{"id":"C2004A03758","name":"International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (General Capital Increase) Act 1989","slug":"international-bank-for-reconstruction-and-development-general-capital-increase-act-1989","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"10 of 1989","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":36741,"registerId":"commonwealth-C2004A03758-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Short title","content":"#### 1 Short title\n\n  This Act may be cited as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (General Capital Increase) Act 1989.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"#### 2 Commencement\n\n  This Act commences on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Interpretation","content":"#### 3 Interpretation\n\n  In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:\n\n> affiliates means the Association and the Corporation.\n\n> Association means the International Development Association established under the Articles of Agreement set out in the Schedule to the International Development Association Act 1960.\n\n> Bank means the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.\n\n> Bank Agreement has the same meaning as in the International Monetary Agreements Act 1947.\n\n> Corporation means the International Finance Corporation established under the Articles of Agreement referred to in section 3 of the International Finance Corporation Act 1955.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Agreements for purchase of additional shares of capital stock of the Bank","content":"#### 4 Agreements for purchase of additional shares of capital stock of the Bank\n\n  The Treasurer may, on behalf of Australia, make an agreement or agreements, containing such terms and conditions as the Treasurer determines, with the Bank for the purchase by Australia of 7,880 additional shares of the capital stock of the Bank at a price per share that is the equivalent of 120,635 United States dollars.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"5","sectionType":"section","heading":"Issue of securities","content":"#### 5 Issue of securities\n\n  (1) Subject to subsection (2), section 7 of the International Monetary Agreements Act 1947 applies to any payment to be made by Australia under an agreement made under section 4 of this Act as it applies to payments under that Act.\n  (2) Securities issued for the purposes of this section shall be payable in accordance with the terms and conditions of an agreement under section 4.","sortOrder":4},{"sectionNumber":"6","sectionType":"section","heading":"Appropriation","content":"#### 6 Appropriation\n\n  There may be paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, which is appropriated accordingly, the money necessary for the purpose of making any payment to be made by Australia under an agreement made under section 4.","sortOrder":5},{"sectionNumber":"7","sectionType":"section","heading":"Annual Report","content":"#### 7 Annual Report\n\n  (1) As soon as practicable after the end of each financial year the Treasurer shall prepare and cause to be laid before each House of the Parliament a report on the operations of this Act during that financial year.\n  (2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), the report shall include:\n    (a) a statement of the terms and conditions of any agreement or agreements made by the Treasurer with the Bank for the purchase by Australia of any additional shares under this Act; and\n    (b) a statement describing the nature and extent of Australia’s participation as a member of the Bank and the affiliates during that year; and\n    (c) an assessment of the managerial efficiency, and financial and economic effectiveness, of the Bank in carrying out its purposes as provided for in Article 1 of the Bank Agreement; and\n    (d) an assessment of the managerial efficiency, and financial and economic effectiveness, of the Association in carrying out its purposes as provided for in Article 1 of the Articles of Agreement set out in the Schedule of the International Development Association Act 1960; and\n    (e) an assessment of the managerial efficiency, and financial and economic effectiveness, of the Corporation in carrying out its purpose as provided for in Schedule 1 of the Articles of Agreement set out in the first Schedule of the International Finance Corporation Act 1955.","sortOrder":6}],"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"},"summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act is tightly focused and narrow in scope. It does exactly what its title suggests: authorises a specific capital increase subscription (share purchase) in the World Bank, provides the funding mechanism, and establishes reporting requirements. There is no evidence of scope creep or departure from the original intent."},"complexity_factors":["References to multiple other Acts (International Monetary Agreements Act 1947, International Development Association Act 1960, International Finance Corporation Act 1955) requiring cross-referencing to fully understand","International financial concepts such as capital stock shares and government securities may be unfamiliar to laypeople","Currency denomination in USD rather than AUD adds a minor layer of complexity","The mechanism of issuing securities as payment (rather than direct cash) requires understanding of government financing instruments"],"plain_english_summary":"This Act authorises Australia to acquire 7,880 additional World Bank (IBRD) shares — about USD 950 million — increasing Australia’s financial stake and influence in global development financing. \n\nThe Treasurer may negotiate and sign the purchase, funded by the Consolidated Revenue Fund and potentially paid with government securities. The Treasurer must report annually to Parliament on deal terms, Australia’s involvement with the World Bank/IDA/IFC, and an assessment of their management and performance."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: authorising a specific capital increase in Australia's World Bank membership. The annual reporting requirements, while detailed, directly relate to monitoring this investment and Australia's participation in the Bank and its affiliates."},"complexity_factors":["Only 5 defined terms in the interpretation section","No nested exceptions or conditional logic beyond a single 'subject to' clause in section 5","Straightforward appropriation mechanism (direct payment from Consolidated Revenue Fund)","Single cross-reference to existing legislation (International Monetary Agreements Act 1947)","Clear, linear structure with no subordinate legislation or regulations referenced","Specific, fixed numbers (7,880 shares at fixed price) rather than formulaic calculations"],"plain_english_summary":"This law allows Australia to buy more shares in the World Bank (formally called the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development). Specifically, it authorises the purchase of 7,880 extra shares at roughly US$120,635 each, totaling about US$950 million.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- **Australian taxpayers** — the money comes from government revenue (the Consolidated Revenue Fund)\n- **The Treasurer** — they negotiate the deal and report back to Parliament each year\n- **Parliament** — receives annual reports on how the World Bank and its related organisations (the International Development Association and International Finance Corporation) are performing\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis increases Australia's stake and voting power in the World Bank group. The annual reporting requirements ensure Parliament can scrutinise whether these international bodies are being run efficiently and delivering value for Australia's investment. The law also ensures Australia can raise money through issuing government securities (a type of IOU) to fund this share purchase."