{"id":"qld:act-1984-070","name":"Imperial Acts Application Act 1984","slug":"imperial-acts-application-act-1984","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"qld","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"70 of 1984","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":104965,"registerId":"qld-act-1984-070-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"pt.1","sectionType":"part","heading":"Preliminary","content":"# Preliminary","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"sec.1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Short title and citation","content":"### sec.1 Short title and citation\n\nThis Act may be cited as the Imperial Acts Application Act 1984 .","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"sec.2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Act to bind Crown","content":"### sec.2 Act to bind Crown\n\nThis Act binds the Crown not only in right of the State but also, so far as the legislative power of Parliament permits, the Crown in all its other capacities.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"sec.3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Arrangement","content":"### sec.3 Arrangement\n\ns 3 om 30 May 1994 RA s 36","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"sec.4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Interpretation","content":"### sec.4 Interpretation\n\nIn this Act—\nImperial enactment includes any Act passed by the Imperial Parliament.","sortOrder":4},{"sectionNumber":"pt.2","sectionType":"part","heading":"Imperial enactments preserved or terminated","content":"# Imperial enactments preserved or terminated","sortOrder":5},{"sectionNumber":"sec.5","sectionType":"section","heading":"Preserved Imperial enactments","content":"### sec.5 Preserved Imperial enactments\n\nEach Imperial enactment specified in Schedule 1 shall, from the commencement of this Act, continue to have the same force and effect (if any) as it had in Queensland immediately prior to the commencement of this Act.","sortOrder":6},{"sectionNumber":"sec.6","sectionType":"section","heading":"Imperial enactments not affected","content":"### sec.6 Imperial enactments not affected\n\nNothing in this Act affects any Imperial enactment specified in Schedule 2 or any other Imperial enactment which independently of the provisions of the Imperial Act 9 George 4 Chapter 83 ( Australian Courts Act 1828 ) is made applicable to Queensland by express words or necessary intendment of any Imperial enactment.","sortOrder":7},{"sectionNumber":"sec.7","sectionType":"section","heading":"Termination of application of Imperial enactments","content":"### sec.7 Termination of application of Imperial enactments\n\nSubject to this Act, the application in and for Queensland of all Imperial enactments (commencing with the Statute of Merton, 20 Henry 3 A.D. 1235–6) in force in England at the time of the passing of the Imperial Act 9 George 4 Chapter 83 , is terminated.","sortOrder":8},{"sectionNumber":"pt.3","sectionType":"part","heading":"Substitution of Queensland law for certain Imperial enactments","content":"# Substitution of Queensland law for certain Imperial enactments","sortOrder":9},{"sectionNumber":"sec.8","sectionType":"section","heading":"No insurance to be made by persons having no interest","content":"### sec.8 No insurance to be made by persons having no interest\n\nNo insurance shall be made by any person on the life of any person or on any other event whatsoever wherein the person for whose use or benefit or on whose account the policy is made has no interest, or by way of gaming or wagering.\nIt shall not be lawful to make any policy on the life of any person, or on any other event whatsoever, wherein the person effecting the policy has no interest, without inserting in that policy the names of the persons interested therein, or for whose use or benefit or on whose account that policy was made.\nIn all cases where there is an interest in the life or other event the subject of the insurance, no greater sum shall be recovered or received from the insurer than the amount or value of the interest.\nNothing in this section shall extend to insurance made by any person on ships or goods, or to contracts of indemnity against loss by fire or loss by other events whatsoever.\n(sec.8-ssec.1) No insurance shall be made by any person on the life of any person or on any other event whatsoever wherein the person for whose use or benefit or on whose account the policy is made has no interest, or by way of gaming or wagering.\n(sec.8-ssec.2) It shall not be lawful to make any policy on the life of any person, or on any other event whatsoever, wherein the person effecting the policy has no interest, without inserting in that policy the names of the persons interested therein, or for whose use or benefit or on whose account that policy was made.\n(sec.8-ssec.3) In all cases where there is an interest in the life or other event the subject of the insurance, no greater sum shall be recovered or received from the insurer than the amount or value of the interest.