in
paragraph (a)
;
Crown means the Crown in right of South Australia;
data storage device means an article or thing that is used
for storing and retrieving data (whether internal or external to a
computer);
day means a period of 24 hours ending at the stroke of
midnight;
Department or department of a Minister or of
the Public Service, government department or public
department means an administrative unit within the meaning of the
Public
Sector Act 2009
;
District Court means the District Court of South
Australia;
document includes—
(a) anything on which there is writing; and
(b) any record; and
(c) anything on which there are marks, figures, symbols or perforations
having a meaning for persons qualified to interpret them; and
(d) anything from which sounds, images or writing can be reproduced with
or without the aid of anything else; and
(e) a map, plan, drawing or photograph;
DPP means the Director within the meaning of the
Director
of Public Prosecutions Act 1991
;
entity includes a person, a partnership and an unincorporated
body;
estate, in relation to land, includes any estate or interest,
easement, right, title, claim, demand, charge, lien or encumbrance in, over, to,
or in respect of, the land;
external Territory means a Territory, other than an internal
Territory, where an Act makes provision for the government of the Territory as a
Territory;
financial year means a period of 12 months starting on
1 July;
friendly society means a body that is a friendly society for
the purposes of the Life Insurance Act 1995 of the
Commonwealth;
foreign country means any country (whether or not an
independent sovereign state) outside Australia and the external
Territories;
function includes power and duty and, accordingly, references
to the performance of a function include the exercise of a power and the
performance of a duty;
Gazette, Government Gazette or South
Australian Government Gazette means the South Australian Government
Gazette (including any supplement to that gazette) printed or published, or
purporting to be printed or published, by the Government Printer of the
State;
gender identity means the gender-related identity, appearance
or mannerisms or other gender-related characteristics of a person (whether by
way of medical intervention or not), with or without regard to the person's
designated sex at birth;
Governor-in-Chief, Governor or
Lieutenant-Governor means the Governor of the State or other
officer for the time being administering the Government of the State;
Health Practitioner Regulation National Law
means—
(a) the Health
Practitioner Regulation National Law—
(i) as in force from time to time, set out in the schedule to the
Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009 of Queensland;
and
(ii) as it applies as a law of South Australia, another State or a
Territory (with or without modification); or
(b) the law that substantially corresponds to the law referred to in
paragraph (a)
;
His Majesty or Her Majesty, the
King or the Queen means His Majesty the King, or Her
Majesty the Queen, Sovereign for the time being of Australia, and includes the
predecessors and the heirs and successors of the King or Queen;
individual means a natural person;
internal Territory means the Australian Capital Territory,
the Northern Territory or the Jervis Bay Territory;
intersex status means the status of having physical, hormonal
or genetic features that are—
(a) neither wholly female nor wholly male; or
(b) a combination of female and male; or
(c) neither female nor male;
Jervis Bay Territory means the Territory referred to in the
Jervis Bay Territory Acceptance Act 1915 of the
Commonwealth;
justice means a justice of the peace for South Australia
(however appointed), and includes a special justice;
land includes—
(a) a building or structure affixed to land; and
(b) waters and airspace over land; and
(c) the bed of any body of waters; and
(d) subsoil and subterranean waters;
legislative instrument means—
(a) a regulation, rule, by-law or statute made under an Act; or
(b) a proclamation, notice, order or other instrument made by the Governor
or a Minister under an Act and published in the Gazette or under the
Legislation
Revision and Publication Act 2002
; or
(c) a code or standard made, approved or adopted under an Act;
or
(d) any other instrument of a legislative character made or in force under
an Act; or
(e) any other instrument of a kind prescribed by the
regulations;
Magistrates Court means the Magistrates Court of South
Australia;
major indictable offence means any indictable offence
classified by statute as a major indictable offence;
make, in relation to an instrument, includes issue and
grant;
Minister means—
(a) when used in an Act—the Minister of the Crown to whom the
administration of the Act has been committed by the Governor, or in whom the
administration of the Act is otherwise vested; and
(b) when used in a legislative instrument—the Minister of the Crown
to whom the administration of the Act under which the legislative instrument was
made has been committed by the Governor, or in whom the administration of that
Act is otherwise vested,
and includes a Minister of the Crown for the time being discharging the
duties of that Minister or acting in the exercise of powers or functions
delegated by that Minister;
minor indictable offence means any indictable offence
classified by statute as a minor indictable offence;
month means a period starting at the beginning of any day of
one of the calendar months and ending—
(a) immediately before the beginning of the numerically corresponding day
of the next calendar month; or
(b) if there is no such corresponding day occurring in the next calendar
month, at the end of that next calendar month;
motor vehicle has the same meaning as in the
Motor
Vehicles Act 1959
;
Northern Territory means the Northern Territory of
Australia;
oath, in all cases where persons are allowed by law to affirm
or to declare instead of swearing, includes affirmation or
declaration;
office includes position and role;
Parliament means the Parliament of the State;
part-day public holiday means a part of a day that is, under
section 3B of the
Holidays
Act 1910
, a part-day public holiday;
person includes a body corporate as well as an
individual;
police force means South Australia Police under the
Police
Act 1998
;
police officer means any member of South Australia Police
under the
Police
Act 1998
;
prescribed means—
(a) when used in an Act—prescribed by the Act or by a legislative
instrument made, or to be made, under the Act; and
(b) when used in a legislative instrument—prescribed by the Act
under which the legislative instrument was made, by the legislative instrument
itself or by some further legislative instrument made, or to be made, under the
Act under which the legislative instrument was made;
proclamation means a proclamation made by the Governor and
published in the Gazette or under the
Legislation
Revision and Publication Act 2002
;
public holiday means—
(a) a day that is, under the
Holidays
Act 1910
, a public holiday; or
(b) subject to
section 45
—a part-day public holiday;
Public Service or public service means the
Public Service under the
Public
Sector Act 2009
;
regulation, rule or by-law
means—
(a) when used in an Act—a regulation, rule or by-law made under the
Act in which the expression is used; or
(b) when used in a legislative instrument—a regulation, rule or
by-law made under the Act under which the legislative instrument was
made;
repeal includes revoke;
SAPOL means South Australia Police;
sitting day, in relation to a House of Parliament, means a
day on which the House actually sits (provided that, in a case where the
sittings of a House on a particular day continue after midnight on that day and
into the following day before the House stands adjourned, that portion of the
following day prior to the adjournment of the House will be counted as a
continuation of the preceding sitting day and not as a new sitting
day);
South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal or
SACAT means the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
established under the
South
Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013
;
South Australian Employment Tribunal or SAET
means the South Australian Employment Tribunal established under the
South
Australian Employment Tribunal Act 2014
;
special justice means a justice who has been appointed as a
special justice;
Standards Association of Australia includes Standards
Australia;
Standards Australia means Standards Australia Limited ACN 087
326 690, or any body to which Standards Australia Limited is a successor in law
or that is a successor in law to Standards Australia Limited;
statutory declaration means—
(a) a declaration made under the
Oaths
Act 1936
; or
(b) a declaration made outside the State—
(i) under a law in force in the place where the declaration is made, being
a law that renders the declarant liable to a criminal penalty for a false
declaration; and
(ii) before a person who has authority under that law to take
declarations;
statutory instrument has the same meaning as
legislative instrument;
summary offence means any offence classified by statute as a
summary offence;
Supreme Court means the Supreme Court of South
Australia;
swear, in all cases where persons are allowed by law to
affirm or to declare instead of swearing, includes affirm or declare;
the State or this State means the State of
South Australia;
this Act, when used in an Act, includes legislative
instruments made under the Act in which the expression is used;
United Kingdom means the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland;
writing includes any visible form in which words, figures,
drawings or symbols may be reproduced or represented;
year means a period starting at the beginning of any day of a
calendar year and ending—
(a) immediately before the beginning of the corresponding day of the next
calendar year; or
(b) in the case of a period starting at the beginning of 29 February
in a leap year—at the end of 28 February occurring in the next
calendar year;
Youth Court means the Youth Court of South
Australia.
