{"id":"alteration-of-statutory-designations-act-1974","name":"Alteration of Statutory Designations Act 1974","slug":"alteration-of-statutory-designations-act-1974","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":29952,"registerId":"wa-alteration-of-statutory-designations-act-1974-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Alteration of Statutory Designations Act 1974","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nAlteration of Statutory Designations Act 1974\n\n- **Reprinted under the *Reprints Act 1984* as**\n- **at 6 February 2015**\n\n\nWestern Australia\n\nAlteration of Statutory Designations Act 1974\n\nContents\n\nPart I — General\n\n1. Citation 2\n\n2. Commencement 2\n\n2A. Terms used 2\n\n3. Change of reference 2\n\n4. Variation or revocation of Orders 3\n\n4A. Effect of revocation of Order 4\n\n4B. Governor may rectify omissions 4\n\n5. Saving of prerogative powers 4\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 5\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\n- Crest **Reprinted under the *Reprints Act 1984* as**\n- **at 6 February 2015**\n\n\nWestern Australia\n\nAlteration of Statutory Designations Act 1974\n\nAn Act to facilitate the alteration of the style and title of Ministers of the Crown, offices and departments, and for purposes incidental thereto.\n\n[Long title amended: No. 62 of 1981 s. 2.]\n\n## Part I — General\n\n##### 1. Citation\n\nThis Act may be cited as the *Alteration of Statutory Designations Act 1974* 1.\n\n[Section 1 amended: No. 62 of 1981 s. 3.]\n\n##### 2. Commencement\n\nThis Act, or any Part thereof, shall come into operation on such date as is fixed by proclamation in relation thereto 1.\n\n##### 2A. Terms used\n\nIn this Act, unless the contrary intention appears —\n\n  department means any department or part of a department of the Government;\n\n  Minister means a principal executive office of the Government under the *Constitution Acts Amendment Act 1899*;\n\n  office includes any office in a department;\n\n  reference includes a reference otherwise than by designation, style or title.\n\n[Section 2A inserted: No. 62 of 1981 s. 4.]\n\n##### 3. Change of reference\n\n(1) Whenever —\n\n(a) the Governor —\n\n(i) designates and declares a principal executive office of the Government for the purposes of the *Constitution Acts Amendment Act 1899* and thereby changes the designation of a Minister;\n\n(ii) establishes, amalgamates, divides, or abolishes a department or alters the designation of any department;\n\nor\n\n(b) an office has been abolished (whether by reason of the abolition of a department or otherwise) or the designation of an office has been altered,\n\nthe Governor may, by Order in Council, direct that a reference to —\n\n(c) a Minister;\n\n(d) an office;\n\n(e) a department,\n\nas the case may be, contained in —\n\n(f) any law; or\n\n(g) any instrument, contract, or legal proceedings made or commenced before the coming into operation of the Order,\n\nby a reference specified in the Order shall be read and construed as a reference to a Minister, office, or department by the reference specified in that Order, and effect shall be given to any such direction.\n\n(2) An Order under this section shall not affect the validity of anything done by or in relation to any Minister of the Crown, office, or department before the coming into operation of the Order.\n\n(3) An Order under this section shall come into operation on the date on which it is published in the *Government Gazette*, or on such later date as may be specified in the Order.\n\n[Section 3 amended: No. 62 of 1981 s. 5.]\n\n##### 4. Variation or revocation of Orders\n\nAn Order in Council made pursuant to this Act may be varied or revoked by a subsequent Order in Council made thereunder.\n\n##### 4A. Effect of revocation of Order\n\nNotwithstanding anything in the *Interpretation Act 1918* 2, an Order in Council under section 4 that revokes an Order in Council made pursuant to section 3 shall, unless the Order in Council made under section 4 otherwise directs, effect a revival of the reference altered by the Order in Council made pursuant to section 3.\n\n[Section 4A inserted: No. 62 of 1981 s. 6.]\n\n##### 4B. Governor may rectify omissions\n\nWhere through an accidental omission to alter a reference to a Minister, an office in a department, or a department anything done or required to be done by or under a law is done by or in relation to a Minister, office, or a department by a reference other than the reference then currently applicable in relation to that Minister, office, or department, the Governor may by Order in Council take such measures as are necessary for removing any doubt arising from the omission and may validate anything which has been done by or in relation to a Minister, office, or department otherwise than by reference to the reference then currently applicable to that Minister, office, or department.