{"id":"julia-farr-services-trusts-act-2007","name":"Julia Farr Services (Trusts) Act 2007","slug":"julia-farr-services-trusts-act-2007","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"sa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":105607,"registerId":"sa-julia-farr-services-trusts-act-2007-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Julia Farr Services (Trusts) Act 2007","content":"South Australia\nJulia Farr Services (Trusts) Act 2007\nAn Act to construe certain testamentary dispositions, trusts and gifts in favour of the Home for Incurables, the Julia Farr Centre or Julia Farr Services in favour of Julia Farr Association; and for other purposes.\n\nContents\n1\tShort title\n2\tCommencement\n3\tInterpretation\n4\tApplication of Act\n5\tDispositions, gifts and related powers to vest in JFA\n6\tVariation of terms of trust\n7\tMaintenance of purposes\n8\tAlteration of rules of JFA\n9\tAnnual report\nLegislative history\n\nThe Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows:\n1—Short title\nThis Act may be cited as the Julia Farr Services (Trusts) Act 2007.\n2—Commencement\nThis Act will come into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation.\n3—Interpretation\nIn this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—\ndesignated date means 1 July 2009;\ndesignated entity means—\n\t(a)\tthe Home for Incurables Incorporated, or the Home for Incurables; or\n\t(b)\tJulia Farr Centre Inc. or Julia Farr Centre; or\n\t(c)\tJulia Farr Services; or\n\t(d)\tJulia Farr;\nJFA means the Julia Farr Association Incorporated (a body corporate under the Associations Incorporation Act 1985);\nproperty includes real and personal property, and any estate and interest in any property, real or personal, and any debt, and any thing in action, and any other right or interest, whether in possession or not.\n4—Application of Act\n\t(1)\tThis Act applies to a testamentary disposition, trust or gift made or created before or after the commencement of this Act.\n\t(2)\tSubject to subsection (3), this Act is in addition to, and does not derogate from, the Trustee Act 1936.\n\t(3)\tSection 69B of the Trustee Act 1936 does not apply to a charitable trust to which this Act applies.\n\t(4)\tSubsection (3) will expire on the designated date.\n\t(5)\tOn and after the designated date, references in section 69B of the Trustee Act 1936 to the original purposes of a trust will, if relevant to an application under that section, be construed after taking into account the operation of section 5 of this Act.\nNote—\nSubsection (3) has expired.\n5—Dispositions, gifts and related powers to vest in JFA\n\t(1)\tDespite a provision of another Act or law—\n\t(a)\ta testamentary disposition in favour of a designated entity will be taken to be a testamentary disposition in favour of JFA; and\n\t(b)\ta trust in favour of a designated entity will be taken to be a trust in favour of JFA; and\n\t(c)\ta testamentary disposition, trust or fund in favour of the residents, patients or other recipients of services of a designated entity, or for the benefit of residents, patients or other recipients of services at any place or places or facility or facilities owned or operated by a designated entity, or formerly owned or operated by a designated entity, will be taken to be a trust in favour of the residents, patients or other recipients of services, or classes of residents, patients or other recipients of services, nominated by JFA from time to time by resolution of the board of management of JFA; and\n\t(d)\ta gift in favour of a designated entity (not being made by testamentary disposition or under the terms of a trust) will be taken to be a gift in favour of JFA.\n\t(2)\tJFA must, in acting under subsection (1)(c), make a nomination that accords, as far as reasonably practicable, with the spirit of the original testamentary disposition, trust or fund.\n\t(3)\tWithout limiting the operation of subsection (1), a reference in an instrument to a designated entity as trustee will be taken to be a reference to JFA.\n\t(4)\tSubsection (3)—\n\t(a)\tdoes not affect the operation of the appointment of a trustee (a new trustee) in place of a designated entity before the commencement of this Act; and\n\t(b)\tdoes not allow JFA to exercise a power to remove a new trustee who has been so appointed.\n\t(5)\tNothing in this section operates to defeat the intention reflected by the provisions or terms of a testamentary disposition, trust or gift that provide that, should the beneficiary cease to exist, the testamentary disposition, trust or gift was to lapse or was to be in favour of some other person or body.\n\t(6)\tNothing in this section invalidates the execution, declaration or creation of a testamentary disposition, trust or gift made or effected before the commencement of this Act.