5—References
to professions registered under Health Practitioner Regulation National
Law
(1) A reference in an Act or a legislative instrument within the ambit of
column 1 of the following table will have effect as if it were the
corresponding reference in column 2 of the table.
Table
Column 1 |
Column 2 |
---|---|
chiropractor |
a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National
Law to practise in the chiropractic profession (other than as a
student) |
dental practitioner |
a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National
Law to practise in the dental profession (including, if appropriate, a
dental therapist, dental hygienist, dental prosthetist or oral health therapist
but not including a student) |
dentist |
a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National
Law— (a) to practise in the dental profession as a dentist (other than as a
student); and (b) in the dentists division of that profession |
enrolled nurse |
a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National
Law— (a) to practise in the nursing and midwifery profession as a nurse (other
than as a student); and (b) in the enrolled nurses division of that profession |
legally qualified medical practitioner |
a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National
Law to practise in the medical profession (other than as a
student) |
medical practitioner |
a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National
Law to practise in the medical profession (other than as a
student) |
midwife |
a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National
Law— (a) to practise in the nursing and midwifery profession as a midwife
(other than as a student); and (b) in the register of midwives kept for that profession |
nurse |
a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National
Law to practise in the nursing and midwifery profession as a nurse (other
than as a student) |
occupational therapist |
a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National
Law to practise in the occupational therapy profession (other than as a
student) |
optometrist |
a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National
Law to practise in the optometry profession (other than as a
student) |
osteopath |
a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National
Law to practise in the osteopathy profession (other than as a
student) |
pharmacist |
a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National
Law to practise in the pharmacy profession (other than as a
student) |
physiotherapist |
a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National
Law to practise in the physiotherapy profession (other than as a
student) |
podiatrist |
a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National
Law to practise in the podiatry profession (other than as a
student) |
psychologist |
a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National
Law to practise in the psychology profession (other than as a
student) |
registered nurse |
a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National
Law— (a) to practise in the nursing and midwifery profession as a nurse (other
than as a student); and (b) in the registered nurses division of that profession |
(2) A reference in an Act or a legislative instrument to a
registered health practitioner will have effect as if it were a
reference to a health practitioner registered in the relevant health profession
under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law.
6—Definitions
to be read in context
Definitions in an Act or a legislative instrument apply to the construction
of the Act or instrument except in so far as a contrary intention
appears.
7—Parts
of speech and grammatical forms
If a word or phrase is defined, other parts of speech and grammatical forms
of the word or phrase have, unless the contrary intention appears, corresponding
meanings.
8—Inclusion
of digital material
(1) If any type of
information or material is capable of being produced in digital form, a word
that describes the information or material in its physical form includes a
reference to the information or material in its digital form.
(2) Without limiting
subsection (1)
, a reference to—
(a) audiotape, photograph,
videotape or other word in the form of a verb describing the
capture or recording of images or sounds by an audio recording, cinematographic,
photographic or videorecording device includes a reference to the capture or
recording of images or sounds by a digital device;
(b) an audiotape, photograph,
videotape or other word in the form of a noun describing the item
on which images or sounds captured or recorded by an audio recording,
cinematographic, photographic or videorecording device are stored or reproduced
includes a reference to a digital data storage device;
(c) a book, paper, plan or other
word in the form of a noun describing an item on which there is writing includes
a reference to a digital data storage device;
(d) a
record includes information stored in a digital form by means of a
digital data storage device.
(3) If a person who keeps information in a digital form is required under
an Act or a legislative instrument—
(a) to produce the information or a document containing the information to
a body or person; or
(b) to make the information or a document containing the information
available for inspection by a body or person,
then, unless the body or person otherwise authorises—
(c) the requirement obliges the person to produce or make available for
inspection, as the case may be, a document that reproduces the information in a
form capable of being understood by the body or person; and
(d) the production to the body or person of the document in that form
complies with the requirement.
(1) Every word implying a particular gender will be construed as including
every other gender and will also be applicable to an individual who does not
identify as having any particular gender.
(2) Every word implying a particular gender will be construed as including
a body corporate as well as an individual.
(3) Every phrase consisting of a masculine pronoun and a feminine pronoun
joined by the conjunction "or" will be construed as applicable to a body
corporate as well as an individual.
(1) Every word in the singular will be construed as including the
plural.
(2) Every word in the plural will be construed as including the
singular.
(3) Every word in the plural or singular will be construed as including a
body corporate as well as an individual.
11—Meaning
of may, must and shall
(1) If, in an Act or a legislative instrument, the word "may" or a similar
expression is used in conferring a function, the entity on which the function is
conferred has a discretion as to whether or not to perform it.
(2) However, if an Act or a legislative instrument specifies that an
entity "may not" perform a function, the entity is prohibited from performing
it.
(3) If, in an Act or a legislative instrument, the word "must" or "shall"
(or a similar expression) is used in conferring a function, the entity on which
the function is conferred is required to perform it.
(4) This section only applies to an Act or a legislative instrument passed
after 1 January 1873.
12—Meaning
of expressions used in legislative instruments
Expressions used in a legislative instrument or other instrument made under
an Act have the same meaning as they have in the Act (as in force from time to
time).
