{"id":"tas:act-1966-041","name":"Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts Agreement Act 1966","slug":"allport-library-and-museum-of-fine-arts-agreement-act-1966","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"tas","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"41 of 1966","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":110369,"registerId":"tas-act-1966-041-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Short title","content":"### 1 Short title\n\n> This Act may be cited as the [Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts Agreement Act 1966](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-1966-041) .","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Interpretation","content":"### 2 Interpretation\n\n> *\\[Section 2 Amended by S.R. 1977 No. 321, s. 3 and Sched. 2 \\]**\\[Section 2 Amended by No. 68 of 1994, s. 3 and Sched. 1 \\]*In this Act –\n> \n> > ***agreement*** means the agreement referred to in the preamble to this Act, a copy of which is set forth in the [Schedule](#JS1@EN) ;\n> \n> > ***Board*** means the Tasmanian Library Advisory Board constituted under the [Libraries Act 1984](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-1984-109) ;\n> \n> > ***trustees*** means the trustees of the will and codicil of *Henry Allport*, late of Hobart in this State, Solicitor, deceased;\n> \n> > ***will*** means the will referred to in the preamble to this Act.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Approval of agreement","content":"### 3 Approval of agreement\n\n> > (1)  The [agreement](#JS1@EN) is approved.\n> \n> > (2)  Notwithstanding any other law, such of the provisions of the agreement as authorize or require the doing of any act or thing by the trustees or the Board have effect as if they were expressly enacted in this Act.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Power to carry out the agreement","content":"### 4 Power to carry out the agreement\n\n> The trustees and the Board, respectively, may do all such acts and things as may be required or necessary for the carrying out of, and giving effect to, the agreement on the part of the trustees and the Board or for the exercise and performance of the powers, discretions, authorities, or duties conferred or imposed on them respectively by the agreement.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"5","sectionType":"section","heading":"Trustees and Board to give effect to the will as nearly as possible","content":"### 5 Trustees and Board to give effect to the will as nearly as possible\n\n> Subject to this Act and to the agreement, the trustees and the Board, respectively, shall give effect to the provisions of the will, so far as those provisions are applicable to the trustees and to the Board, as nearly as is practicable in order to effect the general purposes of those provisions.","sortOrder":4},{"sectionNumber":"6","sectionType":"section","heading":"Display out of Tasmania","content":"### 6 Display out of Tasmania\n\n> [*\\[Section 6 Inserted by No. 23 of 2000, s. 4, Applied:16 Jun 2000\\]*](/view/html/inforce/2000-06-16/act-2000-023#GS4@EN) Notwithstanding the agreement, the Board may display in, or lend to, any institution out of Tasmania any item or items in the collection on a temporary basis.","sortOrder":5},{"sectionNumber":"SCHEDULE 1","sectionType":"part","heading":"SCHEDULE 1","content":"# SCHEDULE 1 SCHEDULE 1\n\n[Section 2](#GS2@EN)\n\n[![graphic image](/image/SG0044A.gif)](/image/SG0044A.gif)\n\n[![graphic image](/image/SG0044B.gif)](/image/SG0044B.gif)\n\n[![graphic image](/image/SG0044C.gif)](/image/SG0044C.gif)\n\n[![graphic image](/image/SG0044D.gif)](/image/SG0044D.gif)","sortOrder":6}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Act originally approved and empowered implementation of the agreement and required trustees and the Board to give effect to the will (s3–s5). A later amendment inserted section 6 permitting the Board to display or lend items from the collection to institutions outside Tasmania on a temporary basis (s6). That amendment expanded the geographic and operational scope of authorised activity (temporary interstate or interstate/overseas loans/displays) without adding statutory funding, reporting or detailed loan conditions."},"complexity_factors":["Short, focused statute with limited provisions reducing structural complexity.","Definitions and a Schedule (s2, Schedule) require cross-referencing to understand the exact agreement text.","Clause elevating agreement provisions above other laws (s3(2)) raises legal interaction complexity.","Broad permissive powers and vaguely framed standards (\"all such acts and things\" (s4); \"as nearly as is practicable\" (s5)) create discretionary and interpretive complexity for implementers.","Amendment inserting out-of-state display/lending (s6) changes operational scope without prescribing conditions or funding, increasing practical implementation complexity."],"plain_english_summary":"What this law does (mechanically)\n\n- It formally approves an agreement between the trustees named in Henry Allport’s will and the Tasmanian Library Advisory Board (the “Board”) and treats that agreement as part of the statute (s3(1)–(2); Schedule).  A copy of the agreement is set out in the Schedule (s2).