{"id":"adelaide-railway-station-development-act-1984","name":"Adelaide Railway Station Development Act 1984","slug":"adelaide-railway-station-development-act-1984","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"sa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":31434,"registerId":"sa-adelaide-railway-station-development-act-1984-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Adelaide Railway Station Development Act 1984","content":"South Australia\nAdelaide Railway Station Development Act 1984\nAn Act to facilitate the development of the site of the Adelaide Railway Station by the construction of a hotel of international standard, an office tower and other improvements; and for other purposes.\n\nContents\n1\tShort title\n3\tInterpretation\n4\tVesting of land\n5\tThe development\n6\tExemption from certain Acts\n7\tAccess to development site\n8\tPromulgation of development plan by regulation\nSchedule\nLegislative history\n\nThe Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows:\n1—Short title\nThis Act may be cited as the Adelaide Railway Station Development Act 1984.\n3—Interpretation\nIn this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—\nthe contracting parties means—\n\t(a)\tthe State; and\n\t(b)\tSouth Australian Superannuation Fund Investment Trust; and\n\t(c)\tKumagai Gumi Co. Ltd.; and\n\t(d)\tAser Property Trust;\nthe development plan means a plan promulgated by regulation for development of the development site;\nthe development site means the land comprised in Section 766 Hundred of Adelaide and the land marked \"V\" in the Schedule;\nthe Minister means the Minister of Public Works;\nthe proposed development means the development of the development site in accordance with the development plan.\n4—Vesting of land\n\t(1)\tAn estate in fee simple in the land comprised in Section 766 Hundred of Adelaide is vested in the State Transport Authority.\n\t(2)\tAn estate in fee simple in the land marked \"T\" in the plan deposited in the General Registry Office at Adelaide and numbered No. 112 of 1984 is vested in the Corporation of the City of Adelaide.\n\t(3)\tAny estate or interest in the land comprised in Section 766 Hundred of Adelaide or in the land marked \"T\" in the plan deposited in the General Registry Office at Adelaide and numbered No. 112 of 1984 that existed immediately before the commencement of this section is extinguished.\n\t(4)\tThe Registrar-General, on the application of a body in which land is vested under this section, shall, without payment of a fee, issue a certificate of title under the provisions of the Real Property Act 1886 in respect of that land.\n\t(5)\tThe Registrar-General shall make all consequential amendments to the Register Book that become necessary by reason of the issue of a Certificate of Title pursuant to subsection (4).\n\t(6)\tNo duty is payable pursuant to the Stamp Duties Act 1923 in respect of an application referred to in subsection (4).\n5—The development\n\t(1)\tIt shall be lawful to develop the development site in accordance with the development plan.\n\t(2)\tNo consent, approval or other authorisation is required under the City of Adelaide Development Control Act 1976 in respect of the proposed development.\n\t(3)\tTo facilitate the proposed development, the Minister may grant such exemptions from the Building Act 1970 as he thinks fit.\n\t(4)\tAn exemption granted pursuant to subsection (3) shall be subject to such conditions as the Minister determines and an exemption, or a condition to which an exemption is subject, may be varied or revoked by the Minister at any time.\n\t(5)\tWithin six sitting days after the Minister grants or varies an exemption referred to in subsection (3) or varies a condition to which such an exemption is subject, he shall cause to be laid before each House of Parliament a written statement of—\n\t(a)\tthe nature and extent of the exemption;\n\t(b)\tthe person for whose benefit the exemption will operate;\n\t(c)\tthe conditions (if any) to which the exemption is subject;\n\t(d)\this reasons for granting or varying the exemption or the condition.\n\t(6)\tA person who contravenes or fails to comply with a condition attached to an exemption granted pursuant to subsection (3) is guilty of an offence.\nPenalty: Fifty thousand dollars.\n\t(7)\tWhere a person contravenes or fails to comply with a condition attached to an exemption granted pursuant to subsection (3), the Minister may, by notice in writing, require him to desist from the contravention or remedy the default and if he fails to comply with the notice he shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a penalty not exceeding five thousand dollars for every day for which that failure continues.\n\t(8)\tThe exemption conferred by subsection (2) shall expire on the thirtieth day of June, 1991, and an exemption granted pursuant to subsection (3) shall expire on or before that date.\n6—Exemption from certain Acts\n\t(1)\tAn agreement between the State and any one or more of the contracting parties relating to the proposed development may confer an exemption from any rate, tax, duty or other impost under—\n\t(a)\tthe Waterworks Act 1932; or\n\t(b)\tthe Sewerage Act 1929; or\n\t(c)\tthe Local Government Act 1934; or\n\t(d)\tthe Land Tax Act 1936; or\n\t(e)\tthe Stamp Duties Act 1923.