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act is narrowly authorising: it permits a specified share purchase (s4), ties payment mechanics to existing international payments law (s5), provides appropriation authority (s6) and imposes annual reporting to Parliament (s7). It does not amend the Bank Agreement or alter Australia’s membership instruments — its scope is limited to authorising and funding the specified capital increase and related reporting."},"complexity_factors":["Specific financial commitment: fixed number of shares and fixed US dollar price (s4) creates an identifiable budgetary exposure.","Ministerial discretion over contractual terms and conditions of the purchase (s4) requires administrative negotiation and legal drafting.","Cross‑reference to the International Monetary Agreements Act 1947 (application of s7) links payments to existing international payment/securities rules (s5(1)).","Securities payable subject to the terms of the Treasurer’s agreement (s5(2)) — creates dependence on contract wording for payment mechanics and settlement currency/exchange arrangements.","Appropriation from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (s6) triggers standard public finance processes and parliamentary appropriation control.","Annual reporting obligations include multi‑dimensional assessments of managerial, financial and economic effectiveness for three separate entities (s7(2)(a)–(e)), which creates ongoing compliance and analytic workload for officials."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act authorises the Treasurer to purchase 7,880 additional shares of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development at US$120,635 per share, to issue any necessary securities under existing international payments rules, and to pay from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. It also requires the Treasurer to report annually to Parliament on the purchase terms, Australia’s participation in the Bank and its affiliates, and assessments of their managerial, financial and economic effectiveness."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"7(1)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Section 4 authorises a single, finite transaction: the purchase of exactly 7,880 shares at a fixed price. Once that transaction is complete (or if it is never entered into), the Act has no ongoing 'operations' to report on. Yet section 7(1) requires the Treasurer to prepare an annual report on the 'operations of this Act' for every financial year, apparently in perpetuity. There is no sunset or cessation trigger. The reporting obligation therefore continues indefinitely even when there is nothing substantive to report, generating a permanent administrative burden for a spent Act.","confidence":0.82,"description":"Perpetual annual reporting obligation on a one-time transaction Act"},{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"7(2)(a)","severity":"low","reasoning":"Section 7(2)(a) requires each annual report to include 'a statement of the terms and conditions of any agreement or agreements made by the Treasurer with the Bank for the purchase by Australia of any additional shares under this Act.' Section 4 uses permissive language ('may... make an agreement'). If the Treasurer never exercises that power, every annual report must include a statement about agreements that do not exist. While technically satisfiable by a nil statement, it creates a structurally odd mandatory disclosure of a non-event.","confidence":0.65,"description":"Mandatory reporting of agreement terms that may never exist"},{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"7(2)(c), 7(2)(d), 7(2)(e)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"The Act exists solely to authorise Australia's purchase of additional capital stock. Yet sections 7(2)(c)-(e) require the Treasurer to annually assess the 'managerial efficiency, and financial and economic effectiveness' of the Bank, the Association, and the Corporation — three large, independent international institutions over which Australia has no managerial authority and only limited information rights commensurate with its minority shareholding. Producing a credible annual assessment of internal managerial efficiency of the World Bank Group is practically impossible for a national Treasurer acting within their statutory remit, rendering the obligation either performative or impossible to satisfy meaningfully.","confidence":0.78,"description":"Annual assessment obligation extends well beyond the Act's subject matter and Australia's control"},{"type":"other","section":"4","severity":"low","reasoning":"Section 4 fixes the price per share at 'the equivalent of 120,635 United States dollars' but section 6 appropriates Australian dollars from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. The Act contains no mechanism, formula, or reference date for determining the AUD equivalent, meaning the actual appropriation amount is legally indeterminate on the face of the Act. This is partially mitigated by delegating terms to the agreement under section 4, but the Act itself creates a structural gap between a USD-denominated obligation and an AUD-denominated appropriation.","confidence":0.7,"description":"Fixed USD price denominated in a foreign currency creates an indeterminate AUD obligation"}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"low","section_a":"5(1)","section_b":"5(2)","confidence":0.62,"description":"Section 5(1) incorporates section 7 of the International Monetary Agreements Act 1947 as it applies to payments under that Act, which will carry with it the terms governing securities issuance under that Act. Section 5(2) then provides that securities issued under this section 'shall be payable in accordance with the terms and conditions of an agreement under section 4.' It is unclear whether section 5(2) entirely displaces the repayment terms that would otherwise flow from the incorporated section 7 of the 1947 Act, or merely supplements them. If the incorporated provision contains mandatory repayment terms inconsistent with an agreement under section 4, there is a direct conflict with no resolution mechanism."},{"severity":"low","section_a":"4","section_b":"7(2)(a)","confidence":0.58,"description":"Section 4 authorises purchase of exactly '7,880 additional shares' — a precise, capped number — yet section 7(2)(a) requires reporting on 'any agreement or agreements made by the Treasurer with the Bank for the purchase by Australia of any additional shares under this Act,' using language that implies multiple possible tranches or quantities. This creates a minor internal inconsistency: the operative provision is tightly bounded, while the reporting provision is drafted as though an unlimited number of share-purchase agreements could be made under the Act."}]}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/international-bank-for-reconstruction-and-development-general-capital-increase-act-1989","history":"/api/acts/international-bank-for-reconstruction-and-development-general-capital-increase-act-1989/history","analysis":"/api/acts/international-bank-for-reconstruction-and-development-general-capital-increase-act-1989/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/international-bank-for-reconstruction-and-development-general-capital-increase-act-1989/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/international-bank-for-reconstruction-and-development-general-capital-increase-act-1989/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/international-bank-for-reconstruction-and-development-general-capital-increase-act-1989/documents"}}