\n- It gives the trustees and the Board explicit power to take any acts necessary to implement the agreement and to exercise the powers and duties the agreement gives them (s4).\n- It requires the trustees and the Board to give effect to the will’s provisions so far as they apply to each of them, “as nearly as is practicable” (s5).\n- It authorises the Board to display or lend items from the collection to institutions outside Tasmania on a temporary basis, notwithstanding anything in the agreement (s6).\n\nWho is affected and who decides\n\n- The principal parties affected are the named trustees of Henry Allport’s will and the Tasmanian Library Advisory Board (definitions in s2).\n- The Board and the trustees make the operational decisions required by the agreement and by the will (s4, s5). The Act gives them broad discretion to undertake whatever acts are necessary to carry the agreement into effect (s4).\n- Institutions outside Tasmania become potential borrowers or hosts for temporary displays because of s6.\n\nWhy it matters (stated purpose and tested effects)\n\n- The Act’s text operates to convert the agreement into body law and to empower the parties to implement both the agreement and, so far as practicable, the will. That is the stated legal purpose in the Act (s3, s4, s5).\n\nCosts, incentives, trade-offs, and implementation considerations\n\n- Funding and who pays: the Act does not appropriate money or specify funding arrangements. Any costs of conserving, transporting, lending, or insuring items will fall on the trustees or the Board, or will need to be met from existing Board or government appropriations outside this Act (no funding clause in the text).\n\n- Administrative burden and compliance: the trustees and the Board must carry out the agreement and give effect to the will so far as practicable (s4–s5). That imposes an operational duty on those parties to manage the collection, which can include cataloguing, conservation, security, and arranging loans or displays.\n\n- Discretion and risk: the Act uses broad, permissive language—\"may do all such acts and things\" (s4) and \"as nearly as is practicable\" (s5)—giving the trustees and the Board significant discretion about how to implement the agreement and the will. That discretion transfers judgment about practical measures, costs and risks to those bodies, with no statutory detail about standards or reporting.\n\n- Interaction with other laws and contract freedom: the Act declares that provisions of the agreement that require or authorise acts by the trustees or the Board have effect \"notwithstanding any other law\" and \"as if they were expressly enacted in this Act\" (s3(2)). That means the agreement’s operational provisions are elevated above conflicting laws to the extent of any inconsistency, which narrows the scope for other statutory constraints to override those agreement provisions.\n\n- Effect on third-party institutions and private sector actors: by allowing temporary external displays and loans (s6), the Act creates opportunities for galleries, museums and other institutions outside Tasmania to host items from the collection. The Act does not prescribe fees, commercial terms, insurance or conservation standards for loans; those terms would be determined by the parties in practice. This change can increase demand for exhibition services and create commercial opportunities, but also imposes logistics and risk-management duties on the Board.\n\n- Opportunity costs and conservation trade-offs: permitting temporary display or loan outside Tasmania (s6) can increase public access and institutional collaboration, but also creates risks and costs (transport, insurance, conservation) that the Act does not allocate or quantify. Those costs are therefore a practical consideration for the Board or trustees when exercising their powers.\n\nImplementation risk and monitoring\n\n- The Act contains no detailed enforcement, reporting or funding mechanisms. Implementation depends on the trustees and the Board exercising their powers responsibly and on any external agreements they enter into to manage loans, displays and conservation.\n\nConcise summary of who pays, who decides, and what changes in behaviour\n\n- Who pays: not specified in the Act; costs will fall to the trustees and/or the Board or require separate government funding.\n- Who decides: the trustees and the Tasmanian Library Advisory Board decide operational matters required to carry out the agreement and to give effect to the will (s2, s4, s5).\n- Behavioural change authorised: the Board may lend or temporarily display collection items outside Tasmania (s6); the trustees and Board are authorised and obliged to carry out the agreement and to give effect to the will as far as practicable (s3–s5)."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The original 1966 Act appears to have strictly bound the parties to the agreement's terms, which likely restricted the collection to Tasmania given that section 6 was needed in 2000 to explicitly override the agreement for interstate loans. The 2000 amendment represents a modest expansion of scope — from strict territorial confinement to permitted temporary loans — reflecting changing museum practices while maintaining the core purpose of preserving Allport's collection."