{"id":"C1961A00034","name":"Defence Pay Act 1961","slug":"defence-pay-act-1961","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"repealed","isInForce":false,"actNumber":"34 of 1961","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":15074,"registerId":"commonwealth-C1961A00034-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-31","status":"Repealed","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Defence Pay Act 1961","content":"DEFENCE PAY.\n\nNo. 34 of 1961.\n\nAn Act to validate certain Payments made to or in respect of Members of the Defence Force and to Persons employed in a Civil Capacity under the Naval Defence Act 1910-1952.\n\n\\[Assented to 2nd June, 1961.\\]\n\nBE it enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:—\n\nShort title.\n\n1. This Act may be cited as the Defence Pay Act 1961.\n\nCommencement.\n\n2. This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.\n\nValidation of certain payments.\n\n3.—(1.) All payments made during the period commencing on the seventh day of August, One thousand nine hundred and forty-seven, and ending on the thirty-first day of March, One thousand nine hundred and sixty-one, under or in pursuance of a financial instruction shall be deemed to have been lawfully made.\n\n(2.) In this section, “financial instruction” means any instrument in writing issued, given or made by or with the authority of the Naval Board, the Military Board or the Air\n\n  \nBoard, or by or with the authority of the Secretary to the Department of the Navy, the Secretary to the Department of the Army or the Secretary to the Department of Air, and specifying rates of pay and allowances and other conditions of service of any members of the Naval Forces, the Military Forces or the Air Force or of any persons employed in a civil capacity under section forty-one of the Naval Defence Act 1910-1952.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"_metrics":{"model":"kimi-k2.5","source":"moonshot-batch","completionTokens":1203},"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act maintains its original narrow scope as a validation measure for historical Defence Force payments made between 1947 and 1961. It has not expanded beyond its original purpose of deeming specific past payments lawful."},"complexity_factors":["Only 3 sections total (short title, commencement, and validation)","Single defined term ('financial instruction')","No cross-references to other operative provisions","Simple temporal limitation with fixed dates","No exceptions, conditions, or procedural requirements"],"plain_english_summary":"This Act fixes a historical payroll problem for the Defence Force. **What it does:** It declares that payments made to military personnel and civilian Defence employees between August 1947 and March 1961 were legal, even if there was a technical doubt about their authorisation. **Why it was needed:** Defence salaries were being paid based on internal administrative orders ('financial instructions') issued by Defence Boards and Department Secretaries. This Act validates those payments to ensure no one has to repay money or face legal action for unauthorised expenditure. **Who it affects:** Members of the Navy, Army and Air Force, plus civilians employed under the Naval Defence Act, who received pay during that 14-year period."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/defence-pay-act-1961","history":"/api/acts/defence-pay-act-1961/history","analysis":"/api/acts/defence-pay-act-1961/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/defence-pay-act-1961/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/defence-pay-act-1961/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/defence-pay-act-1961/documents"}}