{"id":"dormant-commission-appointing-the-chief-justice-of-western-australia-or-the-most-senior-available-judge-to-be-the-administrator-2018","name":"Dormant Commission Appointing the Chief Justice of Western Australia or the Most Senior Available Judge to be the Administrator 2018","slug":"dormant-commission-appointing-the-chief-justice-of-western-australia-or-the-most-senior-available-ju","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":174589,"registerId":"wa-dormant-commission-appointing-the-chief-justice-of-western-australia-or-the-most-senior-available-judge-to-be-the-administrator-2018-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Dormant Commission Appointing the Chief Justice of Western Australia or the Most Senior Available Judge to be the Administrator 2018","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nWestern Australia\n\nDormant Commission Appointing the Chief Justice of Western Australia or the Most Senior Available Judge to be the Administrator 2018\n\nWestern Australia\n\nDormant Commission Appointing the Chief Justice of Western Australia or the Most Senior Available Judge to be the Administrator 2018\n\nContents\n\n1. Citation 1\n\n2. Commencement 1\n\n3. Terms used 1\n\n4. Purpose of commission 2\n\n5. Appointment of Chief Justice as Administrator 2\n\n6. Appointment of most senior available Judge as Administrator 3\n\n7. Powers and functions when administering government of the State 3\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 4\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nDormant Commission Appointing the Chief Justice of Western Australia or the Most Senior Available Judge to be the Administrator 2018\n\nIssued by the Governor under clause XV of the *Letters Patent Relating to the Office of Governor of the State of Western Australia*, dated 14 February 1986, the *Australia Act 1986* (Commonwealth) section 7(2) and the *Australia Act 1986* (UK) section 7(2).\n\n##### 1. Citation\n\n\t\tThis commission is the *Dormant Commission Appointing the Chief Justice of Western Australia or the Most Senior Available Judge to be the Administrator 2018*.\n\n##### 2. Commencement\n\nThis commission comes into operation on the day after the day on which it is published in the *Gazette*.\n\n##### 3. Terms used\n\nIn this commission —\n\nChief Justice means the Chief Justice of Western Australia for the time being;\n\nJudge does not include the Chief Justice;\n\nLetters Patent means the *Letters Patent Relating to the Office of Governor of the State of Western Australia*, dated 14 February 1986;\n\nLieutenant‑Governor means the Lieutenant‑Governor of the State;\n\nmost senior available Judge means the most senior Judge present in the State and able to act;\n\nState means the State of Western Australia.\n\n##### 4. Purpose of commission\n\nThis commission is issued because under the Letters Patent —\n\n(a) clause XI provides that an Administrator is to administer the government of the State in certain circumstances; and\n\n(b) clause XIII provides that the Lieutenant‑Governor is to be the Administrator except in certain circumstances in which the Chief Justice or a Judge is to be the Administrator.\n\n##### 5. Appointment of Chief Justice as Administrator\n\nI appoint, authorise and require the Chief Justice to be the Administrator, and to administer the government of the State, if and so long as —\n\n(a) there is a vacancy in the office of Governor or the Governor is administering the government of the Commonwealth of Australia or, not having appointed a deputy under the Letters Patent Clause XVI, is unable to act as Governor or is on leave or is absent from the State; and\n\n(b) there is no Lieutenant‑Governor for the time being or the Lieutenant‑Governor is unable to act as Administrator or is absent from the State.\n\n##### 6. Appointment of most senior available Judge as Administrator\n\nI appoint, authorise and require the most senior available Judge to be the Administrator, and to administer the government of the State, if and so long as —\n\n(a) there is a vacancy in the office of Governor or the Governor is administering the government of the Commonwealth of Australia or, not having appointed a deputy under the Letters Patent Clause XVI, is unable to act as Governor or is on leave or is absent from the State; and\n\n(b) there is no Lieutenant‑Governor for the time being or the Lieutenant‑Governor is unable to act as Administrator or is absent from the State; and\n\n(c) there is no Chief Justice or the Chief Justice is unable to act as Administrator or is absent from the State.\n\n##### 7. Powers and functions when administering government of the State\n\nI authorise and require the Chief Justice or the most senior available Judge, when administering the government of the State, to exercise and perform all or any of the powers, functions and directions contained in the Letters Patent or in future Letters Patent relating to the office of Governor of the State according to the laws from time to time in force in the State.\n\n![]()\n\nNotes\n\nThis is a compilation of the *Dormant Commission Appointing the Chief Justice of Western Australia or the Most Senior Available Judge to be the Administrator 2018*. For provisions that have come into operation see the compilation table.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Citation** | **Published** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| *Dormant Commission Appointing the Chief Justice of Western Australia or the Most Senior Available Judge to be the Administrator 2018* | 3 Aug 2018 p. 2786-8 | 4 Aug 2018 (see cl. 2) |\n\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\nChief Justice 3\n\nJudge 3\n\nLetters Patent 3\n\nLieutenant-Governor 3\n\nmost senior available Judge 3\n\nState 3\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"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"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The commission does not expand or alter the legal powers of the Governor; it designates who is to act as Administrator in specified circumstances and authorises them to exercise the powers and functions provided by the Letters Patent and Australia Acts. It reproduces the contingency appointments described in the Letters Patent and sets an order (Chief Justice, then most senior available Judge) for filling the Administrator role (see cl.4, cls 5–7)."