13—References
to signing or execution of documents
If an Act or a legislative instrument requires or authorises a document to
be signed or executed by a person and the person is a body corporate, the Act or
legislative instrument will be taken to authorise—
(a) the affixing of the common seal of the body to the document, or the
signing of the document on behalf of the body, in accordance with the Act
(whether or not of this State) under which the body is incorporated;
or
(b) the signing or execution of the document in any other manner permitted
by law.
Note—
In relation to signing of electronic documents, see the
Electronic
Communications Act 2000
.
Part 3—General
interpretative provisions
14—Interpretation
best achieving purpose or object
(1) In interpreting a provision of an Act or a legislative instrument, the
interpretation that best achieves the purpose or object of the Act or the
instrument (whether or not that purpose or object is expressly stated in the Act
or instrument) is to be preferred to any other interpretation.
(2) This section
does not operate to create or extend any criminal liability.
15—Interpretation
so as not to exceed legislative power
(1) An Act or a legislative instrument is to be interpreted as operating
to the full extent of, but so as not to exceed, the legislative power of the
State.
(2) A legislative instrument made under an Act is to be interpreted as
operating to the full extent of, but so as not to exceed, the power to make the
instrument conferred by the Act.
(3) If a provision of an Act or a legislative instrument would, but for
this section, be interpreted as being in excess of power, the provision is valid
to the extent to which it is not in excess of power.
16—Act
or instrument deemed always speaking
An Act or a legislative instrument will be considered as speaking at all
times, and every provision of an Act or a legislative instrument, whether
expressed in the present or the future tense, will be applied to the
circumstances as they arise, so that effect may be given to each provision
according to its spirit, true intent and meaning.
17—Abrogation
of presumption that re-enactment etc constitutes Parliamentary approval of prior
interpretation
The enactment or re-enactment of a provision of an Act that has been
construed in a particular manner (judicially or otherwise) in this State or
elsewhere creates no presumption that Parliament has sanctioned or approved that
construction.
18—Material
that is part of Act or instrument
(1) Except as provided
in
subsection (2)
, everything appearing in an Act or a legislative instrument is part of the
Act or instrument.
(2)
Subsection (1)
does not apply to—
(a) anything described as an editorial note; or
(b) material appearing under the heading "Legislative History";
or
(c) an appendix setting out a table of divisional penalty and expiation
fee amounts that specifies that it is for convenience of reference
only.
An example included in an Act or a legislative instrument—
(a) is not exhaustive; and
(b) may extend, but does not limit, the meaning of the provision of the
Act or legislative instrument to which it relates.
20—Things
to be done by Governor to mean by Governor with advice of Executive
Council
If, in an Act passed, or a legislative instrument made, after
1 January 1873, the Governor is authorised or required to do any act,
matter or thing, it will be taken to mean that the act, matter or thing may or
must be done by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Executive
Council.
21—Determining
whether Act or instrument binds Crown
(1) Subject to
subsection (2)
, an Act passed, or a legislative instrument made, after
20 June 1990 will, unless the contrary intention appears (either
expressly or by implication), be taken to bind the Crown, but not so as to
impose any criminal liability on the Crown.
(2) If an Act
passed, or a legislative instrument made, after 20 June 1990 amends an
Act passed, or a legislative instrument made, before that date, the question
whether the amendment binds the Crown will be determined in accordance with
subsection (3)
.
(3) An Act passed, or a
legislative instrument made, on or before 20 June 1990 will only be
taken to bind the Crown if the Act or instrument expressly, or by necessary
implication, binds the Crown.
(4) If an Act or a legislative instrument, or a provision of an Act or a
legislative instrument, (whether passed or made before or after
20 June 1990) binds the Crown but not so as to impose any criminal
liability on the Crown, the Crown's immunity from criminal liability extends
(unless the contrary intention is expressed) to an agent of the Crown in respect
of an act within the scope of the agent's obligations.
(5) If an Act or a legislative instrument, or a provision of an Act or a
legislative instrument, (whether passed or made before or after
20 June 1990) does not bind the Crown, the Crown's immunity extends
(unless the contrary intention is expressed) to an agent of the Crown in respect
of an act within the scope of the agent's obligations.
(6) For the purposes of this section—
(a) a reference to the Crown extends not only to the Crown in right of
this State but also (so far as the legislative power of the State permits) to
the Crown in any other capacity; and
(b) a reference to an agent of the Crown extends to an instrumentality,
officer or employee of the Crown or a contractor or other person who carries out
functions on behalf of the Crown; and
(c) an agent acts within the scope of the agent's obligations if the act
is reasonably required for carrying out of obligations or functions imposed on,
or assigned to, the agent.
22—Date
of establishment of State
The State is taken to have been established on
28 December 1836.
23—Declaration
of validity of laws made before Australia Acts
Each provision of an Act or a legislative instrument enacted or made, or
purporting to have been enacted or made, before the commencement of the
Australia Acts is as valid as it would have been, and has the same effect as it
would have had, if the Australia Acts had been in operation at the time of its
enactment or making or purported enactment or making.
24—Acts
taken to be public Acts
An Act passed after 1 January 1873 is taken to be a public
Act.
25—No
requirement for separate enacting words
There is no requirement for a provision or portion of an Act to have
separate enacting words in order to have effect as a substantive
enactment.
Part 4—Commencement,
amendment, replacement, repeal and expiry
(1) An Act that
contains no provision fixing the date of its commencement, or providing for the
fixing of that date, comes into operation on the day on which it is assented to
by, or on behalf of, the Crown.
(2) If a Bill is reserved for the signification of Her Majesty's assent,
the Bill will be taken, for the purposes of
subsection (1)
, to have been assented to on the day on which the assent is notified by
proclamation in the State.
(3) If an Act
provides that the Act comes into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation,
or that any provisions of the Act come into operation on a day to be fixed by
proclamation, then, unless the contrary intention appears, the Governor may by
proclamation—
(a) fix a day or time for the Act or provisions to come into operation;
or
(b) fix different days or times for different provisions of the Act to
come into operation; or
(c) suspend the operation of specified provisions of the Act until a day
or time or days or times to be fixed by subsequent proclamation or
proclamations.
(4) For the purposes of
subsection (3)
, a reference to a provision of an Act extends to—
(a) a part of a provision; and
(b) a provision to be inserted into another Act by the Act.
(5) The Governor may, by subsequent proclamation made before the day or
time fixed by proclamation under
subsection (3)
for an Act or provision to come into operation, amend the proclamation to
fix a different day or time for the Act or provision to come into
operation.