\n\t(7)\tFor the purposes of this section, a reference to a testamentary disposition includes a reference to a surrender or release effected by a testamentary disposition.\n6—Variation of terms of trust\n\t(1)\tThe purposes for which property the subject of a testamentary disposition or trust referred to in section 5 is to be applied under a trust may be varied by application under this section in the following circumstances:\n\t(a)\tif the original purposes, in whole or in part, cannot be carried out according to any directions given and to the spirit of the gift that has been made or the trust that has been created;\n\t(b)\tif it is not reasonably practicable having regard to changes in circumstances that have taken place since the constitution of any relevant trust to apply the property in accordance with the original purposes;\n\t(c)\tif the original purposes, in whole or in part, have ceased to provide a suitable and effective method of using the property.\n\t(2)\tAn application for a variation of the terms of a trust under this section must be made by JFA in a manner and form determined by the Attorney‑General.\n\t(3)\tNotice of an application for variation of the terms of a trust under this section must be given as the Attorney‑General directs.\n\t(4)\tThe Attorney‑General may refer an application to the Supreme Court if the application raises questions that should, in the Attorney‑General's opinion, be decided by the Court.\n\t(5)\tIf the Attorney‑General or the Supreme Court (as the case requires) is satisfied that the variation of the terms of a trust—\n\t(a)\taccords, as far as reasonably practicable, with the spirit of the trust; and\n\t(b)\tis justified in the circumstances of the particular case,\nthe Attorney‑General or the Court may approve the variation and the trust as varied prevails over any inconsistent provisions of a relevant instrument or declaration of trust.\n\t(6)\tThe reasonable costs of an application under this section are payable at the direction of the Attorney‑General from the property in question.\n\t(7)\tIn the case of an application decided by the Attorney‑General, the costs—\n\t(a)\tare to be fixed by the Attorney‑General; and\n\t(b)\tmay include costs payable to the Crown to defray the cost of investigating and deciding the application; and\n\t(c)\tmay be recovered as a debt.\n\t(8)\tThe Attorney‑General must keep available for public inspection a register of approvals given under this section.\n\t(9)\tFor the purposes of this section—\n\t(a)\ta reference to the original purposes of a trust will be construed after taking into account the operation of section 5, and this section will otherwise operate subject to any provision made under that section; and\n\t(b)\ta reference to the original purposes of a trust will be construed after taking into account any other variations made by or under the operation of any other Act or law, including by or under the terms of any declaration made by a court.\n\t(10)\tThis section will expire on the designated date.\nNote—\nSection 6 has expired.\n7—Maintenance of purposes\nSubject to any variation of the terms of a trust under section 6 or the Trustee Act 1936, JFA cannot apply any trust or gift for a purpose that is outside the ambit of an object of JFA existing—\n\t(a)\tat the time of the commencement of this Act; or\n\t(b)\tat the time that JFA becomes the trustee or receives the gift (as the case may be),\nwhichever is the later in the circumstances of the particular case.\n8—Alteration of rules of JFA\n\t(1)\tAny rule of JFA that provides—\n\t(a)\tfor the manner or circumstances of the winding up of JFA; or\n\t(b)\tfor the distribution of any property of JFA on the winding up of JFA,\nmay not be altered except with the approval of the Attorney‑General.\n\t(2)\tThis section operates in addition to the requirements of the Associations Incorporation Act 1985.\n9—Annual report\n\t(1)\tThe administrative unit of the Public Service that is primarily responsible for assisting a Minister in relation to the provision of disability services in the State must include in its annual report for each financial year a statement that sets out, insofar as is reasonably practicable, the following information, as at 30 March of the financial year to which the report relates, with respect to the persons who are residents of the Fullarton campus on 30 June 2007:\n\t(a)\tthe number of persons resident at the Fullarton campus;\n\t(b)\twith respect to the persons resident at a place other than the Fullarton campus, a broad description of the nature of their accommodation;\n\t(c)\tduring the preceding period of 12 months—\n\t(i)\tthe processes used to plan and implement the relocation of any person to accommodation other than the Fullarton campus;\n\t(ii)\tthe number of persons who returned to accommodation at the Fullarton campus, and the circumstances of their return.\n\t(2)\tA report under subsection (1) should be prepared in a manner that does not identify a particular person.