\n(sec.8-ssec.4) Nothing in this section shall extend to insurance made by any person on ships or goods, or to contracts of indemnity against loss by fire or loss by other events whatsoever.","sortOrder":10},{"sectionNumber":"sec.9","sectionType":"section","heading":"Avoidance of wagering or gaming contracts of marine insurance","content":"### sec.9 Avoidance of wagering or gaming contracts of marine insurance\n\nEvery contract of marine insurance by way of gaming or wagering is void.\nA contract of marine insurance is deemed to be a gaming or wagering contract—\nwhere the assured has no insurable interest, and the contract is entered into with no expectation of acquiring such an interest; or\nwhere the policy is made ‘interest or no interest’, or ‘without further proof of interest than the policy itself’, or ‘without benefit of salvage to the insurer’, or subject to any other like term.\nHowever, where there is no possibility of salvage, a policy may be effected without benefit of salvage to the insurer.\n(sec.9-ssec.1) Every contract of marine insurance by way of gaming or wagering is void.\n(sec.9-ssec.2) A contract of marine insurance is deemed to be a gaming or wagering contract— where the assured has no insurable interest, and the contract is entered into with no expectation of acquiring such an interest; or where the policy is made ‘interest or no interest’, or ‘without further proof of interest than the policy itself’, or ‘without benefit of salvage to the insurer’, or subject to any other like term.\n(sec.9-ssec.3) However, where there is no possibility of salvage, a policy may be effected without benefit of salvage to the insurer.\n- (a) where the assured has no insurable interest, and the contract is entered into with no expectation of acquiring such an interest; or\n- (b) where the policy is made ‘interest or no interest’, or ‘without further proof of interest than the policy itself’, or ‘without benefit of salvage to the insurer’, or subject to any other like term.","sortOrder":11},{"sectionNumber":"sec.10","sectionType":"section","heading":"Contracts of marine insurance must be embodied in policy","content":"### sec.10 Contracts of marine insurance must be embodied in policy\n\nSubject to the provisions of any other Act, a contract of marine insurance is inadmissible in evidence in an action for the recovery of a loss under the contract unless it is embodied in a marine policy in accordance with this Part.\nThe policy may be executed and issued either at the time when the contract is concluded or afterwards.\n(sec.10-ssec.1) Subject to the provisions of any other Act, a contract of marine insurance is inadmissible in evidence in an action for the recovery of a loss under the contract unless it is embodied in a marine policy in accordance with this Part.\n(sec.10-ssec.2) The policy may be executed and issued either at the time when the contract is concluded or afterwards.","sortOrder":12},{"sectionNumber":"sec.11","sectionType":"section","heading":"What policy of marine insurance must specify","content":"### sec.11 What policy of marine insurance must specify\n\nA marine policy must specify—\nthe name of the assured, or of some person who effects the insurance on the assured’s behalf; and\nthe subject-matter insured and the risk insured against; and\nthe voyage, or period of time, or both as the case may be, covered by the insurance; and\nthe sum or sums insured; and\nthe name or names of the insurers.\n- (a) the name of the assured, or of some person who effects the insurance on the assured’s behalf; and\n- (b) the subject-matter insured and the risk insured against; and\n- (c) the voyage, or period of time, or both as the case may be, covered by the insurance; and\n- (d) the sum or sums insured; and\n- (e) the name or names of the insurers.","sortOrder":13},{"sectionNumber":"sec.12","sectionType":"section","heading":null,"content":"### Section sec.12\n\ns 12 om 1994 No. 24 s 3 (1) sch","sortOrder":14},{"sectionNumber":"sec.14","sectionType":"section","heading":"References to Imperial enactments","content":"### sec.14 References to Imperial enactments\n\nA reference in any Act to an Imperial enactment specified in Schedule 3 , column 1 shall, where the case permits and unless a contrary intention appears, be construed as a reference to the enactment specified in column 2 opposite the Imperial enactment specified.","sortOrder":15}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act appears to have delivered on its original intent — a systematic rationalisation of Imperial laws applying in Queensland. The partial omission of section 12 (removed in 1994) and section 3 represent minor amendments rather than any fundamental shift in purpose. The Act remains a focused housekeeping and codification instrument, operating within its originally stated scope of preserving, terminating, and substituting Imperial enactments as they applied to Queensland."