\n\n[Section 4B inserted: No. 62 of 1981 s. 6.]\n\n##### 5. Saving of prerogative powers\n\nNothing in this Act shall prejudice any power exercisable by virtue of the prerogative of the Crown in relation to functions of Ministers of the Crown.\n\n[Part II, III, IV deleted: No. 62 of 1981 s. 7.]\n\n[Part V deleted: No. 111 of 1979 s. 3.]\n\n[Part VI, VII deleted: No. 62 of 1981 s. 7.]\n\n![dline]()\n\nNotes\n\n1 This reprint is a compilation as at 6 February 2015 of the *Alteration of Statutory Designations Act 1974* and includes the amendments made by the other written laws referred to in the following table. The table also contains information about any reprint.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Short title** | **Number and year** | **Assent** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *Ministers of the Crown (Statutory Designations) and Acts Amendment Act 1974* 3 | 27 of 1974 | 29 Oct 1974 | 1 Dec 1974 (see s. 2 and *Gazette* 6 Dec 1974 p. 5204) |\n| *State Energy Commission Act 1979* s. 3(2) | 111 of 1979 | 21 Dec 1979 | 1 Feb 1980 (see s. 2 and *Gazette* 1 Feb 1980 p. 284) |\n| *Ministers of the Crown (Statutory Designations) Amendment Act 1981* | 62 of 1981 | 13 Oct 1981 | 13 Oct 1981 |\n| **Reprint of the *Alteration of Statutory Designations Act 1974* as at 24 Nov 2000** (includes amendments listed above) | | | |\n| **Reprint 2: The *Alteration of Statutory Designations Act 1974* as at 6 Feb 2015** (includes amendments listed above) | | | |\n\n\n2 Repealed by the *Interpretation Act 1984*.\n\n3 Now known as the *Alteration of Statutory Designations Act 1974*; short title changed (see note under s. 1).\n\nDefined terms\n\n*[This is a list of terms defined and the provisions where they are defined. The list is not part of the law.]*\n\n**Defined term Provision(s)**\n\ndepartment 2A\n\nMinister 2A\n\noffice 2A\n\nreference 2A\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Act’s substantive scope has been narrowed since enactment: multiple Parts (II–IV, V, VI–VII) were deleted by later amendments (see notes: 'Part II, III, IV deleted: No. 62 of 1981 s. 7', 'Part V deleted: No. 111 of 1979 s. 3', 'Part VI, VII deleted: No. 62 of 1981 s. 7'). The current text confines the law to procedural mechanisms for substituting and validating references to Ministers, offices and departments and to preserving Crown prerogative."},"complexity_factors":["Broad substitution power applying to 'any law' and to 'any instrument, contract, or legal proceedings' (s 3(1)(f)–(g)) increases reach despite short text.","Governor’s discretion to make Orders in Council that alter references (s 3(1)) concentrates decision-making power in the executive.","Orders take effect on Gazette publication or later date (s 3(3))—administrative timing affects legal certainty and transitional issues.","Provision for validating or rectifying accidental omissions by Order in Council (s 4B) creates retrospective validation powers with implementation risk.","Revocation rule that can revive prior references (s 4A) creates unusual interaction with general interpretation rules and requires care when changing orders.","Definitions that determine scope (department, Minister, office, reference) are compact but central to application (s 2A).","Saving of prerogative powers (s 5) adds a constitutional layering that can affect how disputes about scope are resolved."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act lets the Governor, by Order in Council, substitute new names or designations for Ministers, offices and departments across laws, instruments, contracts and ongoing court proceedings when those entities are renamed, created, merged or abolished. Orders take effect on publication in the Government Gazette and do not invalidate earlier acts.\n\nIt affects government agencies and any private parties tied to affected laws or contracts: those parties must treat substituted references as the correct legal reference. The Governor may also correct accidental omissions and the Act preserves Crown prerogative."},"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"},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Insufficient information is available to assess whether the scope of this Act changed from its original intent. The legislative text is inaccessible due to a website migration by the Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office."