\n\t(2)\tAn exemption under subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c) shall expire before the first day of July, 1991, or such other date as may be agreed between the State and the other parties concerned.\n\t(3)\tAn exemption under subsection (1)(d) shall expire before the first day of July, 1996, or such other date as may be agreed between the State and the other parties concerned.\n\t(4)\tAn exemption under subsection (1)(e) shall relate only to documents executed before the first day of July, 1991, or such other date as may be agreed between the State and the other parties concerned.\n7—Access to development site\n\t(1)\tIn order to facilitate the proposed development, the Minister may, subject to this section, by notice published in the Gazette—\n\t(a)\tconfer upon any person access to the development site over specified municipal land; and\n\t(b)\tconfer upon any person exclusive rights of occupation in respect of specified municipal land that is immediately adjacent to the development site.\n\t(2)\tIn subsection (1)—\nmunicipal land means land that—\n\t(a)\tis vested in the Corporation of the City of Adelaide; or\n\t(b)\tis under the care, control or management of the Corporation.\n\t(3)\tThe Minister shall not publish a notice pursuant to subsection (1) without first conferring with the Corporation of the City of Adelaide as to the rights to be conferred by the proposed notice.\n\t(4)\tAny rights of access or occupation conferred pursuant to this section shall cease to operate after the completion of the proposed development.\n8—Promulgation of development plan by regulation\n\t(1)\tThe Governor may, by regulation—\n\t(a)\tpromulgate a plan for development of the development site; or\n\t(b)\tamend a plan so promulgated.\n\t(2)\tAt least thirty days before a plan is promulgated as the development plan, or before the development plan is amended, the Minister responsible for planning shall invite representations in relation to the proposed plan or amendment from the Corporation of the City of Adelaide and the City of Adelaide Planning Commission and he shall have regard to any representations made in response to that invitation.\nSchedule\t\n\nLegislative history\nNotes\n\t•\tFor further information relating to the Act and subordinate legislation made under the Act see the Index of South Australian Statutes or www.legislation.sa.gov.au.\nPrincipal Act\nYear\nNo\nTitle\nAssent\nCommencement\n1984\n31\nAdelaide Railway Station Development Act 1984\n10.5.1984\n26.7.1984 (Gazette 26.7.1984 p332)\nProvisions amended\nNew entries appear in bold.\nEntries that relate to provisions that have been deleted appear in italics.\nProvision\nHow varied\nCommencement\ns 2\nomitted under Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002\n\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as no legislative content was provided. The submission contained only a website error page from the SA legislation website, not the text of the Adelaide Railway Station Development Act 1984."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative content was retrievable — the source URL returned a 404 Page Not Found error","Complexity cannot be meaningfully assessed without access to the actual text of the Act","Score of 1 reflects absence of content, not simplicity of the underlying law"],"plain_english_summary":"**Sorry — the actual legislation couldn't be retrieved.**\n\nThe link provided returned a **\"Page Not Found\"** error from the South Australian legislation website, meaning the full text of the *Adelaide Railway Station Development Act 1984* (SA) was not accessible. No analysis of the Act's content, provisions, or effects can be made from this material.\n\n**What we do know from the title alone:**\n- This is a **South Australian** law from **1984**\n- It almost certainly relates to the development, redevelopment, or governance of the **Adelaide Railway Station** precinct\n- Laws of this type typically deal with things like land use, construction approvals, management responsibilities, or special powers granted to carry out a specific infrastructure project\n\n**What you should do:**\n- Visit [www.legislation.sa.gov.au](https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au) directly and search for the Act by name\n- Update any bookmarks created before 24 March 2026, as the SA legislation website recently changed its URL structure\n- Contact the SA Office of Parliamentary Counsel at OPCWeb@sa.gov.au if you cannot locate the Act"},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act remains tightly focused on its original purpose: facilitating the specific Adelaide Railway Station development in the 1980s. The scope has not expanded beyond the original hotel and office tower project. The sunset clauses (expiring 1991/1996) and specific named parties indicate this was always intended as a time-limited, project-specific statute."