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BOUNDARIES OF THE DIOCESE ACT 1988 (BALLARAT DIOCESE)

No. 2
BOUNDARIES OF THE DIOCESE ACT, 1988

WHEREAS it is expedient to alter the boundary line between the Diocese of Ballarat and Melbourne as described in Schedule A of the Act of the Church Assembly No. 1 1873 intituled “An Act to Create a New Diocese in the Colony of Victoria and to Provide for the appointment of the First Bishop thereof”. Be it therefore enacted by the Bishop the Clergy and the Laity of the Anglican Church of Australia within the Diocese of Ballarat in Victoria duly met in Synod according to Law as follows:

PART A
ORIGINAL BOUNDARIES

1. The boundary line dividing the Diocese of Ballarat and Melbourne shall on the coming into operation of this Act be as described in Schedule A hereunder written.

2. The boundary line as described in Schedule A hereunder written shall be shown on a map or plan which shall be drawn in duplicate and each duplicate when certified under the hand of the Bishop of Ballarat and the Bishop of Melbourne to be a correct delineation of such alterations as intended to be made by this Act shall be conclusive evidence of the dividing boundary line of the two Dioceses.

3. After this Act shall come into operation so much of the Diocese of Melbourne as lies between the boundary line fixed by the recited Act No. 1 and the boundary line fixed by this Act and being on the western side of such last-mentioned line shall cease to form part of the Diocese of Melbourne and shall become part of the Diocese of Ballarat and so much of the Diocese of Ballarat as lies between the boundary line fixed by the said recited Act No. 1 and the boundary line fixed by this Act and being on the eastern side of such last-mentioned line shall cease to be part of the Diocese of Ballarat and shall become part of the Diocese of Melbourne.

4. During the concurrent tenure of their offices by the present Bishops of Ballarat and Melbourne arrangements existing at the coming into operation of this Act for the service of the district heretofore known as the Parochial District of Tarnagulla shall continue unless the parishioners resident within the district on both sides of the River Loddon shall be a majority of their number express in writing their desire for an alteration of such arrangements and the certificate of the Clergyman for the time being of the district as to the number of the parishioners therein shall be conclusive evidence thereof.

5. If there be now or hereafter shall be a Church within one mile of the border of one Diocese while in the adjoining Diocese there is no Church within two miles of the border the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Diocese within which such Church is situate both parochial and diocesan shall if the Bishops of Ballarat and Melbourne consent extend into the adjoining Diocese for such distance as shall be agreed upon in each case by such Bishops but not exceeding two miles in depth from the boundary and six miles in breadth along the boundary the line defining such extra-territorial jurisdiction both as to depth and breadth to be in each case agreed to by both the said Bishops. Provided that such jurisdiction shall not approach nearer than one mile from any Church on the other side of the border. Provided also that if a Church be built on the other side of the border within two miles of the boundary the said extra-territorial jurisdiction shall cease and determine.

PART B
ADDITION TO THE DIOCESE

6. After this Act shall come in to operation so much of the Diocese of Melbourne as lies between the boundary line fixed by the recited Act No. 1. 1873 and the boundary line fixed by this Act and set forth in the schedule hereto and being on the western side of such last-mentioned line, shall cease to form part of the Diocese of Melbourne and shall become part of the Diocese of Ballarat.

7. The words “Skene’s Creek, thence up that creek to its source, thence to the summit of the range dividing the waters of the Gellibrand River and Smythe’s Creek, thence by the summit of that range to Mt. Sabine, thence to the source of the Barwon River,” shall be deleted from the Schedule to the recited act and the following words substituted therefore “Carisbrook Creek, thence along the course of that Creek to Mount Sabine, thence to the source of the West branch of the Barwon River.”

PART C
SUBDIVISION OF THE DIOCESE TO FORM
DIOCESE OF ST. ARNAUD

8. From and after the consecration of a Bishop of St. Arnaud all that portion of the State of Victoria which is described in Schedule C hereto shall be severed from the Diocese of Ballarat and shall become and be a separate Diocese to be called the Diocese of St. Arnaud.

9. The See of the Bishop of the said Diocese shall be St. Arnaud.

10. The Boundary lines of the said Diocese as described in Schedule C shall be shown on a map or plan which shall be lodged in the Registry of the Diocese of Ballarat of which a duplicate shall be furnished to the Bishop of Ballarat and the Bishop of St. Arnaud and any plan purporting to be a duplicate of any such plan shall when certified under the hand of the Bishop of Ballarat and the Bishop of St. Arnaud be conclusive evidence of the boundary lines of the said Diocese of St. Arnaud.

11. All properties situated or being in that part of the said Diocese of Ballarat which after the enthronement of the Bishop of St. Arnaud will be part of and belong to the said Diocese of St. Arnaud and which are vested or intended to be vested in the corporation styled the Ballarat Diocesan Trustees or other Trustees of the said Diocese shall remain vested in the said corporation or the said Trustees as the case may be for the benefit of the said Diocese of St. Arnaud from and after the date of the enthronement of the first Bishop of the said Diocese of St. Arnaud until a properly constituted Trusts Corporation be appointed for the said Diocese of St. Arnaud when all such properties shall be duly vested in the last-mentioned Corporation subject to any liabilities existing in connection therewith.