},"complexity_factors":["Reliance on external instruments (Letters Patent and Australia Acts) to define scope and powers (preamble; cl.4; cl.7).","Conditional activation: multiple triggering conditions must be met for appointment to operate (cl.5(a)–(b); cl.6(a)–(c)).","Defined technical terms that determine who may act (definitions in cl.3, e.g. Chief Justice; most senior available Judge).","Broad delegation of Governor-level powers to a judicial appointee when acting as Administrator (cl.7), raising practical coordination questions.","Operational ambiguity about determining availability and seniority of judges in real time (definition of most senior available Judge, cl.3).","Administrative/implementation steps (commencement by Gazette, cl.2) and the dormant nature of the commission create low-frequency but high-consequence activation events."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument appoints the Chief Justice, or if unavailable the most senior available judge, to act as Administrator of Western Australia when the Governor’s office is vacant or the Governor cannot act and no Lieutenant‑Governor is able to act (see cls 5–6). It operates under the Letters Patent and the Australia Acts and authorises the appointee to exercise the Governor’s powers while administering the State (cl.7). It chiefly affects the judiciary (who may be required to act) and the executive support agencies that serve the Administrator."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation maintains its original narrow purpose: establishing a dormant commission for gubernatorial succession. It has not expanded beyond this specific constitutional contingency function."},"complexity_factors":["Only 7 operative clauses spanning 3 pages","6 defined terms, all straightforward (e.g., 'Chief Justice', 'State')","Simple conditional logic with clear cascading hierarchy (Governor → Lieutenant-Governor → Chief Justice → Senior Judge)","No cross-references to other Acts beyond the foundational Letters Patent and Australia Act 1986","No exceptions to exceptions or nested provisos","Purpose clause (clause 4) explicitly references the underlying constitutional instruments for transparency"],"plain_english_summary":"This document is a **Dormant Commission** — essentially a backup plan that sits quietly until needed. It sets up a chain of command for who runs Western Australia when the Governor is unavailable.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Establishes a succession plan** for the state's highest office. If the Governor can't do their job (due to absence, illness, vacancy, or because they're busy acting as Governor-General of Australia), and the Lieutenant-Governor also can't step in, then the **Chief Justice of Western Australia** temporarily becomes the \"Administrator\" and runs the state government.\n- **Provides a further backup**: If the Chief Justice is also unavailable, the job falls to the **most senior available Judge** currently in the state.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- The Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Chief Justice, and senior judges of Western Australia.\n- Practically speaking, ordinary Western Australians — it ensures there's always someone legally authorised to sign laws, appoint officials, and perform the Governor's constitutional duties, even during a crisis.\n\n**Why it matters:**\nWithout this document, there could be a constitutional gap where no one has clear legal authority to run the state. This \"dormant\" commission only \"wakes up\" (becomes active) during specific emergencies, ensuring continuity of government and preventing legal chaos if multiple office-holders are incapacitated or absent."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Unable to assess scope changes as no legislative text is available. Based on the title, the instrument appears to serve its straightforward stated purpose: providing a mechanism for judicial officers to act as Administrator of Western Australia when required."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative text is available — analysis is limited to the title only","The underlying instrument type (dormant commission) is a narrow, specialised constitutional mechanism, but not inherently complex in its operation","Limited number of affected parties — essentially only senior judiciary and state executive"],"plain_english_summary":"This dormant commission would appoint the Chief Justice of WA — or, if unavailable, the next most senior judge — to serve as Administrator of Western Australia, stepping in to perform the Governor’s formal functions when the Governor is absent, incapacitated, or the office is vacant. It’s routine constitutional housekeeping affecting senior judicial officers and the state’s formal machinery; no statutory text is currently available, so further detail would be speculative."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/dormant-commission-appointing-the-chief-justice-of-western-australia-or-the-most-senior-available-ju","history":"/api/acts/dormant-commission-appointing-the-chief-justice-of-western-australia-or-the-most-senior-available-ju/history","analysis":"/api/acts/dormant-commission-appointing-the-chief-justice-of-western-australia-or-the-most-senior-available-ju/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/dormant-commission-appointing-the-chief-justice-of-western-australia-or-the-most-senior-available-ju/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/dormant-commission-appointing-the-chief-justice-of-western-australia-or-the-most-senior-available-ju/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/dormant-commission-appointing-the-chief-justice-of-western-australia-or-the-most-senior-available-ju/documents"}}