},"complexity_factors":["Requires understanding of historical constitutional context — the relationship between Imperial (British) law and Australian state law following colonisation","References multiple external documents (Schedules 1, 2, and 3) that are not reproduced in the text provided, making the full effect of the Act impossible to assess from the excerpt alone","Relies on archaic legal concepts such as 'insurable interest', 'salvage', and wagering contracts that require specialist knowledge to interpret","The territorial and temporal scope of the Act (covering laws dating back to 1235) creates interpretive complexity around what is and isn't terminated","The interaction between preserved, terminated, and 'untouched' Imperial enactments creates a three-tier classification system that requires careful navigation","Marine insurance provisions use technical industry and legal terminology that laypeople would find opaque","References to specific Imperial Acts by their old regnal citation format (e.g., '9 George 4 Chapter 83') requires legal-historical knowledge to decode"],"plain_english_summary":"## Imperial Acts Application Act 1984 (Queensland)\n\n### What is this law about?\n\nThis Queensland law is essentially a **housekeeping statute** — it sorts out which old British (Imperial) laws still apply in Queensland, which ones are formally switched off, and where Queensland has replaced British laws with its own local versions.\n\nWhen Australia was colonised, British laws automatically applied here. Over time, Queensland developed its own Parliament and laws — but there was never a clean break that formally sorted out which old British laws remained valid. This Act does that clean-up job.\n\n### What does it actually do?\n\n**1. Keeps some British laws alive (Schedule 1)**\nCertain old British laws (listed in a Schedule) are formally preserved and continue to apply in Queensland. These are typically foundational legal principles — things like the Magna Carta — that Queensland has chosen to keep.\n\n**2. Kills off most old British laws**\nAll British laws that were in force in England at the time of the *Australian Courts Act 1828* — going all the way back to the *Statute of Merton in 1235* — are formally terminated in Queensland, *unless* they're specifically preserved.\n\n**3. Leaves some British laws untouched (Schedule 2)**\nSome British laws are simply left alone — this Act doesn't affect them one way or another, particularly those that were directly applied to Queensland by specific British legislation.\n\n**4. Replaces some British laws with Queensland versions (Part 3)**\nFor certain areas of law, Queensland substitutes its own local rules instead of relying on old British statutes. The main examples in this Act cover:\n- **Insurance law**: You can't take out an insurance policy (including life insurance) on something you have no real financial interest in — this prevents gambling-style insurance schemes. You also can't recover more than your actual loss.\n- **Marine (shipping) insurance**: Gambling-style shipping insurance contracts are void (legally worthless). Marine insurance must be documented in a formal written policy to be enforceable in court.\n\n**5. Updates cross-references (Schedule 3)**\nWhere other Queensland laws reference old British Acts, this Act says those references should be read as pointing to the relevant Queensland replacement law instead.\n\n### Who does this affect?\n\n- **Ordinary Queenslanders** indirectly — the preserved British laws include fundamental rights protections (like those in Magna Carta) that underpin the Queensland legal system.\n- **Insurance industry participants** — the insurance provisions directly regulate what kinds of policies are valid and enforceable.\n- **Lawyers and courts** — this Act clarifies which laws are actually in force, resolving potential uncertainty about old British statutes.\n- **The Queensland Government** — the Act explicitly binds the Crown (meaning the government must follow it too).\n\n### Why does it matter?\n\nWithout an Act like this, there could be genuine legal uncertainty about whether 800-year-old British statutes still technically apply in Queensland. This law provides legal clarity — it draws a line in the sand and establishes a clean, coherent foundation for Queensland law."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation appears consistent with its original purpose. It was enacted to terminate the application of Imperial (British) statutes in Queensland and substitute Queensland-specific provisions where necessary. The inclusion of insurance law provisions (sections 8-11) is not scope creep; rather, it represents the substitution function explicitly described in Part 3's heading ('Substitution of Queensland law for certain Imperial enactments'). The Act has not grown beyond its original intent of achieving legal independence from Imperial legislation while preserving or replacing specific necessary provisions."