(6) Subject to
subsection (7)
, an Act or a provision of an Act passed—
(a) after the commencement of this subsection; or
(b) within the period of 2 years before the commencement of this
subsection,
that is to be brought into operation by proclamation will be taken to come
into operation on the second anniversary of the date on which the Act was
assented to by, or on behalf of, the Crown unless brought into operation before
that second anniversary.
(7)
Subsection (6)
does not apply to an Act or a provision of an Act if the Act or provision
provides that that subsection does not apply (or, if the Act or provision was
enacted before the commencement of that subsection, that section 7(5) of
the
Acts
Interpretation Act 1915
does not apply).
Note—
In relation to commencement of legislative instruments see the
Legislative
Instruments Act 1978
.
If an Act or a legislative instrument, or a provision of an Act or a
legislative instrument, comes into operation on a particular day, the Act or
instrument, or the provision, comes into operation at the beginning of that
day.
An Act or a legislative instrument may include a provision specifying a day
on which the Act or instrument (or any provision of the Act or instrument)
expires.
If an Act or a legislative instrument, or a provision of an Act or a
legislative instrument, is expressed to expire, lapse or otherwise cease to have
effect on a particular day, or to remain or continue in force or otherwise have
effect until a particular day, the Act or instrument, or the provision,
continues to have effect until the end of the specified day.
30—Use
of headings to indicate amending provisions
(1) In an Act, a provision under a heading referring to the amendment of a
specified Act or a legislative instrument amends the Act or instrument so
specified.
(2) In a legislative instrument made by an authority, a provision under a
heading referring to the amendment of a specified legislative instrument made by
the same authority amends the instrument so specified.
31—Effect
of repeal, amendment or expiry
(1) This section applies if an Act or a legislative instrument, or a
provision of an Act or a legislative instrument—
(a) is repealed or amended; or
(b) expires.
(2) The repeal,
amendment or expiry of the Act, legislative instrument or provision does
not—
(a) revive anything not in force or existing at that time; or
(b) affect the previous operation of the Act, instrument or provision or
anything duly done or suffered under it; or
(c) affect any direct amendments made by the Act, instrument or provision;
or
(d) affect any right,
interest, title, power or privilege created, acquired, accrued, established or
exercisable, or any status or capacity existing, under the Act, instrument or
provision; or
(e) affect any duty,
obligation, liability or burden of proof imposed, created or incurred, or any
penalty, forfeiture or punishment incurred or imposed or liable to be incurred
or imposed, under the Act, instrument or provision; or
(f) affect any
investigation, legal proceeding or remedy in respect of anything mentioned in
paragraph (d)
or
(e)
.
(3) An investigation, legal proceeding or remedy mentioned in
subsection (2)(f)
may be commenced, continued or enforced, and a penalty, forfeiture or
punishment mentioned in
subsection (2)(e)
may be imposed, as if the Act, legislative instrument or provision had not
been repealed or amended or had not expired.
(4) If an office, court, tribunal or body would, apart from this section,
cease to exist by reason of the repeal, amendment or expiry, then, for the
purpose of instituting, continuing or enforcing any such investigation, legal
proceeding or remedy, the office, court, tribunal or body continues in existence
(and, if necessary, new appointments may be made to it) as if the repeal or
amendment had not been effected, or as if the expired Act, legislative
instrument or provision had not expired (as the case may be).
(5) An Act or a legislative instrument, or a provision of an Act or a
legislative instrument, will, despite its repeal, amendment or expiry, continue
in force for the purposes of continuing and completing any act, matter or thing
commenced or in progress under that Act, instrument or provision if there is no
substituted Act, instrument or provision adapted to its continuance and
completion.
(6) The repeal, amendment or expiry of the Act, legislative instrument or
provision does not—
(a) affect the continued operation of a provision enacted or made by that
Act, instrument or provision that is of a savings or transitional nature;
or
(b) end the validating effect of a provision enacted or made by that Act,
instrument or provision that validates anything that is or may otherwise be
invalid.
(7) In this section—
legal proceeding includes any proceeding pursuant to an Act
or law whether of a judicial or administrative nature.
32—Saving
of administrative acts and instruments when provisions
replaced
(1) If an Act or a legislative instrument, or a provision of an Act or a
legislative instrument, is replaced, an administrative act done in accordance
with it (as in force before it was replaced and not being an administrative act
the effect of which was exhausted) will be regarded as an administrative act
done for the purposes of the replacement Act, instrument or provision if it is
not inconsistent with the Act, instrument or provision as in force after it is
replaced.
(2) If—
(a) a legislative instrument or other instrument is in force under a
provision of an Act; and
(b) the Act, or the provision of the Act, is replaced by a subsequent Act
or provision that contains or provides a power to make instruments to the same
or similar effect,
the instrument will, subject to the subsequent Act or provision, remain in
force as if the subsequent Act or provision had been in force when the
instrument was made and the instrument had been made under that Act or
provision.
(3) An Act or a
legislative instrument, or provision of an Act or a legislative instrument, will
be taken to have been replaced if it has been repealed or
superseded by a later Act, instrument or provision that deals with the same
matter (whether it deals with the matter in the same manner or not and whether
it deals only with the matter or with other matters also).
33—Amendment
or repeal of Act in session in which it was passed
An Act may be amended or repealed in the session of Parliament in which it
was passed.
Part 5—Citation
and references
34—Citation
and references to other enactments
(1) An Act or a legislative instrument of this jurisdiction may be cited
by—
(a) its short title; or
(b) its short title abbreviated by omitting reference to any year except
the year in which it was passed.
(2) An Act or a legislative instrument of any other jurisdiction may be
cited by its short title or by any method authorised by, or commonly used in,
the legislation of that other jurisdiction, together with a reference to the
jurisdiction.
(3) A reference in an Act or a legislative instrument to an Act of this or
any other jurisdiction includes a reference to legislative instruments made or
in force under that Act.
(4) A reference in an Act or a legislative instrument to a portion or
provision of an Act of this or any other jurisdiction includes a reference
to—
(a) legislative
instruments made or in force under that portion or provision of that Act;
and
(b) legislative instruments made or in force under some other portion or
provision of that Act that are connected to the portion or provision mentioned
in
paragraph (a)
.
(5) Nothing in this section renders unlawful or ineffective any citation
or reference that is not made in a manner authorised by this section.
35—References
to amended or replaced Acts, legislative instruments and
provisions
(1) This section applies to a reference in an Act or a legislative
instrument to—
(a) an Act, or a provision of an Act, of this or any other jurisdiction;
or
(b) a legislative instrument, or a provision of a legislative instrument,
of this or any other jurisdiction.