12. All monies which after the enthronement of the said Bishop of St. Arnaud will belong to the said Diocese of St. Arnaud and which are vested in the Corporation styled The Ballarat Diocesan Trustees or other Trustees of the said Diocese shall remain vested in the said Corporation or the said Trustees as the case may be from and after the date of the enthronement of the first Bishop of the Diocese of St. Arnaud until a properly constituted Trusts Corporation be appointed for the said Diocese of St. Arnaud when all such monies and any securities or investments representing the same respectively as the case may be shall be duly vested in the last-mentioned corporation subject to any liabilities existing in connection therewith.

13. When a Trusts Corporation for the said Diocese of St. Arnaud shall have been duly appointed all monies to which the said Diocese is entitled shall be paid to such Trusts Corporation for the benefit of the said Diocese of St. Arnaud.

14. The first Bishop of the Diocese of St. Arnaud shall be nominated by the Bishop of Ballarat for the time being acting with the advice of the Dean the Chancellor and the Official Principal of the Diocese of Ballarat. Provided that no such nomination shall be made until a capital sum of not less than $60,000 has been secured for the Endowment and maintenance of the said Diocese of St. Arnaud.

15. Out of the said capital sum of $70,000 there shall be created for the Diocese of St. Arnaud a Bishopric Endowment Fund the capital of which shall consist of not less than $40,000 and the whole income of which shall be paid to the Bishop of St. Arnaud by way of stipend a Sustentation Fund the capital of which shall consist of not less than $20,000 and the income of which shall be available for the payment of such expenses as may be incurred in furthering the work of the Diocese and a Clergy Endowment Fund the capital of which shall consist of not less than $10,000 and the income of which after deducting the expenses of the administration of the said Fund shall be available for the payment of the stipends or allowances to such of the Clergy duly licensed in the Diocese as the Synod of the said Diocese or any Body appointed by the said Synod shall from time to time direct or appoint.

16. The Bishop-in-Council of the Diocese of Ballarat shall upon proof that the same is required to make up the capital sum aforesaid allocate and pay from the Home Mission Fund and from the Clergy Endowment Fund such sum or sums not exceeding in all $14,000 and in addition thereto may in its discretion for a period of not more than five years contribute to the Diocese of St. Arnaud such annual sum as to the said Bishop-in-Council shall seem necessary but so that no such payment shall exceed in any one year the sum of $1,000 and that the whole of such payments shall not exceed the sum of $3,000.

17. When and so soon as the Synod of the said Diocese of St. Arnaud shall have passed an Act securing to the contributors to the Australian Clergy Provident Fund licensed in such Diocese at the time of its formation the same rights and privileges to which they are entitled under the provisions of the Superannuation Further Amendment Act No. 3. 1924 the said Diocese of Ballarat shall from and out of the capital of the Superannuation Fund of the Diocese of Ballarat pay to the Diocese of St. Arnaud the sum of $20,000 to form the capital of a Superannuation Fund for the said Diocese Provided that such sum of $20,000 and the income therefrom shall be held and used by the said Diocese of St Arnaud for the purpose of providing superannuation allowances or grants for the benefit of the Bishop and Clergy of such Diocese and for their widows and children and for no other purpose whatsoever and when and so soon as the share of the Diocese of Ballarat in the Clergy Widow and Orphans’ Fund of the Dioceses of Melbourne and Ballarat shall have been received by the said Diocese of Ballarat one third of the capital sum so received shall be paid to the said Diocese of St. Arnaud by way of increase to the capital of the said Superannuation Fund.

18. Subject to the payments above mentioned the Diocese of St. Arnaud shall have no claim upon any of the funds of the Diocese of Ballarat nor upon any monies which may hereafter be received by the Diocese of Ballarat from any devise bequest or gift of any property real or personal which between the coming into operation of this Act and the enthronement of the Bishop of St. Arnaud shall be devised bequeathed or given to the Diocese of Ballarat.

19. As soon as may be after the passing of this Act the Bishop of Ballarat shall with the advice of the persons beforementioned nominate a Clergyman as the first Bishop of the said Diocese of St. Arnaud and as soon as may be after such nomination shall take the necessary steps for giving effect thereto in accordance with the rules for the confirmation and consecration of Bishops made by the General Synod of the Diocese of Australia and Tasmania on the fifth day of October 1905 and adopted by this Synod on the seventh day of October 1909 or with such other rules for the like purpose as may hereafter be made by any such General Synod and be adopted by this Synod and shall as soon as may be after the arrival of such first Bishop within the said Diocese of St. Arnaud take order for his enthronement.