},"complexity_factors":["Only 4 defined terms in the interpretation section","No cross-references to other Acts except the Libraries Act 1984 (for Board definition)","Straightforward operative provisions with minimal conditional language","Single amendment of substance (section 6 in 2000) adding a simple exception to the agreement","Schedule contains images of the agreement rather than text, making the actual legal content inaccessible in this version","No nested exceptions or complex temporal provisions"],"plain_english_summary":"This Tasmanian law gives legal force to a 1966 agreement about a valuable art collection left to the state by Henry Allport, a Hobart solicitor who died in the 1960s.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Approves and enforces a specific agreement** between Allport's estate trustees and the Tasmanian government (represented by the Library Board) about how his collection of books, art, and antiques would be managed\n- **Gives the agreement the force of law** — even if other laws might normally prevent certain actions, the parties can do what the agreement says\n- **Requires the trustees and Library Board to follow Henry Allport's will** as closely as practical when managing the collection\n- **Allows loans outside Tasmania** — added in 2000, this lets the Library Board temporarily display or lend items to institutions outside the state (the original agreement apparently restricted this)\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- The **trustees** of Henry Allport's estate (who initially managed the bequest)\n- The **Tasmanian Library Advisory Board** (now responsible for the collection)\n- The **public** — who get access to this cultural collection under the terms Allport specified\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis is a classic example of a \"private Act\" — legislation created to give legal effect to a specific deal or arrangement that doesn't fit neatly into general law. Without this Act, the unique conditions Allport attached to his gift (about how his collection should be housed, displayed, and preserved) might not be legally enforceable against future governments. The 2000 amendment shows how these arrangements evolve: the original agreement apparently kept the collection strictly in Tasmania, but modern museum practice requires lending for exhibitions, so Parliament added flexibility."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act appears to have remained true to its original intent — formalising a specific agreement about the Allport collection. No evidence of scope creep or expansion beyond that singular purpose over its 60-year history."},"complexity_factors":["Very narrow and specific subject matter — limited to a single agreement","Short, self-contained Act with minimal operative provisions visible in the text","No complex regulatory machinery, penalties, or administrative structures apparent","Historical legislation that has remained largely unchanged since 1966","Limited stakeholders affected"],"plain_english_summary":"## Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts Agreement Act 1966\n\nThis Tasmanian law gives legal force to an agreement between the Tasmanian Government and the Allport family regarding the **Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts** — a significant collection of rare books, artworks, antiques, and historical artefacts held in Hobart.\n\n### What does it do?\nThe Act formally ratifies (officially approves and makes binding) an agreement about how the Allport collection — donated to the public by the Allport family — would be managed, maintained, and made accessible. It essentially locks in the legal relationship between the State and the collection.\n\n### Who does it affect?\n- **The general public**, who benefit from access to this cultural and historical collection\n- **The Tasmanian Government and the relevant public institution** (the State Library of Tasmania) responsible for managing the collection\n- **Descendants or representatives of the Allport family**, who may have rights or interests under the original agreement\n\n### Why does it matter?\nWithout this Act, the agreement governing the collection would just be a private contract — this legislation gives it the weight of law, meaning the obligations to preserve and provide access to the collection are legally enforceable. It protects the collection's integrity and ensures it remains a public cultural asset for Tasmanians.\n\n### Key points\n- Has been in force since 1966 with no significant amendments noted\n- Narrow and specific in scope — it does one job and does it simply\n- Reflects a common practice of governments formalising major cultural donations through legislation"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/allport-library-and-museum-of-fine-arts-agreement-act-1966","history":"/api/acts/allport-library-and-museum-of-fine-arts-agreement-act-1966/history","analysis":"/api/acts/allport-library-and-museum-of-fine-arts-agreement-act-1966/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/allport-library-and-museum-of-fine-arts-agreement-act-1966/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/allport-library-and-museum-of-fine-arts-agreement-act-1966/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/allport-library-and-museum-of-fine-arts-agreement-act-1966/documents"}}