(2) The reference is a reference to that Act, legislative instrument or
provision as amended from time to time and, if it is replaced (within the
meaning of
section 32(3)
), as replaced and amended from time to time.
(1) If an Act or a legislative instrument confers a function on a person
or body, the function may be performed from time to time as occasion
requires.
(2) If an Act or a legislative instrument confers a function on the holder
of a particular office, the function may be performed by the person for the time
being holding or performing the duties of the office.
(3) If an Act or a legislative instrument confers a function on a body,
the performance of the function is not affected merely because of a vacancy in
the membership of the body or a defect in the appointment of a member.
37—Performance
of functions under provision before commencement
(a) a provision of an Act that has passed, or a legislative instrument
that has been made, is not yet in operation; and
(b) it is expedient that a function conferred on a person or body by the
provision be performed before it comes into operation,
the function may be so performed before the provision comes into
operation.
(2) Subject to
subsection (3)
, anything created, granted, issued, done or made under or pursuant to a
provision by virtue of
subsection (1)
will take effect when the provision comes into operation and not
before.
(3) If the function
that is performed is the appointment of a person to a specified office or the
establishment of a specified body—
(a) the appointed person may act in the office or the established body may
meet and perform its functions with the same entitlement to remuneration or
allowances as if the provision were in operation; but
(b) any function performed by that person or body pursuant to
subsection (1)
does not take effect until the relevant provision comes into
operation.
38—Certain
meetings etc may occur remotely
(1) If an Act or a
legislative instrument requires that a meeting occur or that some other
transaction take place that requires 2 or more persons to be physically present,
the requirement will be taken to be satisfied if the persons meet, or the
transaction takes place, remotely using 1 or both (including a combination) of
the following means of communication:
(a) audio visual;
(b) audio.
(2) However,
subsection (1)
does not apply to a requirement that a person be physically present to
witness the signing, execution, certification or stamping of a document or to
take any oath, affirmation or declaration in relation to a document.
(3) A person who participates in a meeting in accordance with this section
is taken to be present at the meeting, and to form part of any quorum for the
meeting, even if the person is not physically present at the same place as
another person participating in the meeting.
39—Power
to make instrument includes power to amend or repeal
A power under an Act or a legislative instrument to make an instrument
(including a legislative instrument) includes a power to amend or repeal the
instrument in the same way, and subject to the same conditions if appropriate
for that purpose, as it was made.
(1) This section applies if an Act or a legislative instrument authorises
or requires a person (the appointer)—
(a) to appoint a person to an office or to act in an office; or
(b) to appoint a person to perform a function or do any other
thing,
and any form of authorisation to perform a function or do a thing is taken
to be an appointment for the purposes of this section.
(2) The appointer may (in the appointer's discretion) do any of the
following:
(a) appoint a person by name or by reference to the title of an office
held by a person;
(b) determine the terms and conditions of the appointment, including
remuneration and allowances (if any);
(c) terminate or suspend an appointment;
(d) reinstate or reappoint a person whose appointment has been terminated
or suspended;
(e) appoint another person, temporarily or permanently—
(i) if the person previously appointed is, for any reason, unable to carry
out the duties of the office or position; or
(ii) if the office or position is vacant (including where the previous
appointment has been terminated or suspended).
(3) An authorisation or
requirement in an Act or a legislative instrument to appoint a person to an
office will be taken to include an authorisation to appoint a person to act in
the office.
(4) A person may be appointed to act in an office (whether pursuant to a
specific authorisation or requirement in an Act or a legislative instrument or
pursuant to
subsection (3)
) even if no appointment has ever been made to the office.
(5) If the holder of a particular office is appointed to do a thing, the
person for the time being holding or performing the duties of that office is
taken to be appointed to do that thing.
(6) A person appointed to act in an office has all the functions of the
holder of the office.
(7) An appointment made by the holder of a particular office does not
cease to have effect merely because the appointer ceases to hold that
office.
(8) Anything done by, or in relation to, a person purporting to act in an
office pursuant to an appointment is not invalid merely because—
(a) the occasion for the appointment had not arisen; or
(b) there was a defect or irregularity in connection with the appointment;
or
(c) the appointment had ceased to have effect; or
(d) the occasion for the person to act had not arisen or had
ceased.
41—Gender
balance in nomination of persons for appointment to statutory
bodies
(1) This section
applies if an Act or a legislative instrument provides for a member of a body to
be appointed by the Governor or a Minister on the nomination of a non-government
entity.
(2) If the Act provides for the non-government entity to nominate a panel
of persons from which the Governor or Minister is to select a person for
appointment, the Act will be taken to provide that the panel—
(a) must include at least 1 woman and 1 man; and
(b) must, as far as practicable, be comprised of equal numbers of women
and men.
(3) If the Act does not provide for the non-government entity to nominate
a panel of persons from which the Governor or Minister is to select a person for
appointment, the Act will be taken to provide that—
(a) the non-government entity must nominate a panel of persons comprised
of not less than twice the number of members of the body to be appointed on the
nomination of the entity plus 1; and
(i) must include at least 1 woman and 1 man; and
(ii) must, as far as practicable, be comprised of equal numbers of women
and men; and
(c) the Governor or Minister must select the person for appointment from
the panel.
(4) This section does not derogate from the need to properly assess merit
in selecting persons for appointment.
(5) In this section—
man includes a person who identifies himself as a man
regardless of the person's designated sex at birth;
non-government entity means a person or body other than an
officer, agency or instrumentality (including a Minister) of the Crown in right
of the State or the Commonwealth or another State or a Territory of the
Commonwealth;
woman includes a person who identifies herself as a woman
regardless of the person's designated sex at birth.
(1) This section applies if an Act or a legislative instrument authorises
a person or body to delegate a function.
(2) A delegation may be made subject to conditions or limitations
specified by the delegator and may be revoked at any time by the
delegator.
(3) Unless the Act or the legislative instrument expressly provides to the
contrary, a delegation of the power of delegation cannot be made (and any
purported delegation of all of the functions of the delegator will be read as if
the delegation referred to all of the functions of the delegator other than the
power of delegation).
(4) If a function, when
exercised by a delegator, is dependent on the delegator's opinion, belief or
state of mind in relation to a matter, the function, when exercised by a
delegate, is dependent on the delegate's opinion, belief or state of mind in
relation to that matter.
(5) A function that has been delegated, when exercised by a delegate, will
be taken to have been exercised by the delegator.
(6) A function that has been delegated may, despite the delegation, be
exercised by the delegator.
(7) The delegator may delegate the function to a person or body by name or
by reference to the title of an office held by a person or body.