},"complexity_factors":["The legislation cannot be assessed on its merits as the full text is unavailable","Acts of this type (statutory renaming/designation changes) are typically straightforward administrative instruments","No substantive legal content is accessible for analysis","The 1974 vintage may mean it has been superseded, repealed, or absorbed into other legislation"],"plain_english_summary":"This appears to be a 1974 Western Australian housekeeping law that changes official titles used in other statutes — renaming government bodies, offices, or positions without altering their functions. It affects any statutes that used the old designations and anyone relying on correct legal names.\n\nThe Act’s text is currently unavailable from the cited source; check the Western Australian Legislation website to view the authoritative version."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The original 1974 Act appears to have been more substantial, containing Parts II through VII which were subsequently deleted (Part V in 1979; Parts II, III, IV, VI, VII in 1981). The current Act is essentially a stripped-down 'mechanical updating' statute, reduced to its core function of facilitating name changes. The scope has narrowed significantly from its original form, though its central purpose—altering statutory designations—remains intact."},"complexity_factors":["Only 4 defined terms in section 2A","Single operative mechanism (Orders in Council under section 3) with straightforward subsections","No nested exceptions or complex conditional logic—sections 4, 4A, 4B operate as standalone provisions","Minimal cross-referencing (only to Constitution Acts Amendment Act 1899 and Interpretation Act 1918)","Deleted Parts II-VII (per compilation table) leave only Part I, making the current Act extremely short","Plain procedural structure: definitions → main power → variation → revocation effects → rectification → savings"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis is a short, practical law that solves a paperwork headache for the Western Australian Government. When the government reorganises itself—changing a Minister's title, renaming a department, merging offices, or abolishing positions—this Act allows those changes to automatically flow through to all existing laws, contracts, and legal documents without needing to amend each one individually.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n- **The Governor** (acting on ministerial advice): Can issue Orders in Council to update references across the statute book.\n- **Government departments and Ministers**: Their titles and designations can be changed efficiently.\n- **Anyone dealing with government**: Businesses, individuals, and lawyers don't need to worry that a contract or law referring to an old department name becomes invalid just because the government rebranded.\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nWithout this law, every time a Premier reshuffled the Cabinet and renamed a Minister or department, Parliament would need to pass dozens of amendment bills to update every reference in every Act and regulation. This Act provides a **\"mechanical updating\"** mechanism—like find-and-replace for legislation—saving massive administrative burden while ensuring legal continuity.\n\n**Key features:**\n\n- **Section 3**: The core power—allows the Governor to direct that old references (e.g., \"Minister for Works\") be read as new references (e.g., \"Minister for Transport\") in all laws and legal documents.\n- **Section 4A**: Special rule—if an Order is revoked, the old reference springs back to life (revival), unless the Order says otherwise.\n- **Section 4B**: Fix-it power—if someone accidentally uses an old title, the Governor can validate it after the fact.\n- **Section 5**: Preserves the Crown's traditional (prerogative) powers—this Act doesn't limit the Governor's other constitutional authority."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/alteration-of-statutory-designations-act-1974","history":"/api/acts/alteration-of-statutory-designations-act-1974/history","analysis":"/api/acts/alteration-of-statutory-designations-act-1974/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/alteration-of-statutory-designations-act-1974/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/alteration-of-statutory-designations-act-1974/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/alteration-of-statutory-designations-act-1974/documents"}}