20. When a Bishop of St. Arnaud shall have been enthroned he shall be a Bishop within the meaning of the first section of the Act 18 Victoriae No. 45 commonly called the Church Constitution Act as amended by the first Section of the Act of the Parliament of Victoria 36 No.454 and shall have and may exercise within the limits of the said Diocese of St. Arnaud all the powers and authorities which a Bishop of the Anglican Church of Australia in Victoria may lawfully exercise and shall be for all purposes the successor of the Bishop of Ballarat in such Diocese.

21. All Acts of Synod which shall be in force in the said Diocese of Ballarat at the time of the enthronement of the first Bishop of St. Arnaud shall be binding upon the Bishop Clergy and Laity of the said Diocese of St. Arnaud so far as the same may be applicable to or be capable of being carried out within such Diocese until the same be revoked added to or altered by any Synod convened by the Bishop of the said Diocese of St Arnaud in accordance with the provisions of the Act known as the Church Constitution Act as amended as aforesaid or of any Act passed under the authority thereof.

22. On the enthronement of a Bishop of St. Arnaud he shall make and subscribe a declaration in the form set forth in Schedule D.

23. The Schedules hereto shall be read as and taken to be and form a portion of this Act.

PART D
CONSENT TO THE SURRENDER OF THE
DIOCESE OF ST. ARNAUD

24. This Diocese does hereby consent to the surrender by the Diocese of St. Arnaud of its property and territory to the Diocese of Bendigo.

SCHEDULE A

A line commencing on the River Loddon at its junction with the River Murray where it leaves Pental Island on the north and continued thence along the course of the Loddon to Middle Creek; thence by Middle Creek to the existing boundary; thence along the existing boundary to the north-east angle of the ecclesiastical parish of Ballan; thence by the east and south boundary of the ecclesiastical parish of Ballan to the south-west angle of that parish; thence by a straight line to the nearest part of the existing boundary; thence westerly by a straight line to the line of the Victorian Railway; thence by a straight line to the intersection of the existing boundary by the Yarrowee River; thence by the existing boundary to the sea.

SCHEDULE B

Carisbrook Creek, thence along the course of that Creek to Mount Sabine; thence to the source of the West Branch of the Barwon River.

SCHEDULE C

Commencing at the south-east corner of the Parish of Glengower thence along the south boundary of that Parish and the south boundaries of the Parishes of Eglinton and Amherst to the north-west corner of the Parish of Beckworth, thence along the east and south boundaries of the Parish of Caralulup to the Bet Bet Creek, thence up the Bet Bet Creek to the boundary of the County of Ripon, thence westerly along the boundary of the County of Ripon to the south boundary of County Kara Kara, thence westerly along the

south boundary of County Kara Kara to its south-western extremity, thence northerly along the south-western boundary of County Kara Kara to the southerly point of the Parish of Crowlands, thence north-easterly and northerly between the boundary of that Parish and the Parish of Eversley thence east along the north boundary of that Parish to the south-west corner of the Parish of Tchirree, thence north along the west boundary of that Parish to the Parish of Barkly, thence east along the south boundary of the Parish of Barkly to the Parish of Warrenmang, thence north along the west boundaries of the Parish and the Parish of Redbank to the Parish of Boola Boloke, thence west along the south boundaries of that Parish and the Parish of Winjallok to the east boundary of the Parish of Morl Morl, thence north by the west boundaries of the Parishes of Winjallok and Tottington to the Avon River near Gre Gre, thence along the Avon River to the south-east corner of the Parish of Rich Avon West in the County of Borung, thence along the south boundary of that Parish, thence north along the west boundaries of the same Parish and the Parishes of Laen Carron and Watchem to the south-east corner of the Parish of Wilkur, thence along the south and west boundaries of that Parish to the south boundary of the Parish of Ballapur, thence west along the north boundary of the County of Borung to the south-east corner of the Parish of Kerdgweecheein the County of Karkarooc, thence north along the east boundaries of that Parish and the Parish of Byanga to the south-east boundary of the Parish of Cutchu, thence west along the south boundary of that Parish to allotment 47, thence north along the road beginning between allotments 47 and 48 of the same Parish of Cutchu to the Parish of Chiprick, thence along the south and west boundaries of that Parish to the north-west corner of the Parish of Wilhelmina, thence west to the south-west corner of the Parish of Yallum, thence north to the north-east corner of the Parish of Ginap, thence in a line due west to the South Australian border, thence north along the south Australian border to the River Murray, thence up the River Murray to the River Loddon at its junction with the River Murray where it leaves Pental Island on the north and continued thence along the course of the River Loddon to Middle Creek, thence by Middle Creek to the east boundary of the Parish of Glengower, thence by that boundary to the commencing point.

SCHEDULE D

I A.B., do solemnly and sincerely declare my acceptance of the Act 18 Victoria No. 45 and the Act 36 Victoria No. 454 and that I will to the best of my ability give effect thereto and to the Acts passed in pursuance thereof until the same or any of them shall respectively be lawfully altered or varied.