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple structural redundancies: sections 8, 9, 10, and 11 appear to duplicate content in both standard and subsection-numbered formats (e.g., 'sec.8-ssec.1'), suggesting either a drafting error or parsing artifact in the source text","Historical legal concepts requiring explanation: terms like 'Statute of Merton', '9 George 4 Chapter 83', 'insurable interest', and 'benefit of salvage' assume knowledge of 19th century British insurance law","Cross-references to three separate Schedules (1, 2, and 3) that are not provided in the excerpt, making the full operation of the Act impossible to assess without external documents","Nested conditional logic in section 9: wagering contracts are void, except where there is no possibility of salvage, creating an exception to the general rule","Dual operation: the Act functions both as a 'statute of repeal' (terminating Imperial laws) and as a 'substitution statute' (creating new Queensland equivalents), requiring readers to track two parallel legal operations"],"plain_english_summary":"This Queensland law does three main things:\n\n**1. Cleans up old British laws still applying in Queensland**\nBefore Australia became fully independent, many old British (\"Imperial\") laws automatically applied in Australian colonies. This Act cuts most of those ties. It terminates the application of Imperial enactments dating back to 1235 (the Statute of Merton) that were still technically in force, except for specific laws listed in Schedules 1 and 2 which are preserved.\n\n**2. Replaces British insurance laws with Queensland versions**\nInstead of relying on old British statutes, this Act creates home-grown Queensland rules for:\n- **Life insurance**: You can't take out insurance on someone's life unless you have a genuine financial interest in that person staying alive (preventing gambling on deaths). You must name who benefits from the policy, and you can't claim more than your actual financial loss.\n- **Marine insurance**: You can't gamble on ships and cargo. Policies must be written documents specifying who's insured, what's covered, the voyage or time period, the amount insured, and who the insurer is. \"Interest or no interest\" policies (gambling policies) are void.\n\n**3. Updates legal references**\nWhere other Queensland laws mention old British statutes, Schedule 3 provides a conversion table so those references point to the right Queensland replacements.\n\n**Who it affects**: Insurance companies, ship owners, anyone buying life insurance, and lawyers dealing with very old legal references. It matters because it completes Queensland's legal independence from Britain while keeping sensible commercial protections against insurance gambling."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Act changes the scope of Imperial enactments applicable in Queensland by terminating the general application of those Imperial enactments that previously applied (s.7), while preserving a specified list that remains in force (s.5) and leaving certain others unaffected (s.6). It further substitutes or restates specific insurance and marine-insurance rules (Part 3, ss.8–11) and provides statutory mappings for references to Imperial enactments (s.14 and Schedule 3). These provisions narrow the body of Imperial law that operates in Queensland and replace or codify certain Imperial rules locally."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple cross-references between Parts and Schedules (Schedules 1–3 interact with ss.5–6 and s.14).","Legal mapping of historical Imperial enactments to local equivalents (interpretive complexity in s.14 and the Schedules).","Transitional/terminatory operation that removes a broad historical body of law while preserving specific pieces (s.7 vs s.5–s.6).","Technical statutory formalities for marine insurance (ss.9–11) affecting evidentiary admissibility and contract form.","Potential for litigation over what remains in force and about whether documents meet the statutory policy requirements (s.5, s.10–s.11)."],"plain_english_summary":"The Act redraws which old Imperial statutes continue to operate in Queensland (preserving a listed set and ending the general body of those laws) and brings those choices into local law. It also restates key insurance and marine-insurance rules (limiting insurable-interest recoveries, voiding wagering policies, and requiring formal marine policies) and applies to the Crown where Parliament’s power allows. Courts, lawyers, insurers and insureds must adjust what laws they rely on and how marine claims are documented."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/imperial-acts-application-act-1984","history":"/api/acts/imperial-acts-application-act-1984/history","analysis":"/api/acts/imperial-acts-application-act-1984/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/imperial-acts-application-act-1984/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/imperial-acts-application-act-1984/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/imperial-acts-application-act-1984/documents"}}