(8) A delegation made to the holder of a particular office will be taken
to be made to the person for the time being holding or performing the duties of
the office.
(9) A delegation of all the functions of a person or body under an Act or
a legislative instrument, or a provision of an Act or a legislative instrument,
includes any additional function given to the delegator under the Act,
instrument or provision by an amendment made to it after the delegation has
taken effect.
(10) If a function of a person or body under an Act or a legislative
instrument is delegated and, after the delegation has taken effect, the scope of
that function is altered by an amendment made to the Act or the instrument, the
delegation is of the function as so altered.
(11) A delegation made by, or to, the holder of a particular office does
not cease to have effect merely because the person who held the office when the
function was delegated ceases to do so.
(12) The validity of a delegation is not affected by a grammatical error,
spelling error, error of punctuation, formatting error or other minor error if
the scope and meaning of the delegation is readily apparent despite the
error.
(13) In this section—
delegate includes sub-delegate.
Part 7—Time,
distance, age and amounts
(1) A period of time referred to in an Act or a legislative instrument
that is of a kind mentioned in column 2 of an item in the table below is to be
calculated as set out in column 3 of that item.
Column 1 Item |
Column 2 If the period of time— |
Column 3 then the period— |
---|---|---|
1 |
is expressed to occur between 2 days |
includes both days |
2 |
is expressed to begin at, on or with a specified day |
includes that specified day |
3 |
is expressed to begin on, from or after the happening of an act or
event |
does not include the day on which the act or event occurs |
4 |
is expressed to continue until a specified day |
includes that specified day |
5 |
is expressed to end at, on or with a specified day |
includes that specified day |
6 |
is expressed to begin after a specified day |
does not include that specified day |
7 |
is expressed to end before a specified day |
does not include that specified day |
8 |
is a period of 2 or more months expressed to begin at, on or with a
specified day in a calendar month (the starting month) |
ends immediately before the corresponding day of the calendar month (the
ending month) that is the relevant number of calendar months after the starting
month or, if there is no corresponding day, at the end of the ending
month |
(2) If an Act or a legislative instrument requires or allows a thing to be
done but the last day for doing it is a day that is not a business day, then the
thing may be done on the next day that is a business day.
(3) If no period of time is provided or allowed for doing a thing that is
required to be done, the thing must be done as soon as is reasonably
practicable.
A reference in an Act or a legislative instrument to time in relation to
doing anything in this or any other jurisdiction is a reference to the legal
time in the jurisdiction.
45—Part-day
public holidays and periods of time
If, for the purposes of an Act or a legislative instrument, a business day,
working day or other period is expressed as excluding a public holiday, the
exclusion does not extend to a part-day public holiday unless the Act or
legislative instrument expressly provides to the contrary.
46—References
to number of sitting days
A reference in an Act or a legislative instrument to a number of sitting
days of a House of Parliament is, unless the contrary intention appears, a
reference to the number of those days regardless of whether the days or some of
the days occur in different sessions of Parliament or in different
Parliaments.
In measuring a distance for the purposes of an Act or a legislative
instrument, the distance is to be measured in a straight line on a horizontal
plane.
(1) A person attains a
particular age expressed in years at the beginning of the relevant anniversary
of the date of the person's birth.
(2) If a person was born on 29 February,
subsection (1)
will apply in relation to the person in each leap year and, in any year
that is not a leap year, the person will attain a particular age expressed in
years at the beginning of 1 March.
49—Rounding
down of monetary amounts
An Act or a legislative instrument providing for the calculation and
payment of a tax, fee, charge or other amount must be construed as if it
provided that the calculated amount, if not an exact multiple of 5 cents,
is to be rounded down to the highest multiple of 5 cents that is less than
that amount.
Part 8—Documents
provided under an Act
(1) This section applies if an Act or a legislative instrument requires or
permits a document to be served on a person (whether the expression "serve",
"give", "provide", "deliver" or "send" or any other expression is
used).
(2) The document may be served on an individual by—
(a) delivering it to the individual personally; or
(b) leaving it at, or posting it to—
(i) the physical address designated by the individual for the service of
documents of that kind; or
(ii) if such an address is not so designated, the place of residence or a
place of business of the individual last known to the server; or
(c) sending it electronically to the individual in a manner designated, or
agreed to, by the individual for the service of documents of that
kind.
(3) The document may be served on a body corporate by—
(a) leaving it at, or posting it to—
(i) the registered office of the body corporate; or
(ii) another physical address designated by the body corporate for the
service of documents of that kind; or
(iii) if such an address is not so designated, a place of business of the
body corporate last known to the server; or
(b) sending it electronically to the body corporate in a manner
designated, or agreed to, by the body corporate for the service of documents of
that kind.
(4) A document is posted to an address by properly addressing, prepaying
and posting the document as a letter.
(5) Unless the contrary is proved, service of a document by posting it to
an individual or a body corporate is taken to be effected at the time at which
the document would be delivered in the ordinary course of post for the postal
service used.
Note—
The time and place of service of a document sent electronically is to be
determined in accordance with the
Electronic
Communications Act 2000
.
If a form is prescribed or approved by or for the purposes of an Act or a
legislative instrument, a form to the same effect is sufficient provided that
deviations from the prescribed or approved form are not calculated to
mislead.
Part 9—Penalties
and proceedings for offences
(1) A penalty set out at the end of a provision of an Act or a legislative
instrument indicates that—
(a) an offence mentioned in the provision is punishable on finding of
guilt by a penalty not exceeding the penalty so set out; or
(b) if an offence is not mentioned in the provision, a contravention of
the provision is an offence punishable on finding of guilt by a penalty not
exceeding the penalty so set out.
(2) If the penalty for an offence—
(a) is increased, the increased penalty applies only to offences committed
after the increase takes effect; or
(b) is reduced, the reduced penalty extends to offences committed before
the reduction takes effect (if the penalty is being imposed after the reduction
takes effect).
(3) In this section—
penalty includes punishment.
Note—
See also
Expiation
of Offences Act 1996
in relation to expiation fees fixed by an Act or a legislative
instrument.
