{"id":"nsw:act-1953-029","name":"Commonwealth Bank (Interpretation) Act 1953","slug":"commonwealth-bank-interpretation-act-1953","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"nsw","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"29 of 1953","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":111286,"registerId":"nsw-act-1953-029-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Name of Act and commencement","content":"#### 1 Name of Act and commencement\n\n1 Name of Act and commencement\n\n> > (1) This Act may be cited as the [Commonwealth Bank (Interpretation) Act 1953](/view/html/inforce/current/act-1953-029).\n> \n> > (2) This Act shall be deemed to have commenced upon the third day of December, one thousand nine hundred and fifty-three.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"References to Commonwealth Bank of Australia","content":"#### 2 References to Commonwealth Bank of Australia\n\n2 References to Commonwealth Bank of Australia\n\n> > (1) As on and from the commencement of this Act a reference in the Moratorium Act 1932–1950 to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia shall be read and construed as including a reference to the Commonwealth Trading Bank of Australia, the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Commonwealth Development Bank of Australia.\n> \n> > (2)\n> > \n> > > (a) In this subsection:\n> > > \n> > > Act means any Act (other than the Anzac Memorial (Building) Act 1923–1934, the [Coal Industry Act 1946](/view/html/inforce/current/act-1946-044), the [Commonwealth and State Banks Agreements Ratification Act 1931](/view/pdf/asmade/act-1931-62), the [Commonwealth and State Banks Agreement Ratification Act 1935](/view/pdf/asmade/act-1935-28), the [Commonwealth and State Bank Agreement Ratification Act 1937](/view/pdf/asmade/act-1937-41), the [Government Savings Bank (Amendment) Act 1931](/view/pdf/asmade/act-1931-14) and the Moratorium Act 1932–1950) passed before the commencement of this Act.\n> > > \n> > > Regulation means any regulation, rule, by-law, ordinance or other like instrument made under any Act before the commencement of this Act.\n> > \n> > > (b) As on and from the commencement of this Act a reference in any Act or regulation to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia or to the Commonwealth Bank shall, subject to paragraph (c) of this subsection, be read and construed as a reference to the Commonwealth Trading Bank of Australia.\n> > \n> > > (c) The Governor may, by order, published in the Gazette, declare that, as on and from a day to be specified in the order, the provisions of paragraph (b) of this subsection shall not apply to any Act or regulation specified in the order or, as the case may be, to such provisions of any Act or regulation as may be so specified.\n> > > \n> > > The day so specified may be earlier than the date on which the order is made or published in the Gazette.\n> > > \n> > > Any order under this paragraph shall have effect according to its tenor.\n> \n> > (3) (Repealed)\n> \n> **s 2:** Am 1959 No 32, sec 2 (1); 1965 No 8, sec 3 (1) (a).","sortOrder":1}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"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"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Act changes how references to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in pre-existing legislation and subordinate instruments are to be read: instead of referring only to the historical Commonwealth Bank, those references are to be read as referring to specified successor banks, subject to listed exclusions and Governor-issued orders that can exempt or backdate the substitution (s 1(2), s 2)."},"complexity_factors":["Retrospective deemed commencement (s 1(2)) requires reading pre-existing instruments against the new construction.","Broad substitution rule across Acts and regulations: multiple statutes and subordinate instruments are affected (s 2(1)–(2)(b)).","Governor’s discretionary power to exempt particular Acts/regulations and to backdate those exemptions creates administrative and legal uncertainty until orders are published (s 2(2)(c)).","An explicit list of excluded Acts narrows scope but requires cross-checking (s 2(2)(a)).","Wide definition of “regulation” in the text captures varied subordinate instruments, raising potential ambiguity about peripheral instruments (s 2(2)(a)).","A repealed subsection (s 2(3) repealed) indicates some historical amendment history that may affect interpretive clarity."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act makes existing references to the “Commonwealth Bank of Australia” in earlier laws read as references to three successor institutions: the Commonwealth Trading Bank of Australia, the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Commonwealth Development Bank of Australia, and is deemed to have commenced on 3 December 1953 (s 1(2), s 2(1)). It also lets the Governor, by Gazette order, exclude particular Acts or regulations (or parts) from that substitution and to specify an earlier operative date, so officials, courts and private parties must treat old statutory references as pointing to those successor banks unless an order says otherwise (s 2(2)(b)–(c))."