},"complexity_factors":["Short statute with only 8 operative sections plus a schedule","Only 5 defined terms in the interpretation section","Minimal cross-referencing — primarily internal references to subsections","Straightforward conditional logic with clear sunset clauses (expiry dates of 30 June 1991 and 1996)","Simple vesting mechanism with standard land registration provisions","No nested exceptions or complex definitional chains","Legislative history table included but this is standard metadata rather than substantive complexity"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis Act was created to allow a major redevelopment of the Adelaide Railway Station site in the 1980s. Specifically, it enabled the construction of a high-end international hotel, an office tower, and other buildings on that land.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n* **The developers:** A consortium including the South Australian government, the South Australian Superannuation Fund Investment Trust, Kumagai Gumi Co. Ltd. (a Japanese construction company), and Aser Property Trust.\n* **The State Transport Authority:** Which received ownership of part of the railway station land.\n* **The City of Adelaide:** Which received ownership of another parcel of land marked \"T\".\n* **The general public:** Indirectly, through changes to planning rules and potential access to the site.\n\n**Key things the law does:**\n\n* **Transfers land ownership:** It vests (gives legal ownership of) specific parcels of land in the State Transport Authority and the City of Adelaide, wiping out any previous ownership claims.\n* **Bypasses normal planning rules:** The development doesn't need approval under the usual City of Adelaide planning laws. The Minister for Public Works can also grant exemptions from the Building Act.\n* **Offers tax breaks:** Agreements with the developers can exempt them from various taxes and charges, including water rates, sewerage rates, council rates, land tax, and stamp duty — though most of these exemptions had expiry dates (mostly by 1991, with land tax extended to 1996).\n* **Allows temporary access:** The Minister can give developers access across public land and temporary exclusive occupation rights next to the site.\n* **Sets up a development plan:** The Governor can approve a detailed development plan by regulation, after consulting the City of Adelaide and the Planning Commission.\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nThis is a classic example of \"site-specific\" legislation — a law written for one particular project. It shows how governments can use special laws to fast-track major developments by overriding normal planning processes, transferring public land, and offering tax incentives. The Act had built-in expiry dates for most of its special exemptions, suggesting it was intended as temporary facilitation rather than permanent law."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The current text chiefly implements a narrowly focused project‑specific regime for the Adelaide Railway Station site: vesting titles, permitting a regulated development plan, and enabling temporary planning and fiscal exemptions for named parties. The only recorded amendment noted is the omission of section 2 under a general legislation revision process (Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002), which appears editorial and does not materially expand or alter the Act's original project‑specific scope."},"complexity_factors":["Short Act (8 substantive sections plus Schedule)","4 defined terms in interpretation (including a multi‑party definition of 'contracting parties') (s3)","Several cross‑references to other Acts (City of Adelaide Development Control Act 1976; Building Act 1970; Waterworks Act 1932; Sewerage Act 1929; Local Government Act 1934; Land Tax Act 1936; Stamp Duties Act 1923)","Ministerial discretion to grant/vary/revoke exemptions with conditions (s5(3)–(4))","Time‑limited exemptions with multiple expiry dates and the possibility to agree different dates (s5(8); s6(2)–(4))","Ministerial reporting obligation within six sitting days (s5(5))","Extinguishment of prior interests and title reissue without fee (s4(3)–(6))","Penalties including a lump sum and daily fines for breaches of exemption conditions (s5(6)–(7))"],"plain_english_summary":"The Act vests and clears title to Adelaide Railway Station land, extinguishing prior private interests, and authorises a specific redevelopment to proceed without normal City of Adelaide planning approvals. It gives the Minister broad powers to grant time‑limited building exemptions (with offences and parliamentary reporting) and allows fiscal concessions to specified contracting parties, plus temporary access to municipal land. Affects the named developer/state parties, the City, prior landholders and public revenues; it matters because it centralises decision‑making and concentrates regulatory and fiscal benefits for an identified project."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/adelaide-railway-station-development-act-1984","history":"/api/acts/adelaide-railway-station-development-act-1984/history","analysis":"/api/acts/adelaide-railway-station-development-act-1984/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/adelaide-railway-station-development-act-1984/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/adelaide-railway-station-development-act-1984/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/adelaide-railway-station-development-act-1984/documents"}}