53—Standard
scales for penalties and expiation fees
If an expression in the left hand column below appears in an Act or a
legislative instrument, that expression has the meaning appearing opposite it in
the right hand column:
Division 1 imprisonment |
a term of imprisonment not exceeding 15 years |
Division 1 fine |
a fine not exceeding $75 000 |
Division 2 imprisonment |
a term of imprisonment not exceeding 10 years |
Division 2 fine |
a fine not exceeding $50 000 |
Division 3 imprisonment |
a term of imprisonment not exceeding 7 years |
Division 3 fine |
a fine not exceeding $35 000 |
Division 4 imprisonment |
a term of imprisonment not exceeding 4 years |
Division 4 fine |
a fine not exceeding $20 000 |
Division 5 imprisonment |
a term of imprisonment not exceeding 2 years |
Division 5 fine |
a fine not exceeding $10 000 |
Division 6 imprisonment |
a term of imprisonment not exceeding 1 year |
Division 6 fine |
a fine not exceeding $5 000 |
Division 6 fee |
an expiation fee of $315 |
Division 7 imprisonment |
a term of imprisonment not exceeding 6 months |
Division 7 fine |
a fine not exceeding $2 500 |
Division 7 fee |
an expiation fee of $210 |
Division 8 imprisonment |
a term of imprisonment not exceeding 3 months |
Division 8 fine |
a fine not exceeding $1 250 |
Division 8 fee |
an expiation fee of $160 |
Division 9 fine |
a fine not exceeding $750 |
Division 9 fee |
an expiation fee of $105 |
Division 10 fine |
a fine not exceeding $250 |
Division 10 fee |
an expiation fee of $80 |
Division 11 fine |
a fine not exceeding $125 |
Division 11 fee |
an expiation fee of $55 |
Division 12 fine |
a fine not exceeding $75 |
Division 12 fee |
an expiation fee of $30 |
54—Fines
etc to be paid into Treasury
If a fine, penalty or forfeiture is imposed or made by, or authorised to be
imposed or made under, any Act, the Act will be taken to provide that the fine,
penalty or forfeiture, when recovered, must be paid to the Treasurer of the
State and form part of the Consolidated Account.
A reference in an Act or a legislative instrument to an offence that is
punishable by imprisonment for a specified term or more includes a reference to
an offence punishable by imprisonment for life or by an indefinite
term.
56—Who
may proceed for recovery of penalties
Any person may take proceedings to recover a fine, penalty or forfeiture
imposed by, or authorised to be imposed or awarded under, an Act or a
legislative instrument, unless the right to take proceedings is vested by the
Act or the legislative instrument in a particular officer or person.
57—Interpretation
of references to summary proceedings, complaints etc
(1) If an Act or a legislative instrument provides that proceedings for
offences are to be dealt with, or disposed of, summarily or before a special
magistrate or 1 or more justices, those offences will be dealt with under
the
Criminal
Procedure Act 1921
as summary offences.
(2) If an Act or a legislative instrument provides that a pecuniary sum
may be recovered summarily or before or on the award of a special magistrate or
1 or more justices, that sum may be recovered on information in proceedings
under the
Criminal
Procedure Act 1921
and an order for payment made in any such proceedings is enforceable as if
it were a fine.
(3) A reference in
an Act or a legislative instrument to a complaint (being an instrument charging
a person with a summary offence) will be taken to be a reference to an
information under the
Criminal
Procedure Act 1921
(and a reference to a complainant will be taken to be a reference to an
informant under that Act).
(4) A reference in
an Act or a legislative instrument to making a complaint in respect of an
offence will be taken to be a reference to laying an information under the
Criminal
Procedure Act 1921
in respect of an offence of the relevant class.
(5) A reference in an Act or a legislative instrument to a complaint
(being an instrument charging a person with a summary offence) other than of a
kind contemplated by
subsection (3)
or
(4)
is to be construed so as to recognise that, following the commencement of
the
Summary
Procedure (Abolition of Complaints) Amendment Act 2016
, all offences are to be charged on information.
58—Offences
punishable under more than 1 law
If an act or omission constitutes an offence under 2 or more Acts, or
both under an Act or Acts and at common law, the offender will, unless the
contrary intention appears, be liable to be prosecuted and punished under either
or any of those Acts or at common law, but is not liable to be punished twice
for the same offence.
(1) The Governor may make such regulations as are contemplated by, or
necessary or expedient for the purposes of, this Act.
(a) be of general or limited application; and
(b) make different provision according to the matters or circumstances to
which they are expressed to apply; and
(c) make provisions
of a saving or transitional nature consequent on the enactment of this Act or on
the commencement of specified provisions of this Act or on the making of
regulations under this Act; and
(d) provide that a matter or thing in respect of which regulations may be
made is to be determined according to the discretion of the Minister or any
other specified person or body.
Schedule 1—Related
amendments, repeals and transitional provisions
Part 1—Preliminary
In this Schedule, a provision under a heading referring to the amendment of
a specified Act amends the Act so specified.
Part 2—Related amendments to Evidence
Act 1929
After section 35 insert:
35A—Evidence of date of assent to
Act
The date appearing—
(a) on a copy of an Act printed or published, or purporting to be printed
or published, by the Government Printer; or
(b) on a copy of an Act published under the
Legislation
Revision and Publication Act 2002
or in material published in relation to such an Act on a website
prescribed by regulations made for the purposes of section 9(3) of the
Legislation
Revision and Publication Act 2002
,
as the date on which the Governor assented to the Act, or made known Her
Majesty's assent to the Act, is evidence that the date is the date on which the
Governor so assented, or made known Her Majesty's assent, and will be judicially
noticed accordingly.
3—Amendment
of section 36—Proof of votes and proceedings of
Parliament
Section 36—after "printed" insert:
or published
4—Amendment
of section 37A—Proof of Gazette
Section 37A—delete "paper" wherever occurring and substitute in each
case:
document
5—Amendment
of section 37B—Proof of printing or publishing by Government
Printer
Section 37B—delete "paper purporting to be printed by the Government
Printer or by the authority of the Government of the State shall in all courts
be evidence that the paper was printed" and substitute:
document purporting to be printed or published by the Government Printer or
by the authority of the Government of the State will in all courts be evidence
that the document was printed or published
Part 3—Related amendments to Legislation
(Fees) Act 2019
6—Amendment
of section 3—Interpretation
(1) Section 3(3)—delete "
Acts
Interpretation Act 1915
, a fee notice (whether made by a Minister or another person or body) will
be taken to be a statutory instrument" and substitute:
Legislation
Interpretation Act 2021
, a fee notice (whether made by a Minister or another person or body) will
be taken to be a legislative instrument
(2) Section 3(4)—delete "section 14C of the
Acts
Interpretation Act 1915
, a reference in that section to a power expressed to be" and
substitute:
section 37 of the
Legislation
Interpretation Act 2021
, a reference in that section to a function
7—Amendment
of section 5—Fee notices
Section 5(4)—delete "
Subordinate
Legislation Act 1978
" and substitute:
Legislative
Instruments Act 1978
Part 4—Related amendments to Legislation
Revision and Publication Act 2002
8—Amendment
of section 3—Interpretation
Section 3, definition of legislation, (c)—delete "an
instrument" and substitute:
a legislative instrument
After section 4 insert:
4A—Effect of publication under this
Act
A provision of an Act or law that authorises or requires—
(a) the publishing of legislation in the Gazette; or
(b) the making of legislation by the publishing of the legislation in the
Gazette,
will be taken to have been complied with if the legislation is published
under this Act instead of, or in addition to, being published in the
Gazette.