\n\t(3)\tIn this section—\nFullarton campus means the property that has, until 30 June 2007, constituted the main facility for the designated entities at the corner of Highgate Street and Fisher Street, Fullarton.\nLegislative history\nNotes\n\t•\tFor further information relating to the Act and subordinate legislation made under the Act see the Index of South Australian Statutes or www.legislation.sa.gov.au.\nPrincipal Act\nYear\nNo\nTitle\nAssent\nCommencement\n2007\n34\nJulia Farr Services (Trusts) Act 2007\n20.9.2007\n4.10.2007 (Gazette 4.10.2007 p3887)\nProvisions amended\nNew entries appear in bold.\nProvision\nHow varied\nCommencement\ns 4\n\n\ns 4(3)\nexpired: s 4(4)\n(1.7.2009)\ns 6\nexpired: s 6(10)\n(1.7.2009)\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":[]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: facilitating the transfer of charitable trusts and gifts from legacy disability organisations to the successor Julia Farr Association during a organisational restructure. The scope has not expanded beyond this transitional and interpretative function."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple defined terms (5 in section 3, plus contextual definitions in section 9)","Nested conditional logic in section 5 with 4 parallel subsections and multiple exceptions (subsections 5-7)","Temporal complexity: several provisions expired on the 'designated date' (1 July 2009), requiring readers to track current vs historical operation","Interaction with other statutes: modifies Trustee Act 1936 and Associations Incorporation Act 1985","Cross-references between sections (e.g., section 6 references section 5, section 7 references both sections 5 and 6)","Dual pathways for trust variation (Attorney-General OR Supreme Court) with different cost recovery mechanisms"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis Act fixes a problem that arose when disability services in South Australia were reorganised. Historically, people left money in their wills (called **testamentary dispositions**) or set up **trusts** (legal arrangements where someone holds property for the benefit of others) for organisations called the \"Home for Incurables,\" \"Julia Farr Centre,\" or \"Julia Farr Services.\" When these old organisations were replaced by a new body called the **Julia Farr Association (JFA)**, there was legal uncertainty about whether the money and property intended for the old organisations could legally go to the new one.\n\n**Key things the Act does:**\n\n* **Redirects gifts automatically:** Any will, trust, or gift made to the old organisations is now legally treated as being made to JFA instead. This happens automatically — donors and deceased estates don't need to change any documents.\n\n* **Protects the original intention:** When JFA decides how to use money that was originally meant for specific residents or patients of the old facilities, it must try to follow the spirit of the original gift as closely as possible.\n\n* **Allows updating old trusts:** If the original purpose of a gift or trust can't be carried out anymore (for example, if a specific facility closed), JFA could apply to the Attorney-General or Supreme Court to vary (change) the terms of the trust. **Note:** This power expired on 1 July 2009.\n\n* **Restricts how JFA can use funds:** JFA cannot use these gifts for purposes outside its existing charitable objects.\n\n* **Protects the organisation's future:** JFA cannot change its rules about winding up or distributing assets without government approval.\n\n* **Required transparency:** The government had to report annually on residents who moved from the Fullarton campus (the main facility) to other accommodation. **Note:** This reporting requirement likely became obsolete once all relocations were completed.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n* People who left money to the old disability organisations in their wills\n* The Julia Farr Association (now the recipient and trustee of these funds)\n* People with disabilities who were residents of the Fullarton campus\n* Executors of estates dealing with old bequests\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nWithout this law, valuable charitable gifts intended to help people with disabilities might have been caught in legal limbo or distributed to the wrong beneficiaries. The Act ensures that charitable intentions are honoured even when organisational structures change, while maintaining government oversight to protect vulnerable beneficiaries."