{"id":"highways-liability-for-straying-animals-regulations-2016","name":"Highways (Liability for Straying Animals) Regulations 2016","slug":"highways-liability-for-straying-animals-regulations-2016","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":176840,"registerId":"wa-highways-liability-for-straying-animals-regulations-2016-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Highways (Liability for Straying Animals) Regulations 2016","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nHighways (Liability for Straying Animals) Act 1983\n\nHighways (Liability for Straying Animals) Regulations 2016\n\nWestern Australia\n\nHighways (Liability for Straying Animals) Regulations 2016\n\nContents\n\n1. Citation 1\n\n2. Commencement 1\n\n3. Terms used 1\n\n4. Maximum damages amount 1\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 3\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nHighways (Liability for Straying Animals) Act 1983\n\nHighways (Liability for Straying Animals) Regulations 2016\n\n##### 1. Citation\n\n\t\tThese regulations are the *Highways (Liability for Straying Animals) Regulations 2016*.\n\n##### 2. Commencement\n\nThese regulations come into operation as follows —\n\n(a) regulations 1 and 2 — on the day on which these regulations are published in the *Gazette*;\n\n(b) the rest of the regulations — on the day on which the *Highways (Liability for Straying Animals) Amendment Act 2016* section 5 comes into operation.\n\n##### 3. Terms used\n\nIn these regulations —\n\ncommencement day means the day on which the *Highways (Liability for Straying Animals) Amendment Act 2016* section 5 comes into operation;\n\nWPI means the wage price index for ordinary time hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses (all sectors) (original) for Western Australia published by the Australian Statistician referred to in the *Australian Bureau of Statistics Act 1975* (Commonwealth) section 5.\n\n##### 4. Maximum damages amount\n\n(1) For the purposes of section 4(1) of the Act the amount prescribed is —\n\n(a) for the period that begins on commencement day and ends on 30 June 2017 — $4 000 000;\n\n(b) for a financial year (the relevant year) commencing on or after 1 July 2017 — the amount obtained by varying the amount for the preceding financial year (the preceding year) by the percentage by which the WPI varied between the last December quarter before the preceding year commenced and the last December quarter before the relevant year commenced.\n\n(2) If the amount obtained under subregulation (1)(b) is not a multiple of $500 it is to be rounded off to the nearest multiple of $500 (with an amount that is $250 more than a multiple of $500 being rounded off to the next highest multiple of $500).\n\nNotes\n\n1 This is a compilation of the *Highways (Liability for Straying Animals) Regulations 2016*. The following table contains information about those regulations.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Citation** | **Gazettal** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| *Highways (Liability for Straying Animals) Regulations 2016* | 2 Dec 2016 p. 5387‑8 | r. 1 and 2: 2 Dec 2016 (see r. 2(a));   Regulations other than r. 1 and 2: 3 Dec 2016 (see r. 2(b) and *Gazette* 2 Dec 2016 p. 5383) |\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\ncommencement day 3\n\npreceding year 4(1)\n\nrelevant year 4(1)\n\nWPI 3\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The regulations perform exactly the limited function suggested by the title: setting a monetary cap for liability regarding straying animals on highways. There is no scope creep."},"complexity_factors":["Only 4 substantive regulations with minimal text","Just 3 defined terms (commencement day, WPI, plus two local definitions in reg 4)","Single mathematical formula for indexation with one rounding rule","No cross-references to other legislation except the parent Act and the ABS Act for the WPI definition","No exceptions, exemptions, or conditional logic beyond the date-based trigger"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a short piece of Western Australian law that sets a financial cap on how much money the government might have to pay if someone's livestock wanders onto a highway and causes an accident.\n\n**What it does:**\n- Sets the **maximum damages** (compensation) at **$4 million** for accidents occurring between December 2016 and June 2017.\n- From July 2017 onwards, this cap automatically adjusts each financial year based on the **Wage Price Index (WPI)** — a measure of how much wages are growing in Western Australia.\n- If the calculated amount isn't a neat multiple of $500, it gets rounded to the nearest $500.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- **Farmers and livestock owners** — if their animals stray onto highways and cause crashes, this limits how much they (or their insurers) might have to pay in compensation.\n- **Motorists** who hit stray animals — this caps what they can potentially recover from the animal's owner.\n- **The government** — which administers the underlying Act that these regulations support.\n\n**Why it matters:**\nWithout this cap, a single accident involving a stray cow or sheep on a rural highway could expose a farmer to unlimited financial liability. The automatic indexation means the cap keeps pace with inflation without needing new laws every year."},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as the legislative text was not available for review. No determination can be made about whether the regulations deviated from their original intent."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative text was retrievable — the source URL returned a 'page no longer available' error","Analysis is based solely on the title of the instrument, not its actual content","Cannot assess true complexity without the text of the regulations","Regulations (as opposed to Acts) are typically more technical and specific, but this cannot be confirmed here"],"plain_english_summary":"The Highways (Liability for Straying Animals) Regulations 2016 (WA) set out rules on legal and financial responsibility when animals stray onto public roads. Primarily affecting farmers, landowners and livestock keepers — and drivers involved in collisions with stray animals — the instrument matters because it determines who can be held liable for damage, injuries and costs arising from such incidents."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"No. These regulations do not alter which incidents or parties are covered by the principal Act; they only prescribe the monetary maximum for damages and the method for annual indexation and rounding (regs 3–4). The Act continues to govern liability; the regulations change only the payable amount and its calculation."},"complexity_factors":["Numeric cap plus automatic annual indexation by a specific WPI series (reg 4(1)(b); reg 3 defines WPI) introduces a formulaic but technical calculation.","Timing rule for indexation refers to the ‘last December quarter before’ each financial year, requiring precise quarter selection for the percentage change (reg 4(1)(b)).","Rounding convention to the nearest $500 with a tie-breaking rule increases small arithmetic complexity (reg 4(2)).","Commencement is staged and depends on the Amendment Act’s section coming into operation, creating a dependence on external commencement timing (reg 2; defined term commencement day in reg 3).","Cross-references to the Australian Statistician and the Australian Bureau of Statistics Act require use of an externally published series, imposing an administrative dependency for the index value (reg 3).","The regulations only prescribe an amount under section 4(1) of the Act; substantive liability rules remain in the principal Act, so operational effect depends on interplay with that Act (reg 4(1))."],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set the dollar cap on damages payable under the Highways (Liability for Straying Animals) Act and prescribe how that cap is adjusted each year. They affect people claiming compensation and the authority that must pay; the Act determines liability, and courts apply this prescribed monetary limit.\n\nThe cap begins at $4,000,000 (to 30 June 2017) and from 2017–18 is increased annually in line with Western Australia’s WPI for ordinary hourly wages, then rounded to the nearest $500 (regs 3–4)."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/highways-liability-for-straying-animals-regulations-2016","history":"/api/acts/highways-liability-for-straying-animals-regulations-2016/history","analysis":"/api/acts/highways-liability-for-straying-animals-regulations-2016/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/highways-liability-for-straying-animals-regulations-2016/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/highways-liability-for-straying-animals-regulations-2016/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/highways-liability-for-straying-animals-regulations-2016/documents"}}