10—Amendment
of section 5—Program for revision and publication of
legislation
(1) Section 5(3)(d)—delete ", revocations, amendments or variations"
and substitute:
or amendments
(2) Section 5(3)—after paragraph (d) insert:
(e) legislation of a class prescribed by the regulations.
11—Amendment
of section 7—Alterations that may be made in revising
legislation
(1) Section 7(1)(a)(ii)—delete ", revocations, amendments or
variations" and substitute:
or amendments
(2) Section 7(1)(h)(viii)—delete "
Acts
Interpretation Act 1915
" and substitute:
Legislation
Interpretation Act 2021
(3) Section 7(3)—delete subsection (3) and substitute:
(3) Material that, immediately before the commencement of section 18
of the
Legislation
Interpretation Act 2021
, appeared in legislation, or in a Bill before the Parliament, but did not
form part of the legislation or Bill may be omitted or varied when the
legislation is revised after the commencement of that section (but may not be so
omitted or varied more than once).
12—Amendment
of section 8—Publication of legislation
(1) Section 8(1)—delete "Legislation" and substitute:
Subject to subsection (2), legislation
(2) Section 8—after subsection (1) insert:
(2) If legislation cannot, for technical or other reasons, be published in
a manner contemplated by subsection (1), it may instead be published
by—
(a) publishing it, and the date of publication, in another way determined
by the Commissioner; and
(b) publishing it in a manner contemplated by subsection (1) as soon
as practicable.
After section 8 insert:
8A—Special provisions relating to publication of
legislation from website
(1) If any
legislation is published under this Act only in the form of an electronic copy
published from a website, the Commissioner must ensure that the
legislation—
(a) continues to be made available from that website; or
(b) is otherwise published under this Act and available to members of the
public,
while the legislation remains in force.
(2) A failure by the Commissioner to comply with
subsection (1)
in relation to any legislation does not affect the validity or operation
of the legislation.
14—Amendment
of section 9—Evidence
Section 9—after subsection (2) insert:
(3) If a website prescribed by the regulations specifies a day as the day
on which legislation was published under this Act, in any legal proceedings the
day so specified is, in the absence of proof to the contrary, to be taken to be
the day on which the legislation was so published.
Part 5—Related amendments to Subordinate
Legislation Act 1978
Long title—delete ", printing and publishing of certain subordinate
legislation" and substitute:
and publishing of certain legislative instruments
16—Amendment
of section 1—Short title
Section 1—delete "Subordinate Legislation" and substitute:
Legislative Instruments
Section 9—delete the section and substitute:
9—Application of Act
(1) The Governor may, by proclamation, declare that a provision of this
Act that is expressed as applying only to regulations applies, in addition, to
other legislative instruments of a kind specified in the proclamation.
(2) A proclamation may be made under this section in relation to a
legislative instrument made under an Act regardless of whether that Act was
passed before or after the commencement of this section.
18—Amendment
of section 11—Publishing of regulations
Section 11—after "the Gazette" insert:
or under the
Legislation
Revision and Publication Act 2002
19—Amendment
of section 16A—Regulations to which this Part applies
(1) Section 16A(e)(ii)—delete "varying or revoking" and
substitute:
amending or repealing
(2) Section 16A—after paragraph (ec) insert:
(ed) regulations operating pursuant to savings provisions or transitional
arrangements under an Act (where the Act under which the regulations were made
has been repealed); and
20—Amendment
of section 16B—Expiry of regulations to which this Part
applies
(1) Section 16B(1)—delete "revoked" and substitute:
repealed
(2) Section 16B(2)—after "the Gazette" insert:
or on the day on which it was first published under the
Legislation
Revision and Publication Act 2002
(whichever occurs first)
After Part 3A insert:
Part 3B—Commencement of other legislative
instruments
16D—Commencement of legislative instruments other
than regulations
(1) A legislative instrument other than a regulation—
(a) may come into operation at a date or time specified in the instrument;
but
(b) may not come into operation earlier than the date on which it is made,
approved or adopted unless that earlier operation is authorised by the Act under
which the instrument is made, approved or adopted.
(2) A legislative instrument other than a regulation that contains no
provision fixing the date or time of its commencement comes into operation on
the day on which it is made, approved or adopted.
22—Insertion
of sections 16E to 16G
Before section 17 insert:
16E—General provisions relating to all legislative
instruments
(1) All conditions and preliminary steps required for the making of a
legislative instrument must be presumed to have been satisfied and performed, in
the absence of evidence to the contrary.
(2) If an Act authorises or requires a matter to be regulated by a
legislative instrument, the power may be exercised by prohibiting the matter or
any aspect of the matter.
(3) If a legislative instrument may be made in relation to a matter, the
legislative instrument may provide for the matter by applying, adopting or
incorporating (with or without modification) a provision of any of the
following:
(a) an Act or a legislative instrument of this or any other jurisdiction,
as in force at a particular time or as in force from time to time;
(b) an instrument of a legislative character made under an Act of this or
any other jurisdiction, as in force at a particular time or as in force from
time to time;
(c) any other document, as in force at a particular time.
16F—Disallowance of repealing legislative
instrument revives repealed instrument
If a legislative instrument that repeals another legislative instrument, or
part of another legislative instrument, is disallowed under this or any other
Act, the legislative instrument or part sought to be repealed revives.
16G—Time of disallowance
If a legislative instrument is disallowed under this or any other Act, the
legislative instrument continues to have effect until the end of the day on
which it is disallowed.
Part 6—Repeal of Acts Interpretation
Act 1915
The
Acts
Interpretation Act 1915
is repealed.
Part 7—Transitional
provisions
24—Bills
introduced before commencement of
section 18
(1) Despite
section 18
, section headings to amending provisions do not form part of an Act if the
Bill for that Act was introduced in either House of Parliament before the
commencement of
section 18
(regardless of whether the Bill passes the Parliament, or comes into
operation, after the commencement of
section 18
).
(2) In this clause—
amending provision of an Act means a provision of an Act that
amends another Act.
does not operate to alter the period of time provided or allowed for the
doing of anything under an Act or a statutory instrument if the period commenced
before the commencement of this Act.