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act’s text implements a focused, single purpose: to read older testamentary dispositions, trusts and gifts made to a set of named historic entities as applying instead to the Julia Farr Association and to set governance and oversight conditions for that transfer. The expired provisions (section 6 and the temporary exclusion of section 69B of the Trustee Act 1936) were time‑limited mechanisms built into the original scheme and do not indicate an expansion beyond the Act’s original, stated purpose. Therefore the scope has not grown significantly beyond the original intent; it remains a targeted statutory re‑construal and governance framework for those specific trusts and gifts."},"complexity_factors":["Three defined technical terms of ongoing effect (designated date, designated entity, JFA) in section 3","Statutory re‑labelling of beneficiaries and trustees with qualifications (section 5) creating mapping rules from older instruments to JFA","Cross‑references to external statutes and authorities: Trustee Act 1936 (including an expired exclusion), Associations Incorporation Act 1985, Attorney‑General and Supreme Court (sections 4, 6, 8)","Conditional logic and exceptions: nominations must follow the \"spirit\" of gifts (subjective standard) (section 5(2)); protections for donor‑specified lapsing/alternate beneficiaries (section 5(5)); prior trustee appointments preserved (section 5(4))","Temporary/expired provisions (section 6 and section 4(3) expired as of the designated date) requiring readers to track temporal availability of powers","Discretionary approval mechanisms (Attorney‑General may approve or refer to Court) and cost recovery rules (section 6(4)–(7))","Governance restriction requiring AG approval for changes to winding up/distribution rules (section 8)","Reporting requirement tied to a specific cohort and date (Fullarton campus residents as at 30 June 2007) (section 9)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does (mechanics)\n\n- Centralises gifts, wills and trusts to one organisation. If someone left property, money or a trust to any of the historic bodies named in the Act (the Home for Incurables, Julia Farr Centre, Julia Farr Services or simply \"Julia Farr\"), the law treats that gift or trust as being made to the Julia Farr Association Incorporated (JFA). (See section 5.)\n\n- Treats gifts intended for residents, patients or service‑recipients of those old bodies as trusts for those people or classes of those people, but with the specific persons or classes to be nominated by JFA. JFA must try to honour the \"spirit\" of the original gift where practicable. (See section 5(1)(c)–(2).)\n\n- Where an instrument names one of the old bodies as a trustee, the instrument is read as if it named JFA instead — except that this does not change trustee appointments made before the Act took effect, and JFA cannot remove a trustee who was validly appointed in place of a designated entity before the Act. (See section 5(3)–(4).)\n\n- Limits how JFA may use transferred trusts and gifts: JFA cannot apply money or property to purposes outside the objects (purposes) of JFA that existed when the Act started or when JFA received the gift, whichever is later. (See section 7.)\n\n- Requires Attorney‑General involvement for some changes: JFA may apply to vary trust terms if the original purposes cannot be carried out or are no longer suitable, but that variation process (now expired) required application to, and approval by, the Attorney‑General or potentially referral to the Supreme Court. Costs of applications could be paid from the trust property. (See section 6 — note: this section expired on the designated date.)\n\n- Prevents JFA from altering rules about winding up or distributing its property on winding up without the Attorney‑General's approval. (See section 8.)\n\n- Requires the State disability services administrative unit to publish an anonymised annual statement about persons who were residents of the Fullarton campus on 30 June 2007 (numbers, where they live now, planning processes, and returns to the campus). (See section 9.)\n\n\nWho is affected\n\n- Julia Farr Association Incorporated (JFA): receives the legal effect of earlier gifts, wills and trusts made to several predecessor or alternative names and gains the role of trustee in many cases (section 5).\n- Donors and testators (people who made wills), and existing trust instruments: their dispositions to the named historic bodies will be re‑construed in law as dispositions to JFA (section 5).\n- Residents, patients and other service recipients of the former designated entities: gifts or funds for them become trusts whose beneficiaries or beneficiary classes are to be nominated by JFA (section 5(1)(c)).\n- The Attorney‑General and the Supreme Court: given roles in approving certain trust variations and in approving alterations to JFA’s winding‑up rules (sections 6 and 8).\n- The State administrative unit responsible for disability services: required to report annually on former Fullarton campus residents (section 9).