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"There is no evidence of scope change. The Act appears to have remained in its original narrow form — a definitional/interpretation law relating to references to the Commonwealth Bank in other NSW legislation — unchanged since at least 1967. No amendments or expansions of purpose are evident from the available information."},"complexity_factors":["The legislation itself is narrow and definitional in nature — interpretation/bridge laws are typically straightforward","Very limited substantive content is visible in the provided text; the actual operative provisions are not displayed","Its historical age (1953, last amended 1967) means cross-referencing with contemporary law adds minor complexity","The jurisdictional oddity of a NSW state law interpreting a Commonwealth (federal) entity adds a layer of conceptual interest but not practical complexity"],"plain_english_summary":"A short, technical 1953 NSW Act that clarified which legal entity was meant by references to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in other state laws. It functioned as a definitional “bridge” for statutory drafting.\n\nPractically obsolete today—the Bank was privatised and the Act hasn’t been updated or repealed—so it affects almost no one now and is mainly of interest to legal historians."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose of updating statutory references following the reorganisation of the Commonwealth Bank. It has not expanded beyond this interpretative housekeeping function."},"complexity_factors":["Very short statute — only 2 operative sections","Minimal defined terms (only 'Act' and 'Regulation' in subsection 2(2)(a))","Simple conditional structure: default rule (paragraph b) with explicit exception (paragraph c) and special rule for specific legislation (subsection 1)","No nested exceptions or complex cross-referencing beyond listing specific excluded Acts","Straightforward deeming provisions without temporal complexity"],"plain_english_summary":"This short law fixes a naming problem that arose when Australia's central banking system was reorganised in 1953.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Updates old references:** Before 1953, there was one institution called the \"Commonwealth Bank of Australia\" that handled both central banking (controlling the money supply) and commercial banking (everyday banking for customers). In 1953–1959, this was split into separate bodies. This Act ensures that when older laws mention \"Commonwealth Bank of Australia,\" they now point to the right new institutions.\n\n- **Two different fixes for two different situations:**\n  - **For the Moratorium Act 1932–1950** (which dealt with debt relief during the Depression and post-war periods): References to \"Commonwealth Bank of Australia\" now cover **three** new bodies — the Commonwealth Trading Bank, the Reserve Bank, and the Commonwealth Development Bank.\n  - **For all other old laws and regulations:** References to \"Commonwealth Bank of Australia\" are automatically redirected to mean the **Commonwealth Trading Bank of Australia** (the commercial banking arm), unless the Governor issues a special order saying otherwise.\n\n- **Governor's override power:** The Governor (of the Reserve Bank) can publish a notice in the Gazette to stop this automatic redirection for specific laws, with the change taking effect from a specified date (which can even be before the notice was published).\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Anyone reading or applying older Australian legislation that mentions the Commonwealth Bank.\n- Legal practitioners and government officials interpreting pre-1953 laws.\n\n**Why it matters:**\nWithout this law, thousands of references to \"Commonwealth Bank of Australia\" in existing legislation would have become legally meaningless or confusing after the bank was split up. This Act acts as a \"translation guide\" to keep the old laws working smoothly."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/commonwealth-bank-interpretation-act-1953","history":"/api/acts/commonwealth-bank-interpretation-act-1953/history","analysis":"/api/acts/commonwealth-bank-interpretation-act-1953/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/commonwealth-bank-interpretation-act-1953/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/commonwealth-bank-interpretation-act-1953/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/commonwealth-bank-interpretation-act-1953/documents"}}