\n\n\nWhy it matters (declared purpose and practical effects)\n\n- Declared purpose: the Act is intended to \"construe\" (i.e. legally treat or interpret) testamentary dispositions, trusts and gifts made in favour of the named historic bodies so that they operate in favour of JFA instead. Practically, that moves control of assets from several old named entities to a single corporate body (section 1, 3, 5).\n\n- Effect on private choices and property: donors’ original legal language is re‑read by statute to benefit JFA or beneficiaries nominated by JFA rather than the originally named body. That alters how donor intent is executed in practice (section 5). Where donors explicitly provided for lapse or alternative beneficiaries if the original beneficiary ceased to exist, those donor‑specified fail‑safes still operate (section 5(5)).\n\n- Oversight, costs and incentives: the Attorney‑General has formal oversight over trust variations (section 6, now expired) and over certain changes to JFA’s winding‑up rules (section 8). Applications to vary trust terms could be decided by the Attorney‑General or referred to the Supreme Court; reasonable application costs can be charged against the trust property (section 6(4)–(7)). This creates a process cost for JFA and for the trust corpus when changes are sought.\n\n- Constraints on JFA: section 7 restricts JFA from using trust property for purposes outside JFA’s objects at the relevant time, which limits how far JFA can repurpose transferred funds. Section 8 requires AG approval to change rules about winding up or property distribution.\n\n- Administrative transparency: the State must publish anonymised information about the former Fullarton campus residents annually, which documents outcomes for a specific cohort affected by the institutional change (section 9).\n\n\nImplementation risks, trade‑offs and likely behaviour changes\n\n- Concentration of control: assets that were nominally for a set of older named entities are consolidated under JFA (section 5). This gives JFA board discretion to nominate beneficiaries for some funds (section 5(1)(c)). The statutory requirement to follow the \"spirit\" of gifts (section 5(2)) is a qualitative standard that will require judgement and may generate disputes about what that spirit requires.\n\n- Donor intent vs practical administration: the statute preserves explicit donor fail‑safes (section 5(5)), but otherwise allows statutory re‑labelling of beneficiaries and trustee substitution. That will change the mapping from donors’ words to practical outcomes in some cases.\n\n- Oversight vs speed: Attorney‑General involvement and potential court referral (section 6) create a control point that can protect donor intent but also delay or add cost to changes. Costs may be borne by the trust asset (section 6(6)–(7)).\n\n- Compliance and reporting: JFA must operate within its objects and cannot alter certain internal rules without AG approval (sections 7–8), increasing formal compliance obligations for governance decisions. The government reporting requirement (section 9) imposes a transparency duty on the public service with modest administrative cost.\n\n\nKey operative sections to consult quickly: section 3 (definitions), section 4 (interaction with Trustee Act and temporal application), section 5 (re‑vesting and nomination), section 7 (limits on use), section 8 (AG approval for winding up/distribution rules), section 9 (reporting)."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed — the legislative text was not available for review. No determination can be made about whether the Act's final form differed from its original intent."},"complexity_factors":["Actual legislative text was not retrievable — only an error page was returned, making substantive analysis impossible","Score of 2 reflects minimum baseline uncertainty rather than confirmed simplicity; the true complexity of the Act cannot be assessed without its text","Trust law in general can involve moderately complex concepts around beneficiaries, trustees, and asset management, which may apply here"],"plain_english_summary":"This South Australian 2007 Act concerns Julia Farr Services and the trusts or assets connected with that disability services organisation. It likely governs how funds or property held for former residents or clients are managed or transferred. It primarily affects people with disabilities who used Julia Farr Services (and their families/carers) and anyone administering those trusts."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/julia-farr-services-trusts-act-2007","history":"/api/acts/julia-farr-services-trusts-act-2007/history","analysis":"/api/acts/julia-farr-services-trusts-act-2007/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/julia-farr-services-trusts-act-2007/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/julia-farr-services-trusts-act-2007/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/julia-farr-services-trusts-act-2007/documents"}}