{"id":"legislation-interpretation-regulations-2021","name":"Legislation Interpretation Regulations 2021","slug":"legislation-interpretation-regulations-2021","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"sa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":236082,"registerId":"sa-legislation-interpretation-regulations-2021-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-06","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Legislation Interpretation Regulations 2021","content":"South Australia\nLegislation Interpretation Regulations 2021\nunder the Legislation Interpretation Act 2021\n\nContents\n1\tShort title\n3\tInterpretation\n4\tPrescribed meetings\n5\tTransitional provisions\nLegislative history\n\n1—Short title\nThese regulations may be cited as the Legislation Interpretation Regulations 2021.\n3—Interpretation\nIn these regulations—\nAct means the Legislation Interpretation Act 2021.\n4—Prescribed meetings\n\t(1)\tFor the purposes of section 39(3) of the Act, the following meetings, and classes of meetings, are prescribed:\n\t(a)\tmeetings of councils, council committees, subsidiaries of councils, and regional subsidiaries under the Local Government Act 1999, other than council meetings of designated eligible councils held before the relevant day that comply with any requirements of the Minister;\n\t(b)\tmeetings of electors convened under section 93 of the Local Government Act 1999;\n\t(c)\tmeetings of the Stormwater Management Authority under Schedule 1A of the Local Government Act 1999;\n\t(d)\tmeetings held for the purposes of public consultation referred to in section 123(4), 151(7) or 156(14d) of the Local Government Act 1999.\n\t(2)\tIn this regulation—\ndesignated eligible council means an eligible council designated by the Minister by notice in the Gazette as a designated eligible council for the purposes of this regulation;\neligible council means any of the following councils:\n\t(a)\tAlexandrina Council;\n\t(b)\tThe Berri Barmera Council;\n\t(c)\tThe Coorong District Council;\n\t(d)\tDistrict Council of Loxton Waikerie;\n\t(e)\tMid Murray Council;\n\t(f)\tRural City of Murray Bridge;\n\t(g)\tRenmark Paringa Council;\nMinister means the Minister responsible for the administration of the Local Government Act 1999;\nrelevant day means the earlier of the following days:\n\t(a)\t30 June 2023;\n\t(b)\tthe day fixed by the Minister by notice in the Gazette as the relevant day.\n5—Transitional provisions\n\t(1)\tPursuant to section 60(2)(c) of the Act, a note that—\n\t(a)\timmediately before the relevant day, was included in, but did not form part of, an Act or a legislative instrument published under the Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002 or the Acts Republication Act 1967; and\n\t(b)\t—\n\t(i)\trelates to the commencement, expiry, repeal or renumbering of an Act or a legislative instrument, or a provision of an Act or a legislative instrument; or\n\t(ii)\trefers to an appendix of a kind referred to in section 19(2)(c) of the Act,\nwill, on and from the relevant day, be taken to be described as an editorial note for the purposes of section 19(2) of the Act.\n\t(2)\tIn this regulation—\nrelevant day means the day on which the Act comes into operation.\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.\nLegislation revoked by principal regulations\nThe Legislation Interpretation Regulations 2021 revoked the following:\nActs Interpretation (Audiovisual Meetings) Regulations 2021\nPrincipal regulations and variations\nNew entries appear in bold.\nYear\nNo\nReference\nCommencement\n2021\n192\nGazette 23.12.2021 p4627 \n1.1.2022: r 2\n2022\n118\nGazette 15.12.2022 p6930\n15.12.2022: r 2\nProvisions varied\nNew entries appear in bold.\nEntries that relate to provisions that have been deleted appear in italics.\nProvision\nHow varied\nCommencement\nr 2\nomitted under Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002\n15.12.2022\nr 4\n\n\nr 4(1)\nr 4 amended and redesignated as r 4(1) by 118/2022 r 3(1), (2)\n15.12.2022\nr 4(2)\ninserted by 118/2022 r 3(2)\n15.12.2022\nSch 1\nomitted under Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002\n15.12.2022\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"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":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The regulations remain tightly scoped to their original purpose: operational details for the parent Act. They prescribe specific meetings for audiovisual purposes and handle a minor transitional matter regarding editorial notes. There is no evidence of scope creep — the document is short, focused, and directly implements the empowering provisions (sections 39(3) and 60(2)(c) of the Act) without expanding into unrelated policy areas."},"complexity_factors":["Very short document (5 regulations, 2 substantive)","Only 2 defined terms in the interpretation section (Act, relevant day), with additional local definitions nested within specific regulations","Single cross-reference to parent Act (Legislation Interpretation Act 2021) and occasional references to Local Government Act 1999","Simple conditional logic in regulation 4(1)(a) — a time-limited exception for designated eligible councils with a sunset date (30 June 2023)","No nested exceptions or complex layering — the \"designated eligible council\" exception is straightforward and self-contained","Transitional provision (regulation 5) is a one-off conversion rule with clear trigger (commencement day)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this legislation does:**\n\nThese regulations support South Australia's *Legislation Interpretation Act 2021* by filling in two specific operational details:\n\n1. **Which meetings can be held by audiovisual link** — The regulations list specific local government meetings that qualify as \"prescribed meetings\" under the Act. This matters because the Act allows certain meetings to be conducted remotely (by video/audio) if they're \"prescribed.\" The regulations name:\n   - Council and committee meetings (with a special temporary exception for certain rural councils until mid-2023 or an earlier date set by the Minister)\n   - Electors' meetings\n   - Stormwater Management Authority meetings\n   - Public consultation meetings\n\n   *Notable quirk:* Seven specific rural councils (Alexandrina, Berri Barmera, Coorong, Loxton Waikerie, Mid Murray, Murray Bridge, and Renmark Paringa) got special treatment — their council meetings could be held remotely only if the Minister designated them and they met certain requirements, and only until 30 June 2023 (or earlier if the Minister said so).\n\n2. **What happens to old \"notes\" in legislation** — When the new Act started, any existing explanatory notes in laws that weren't formally part of the legislation got automatically relabelled as \"editorial notes.\" This is housekeeping — it preserves useful historical information (like when laws started or stopped) without giving those notes legal force.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Local councils in South Australia, especially the seven rural councils mentioned\n- The Stormwater Management Authority\n- Anyone running or attending public consultation meetings under local government laws\n- People who publish or interpret South Australian legislation (the editorial note change affects how laws are presented)\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis is practical, technical legislation. It doesn't change big policy settings — it makes the parent Act work by specifying which meetings can go virtual and tidying up how historical notes appear in statute books. The rural council exception suggests these regulations were written during or just after COVID-19, when remote meeting rules were being adjusted for smaller councils with different capacity challenges."},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as no legislative content was available for analysis. The page returned was an error page from the South Australian legislation website, not the text of the Legislation Interpretation Regulations 2021."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative content was retrievable — the source URL returned a 404 error","A complexity score cannot be meaningfully assigned without access to the actual text","Score of 1 reflects absence of analysable content, not simplicity of the underlying law"],"plain_english_summary":"This South Australian regulation governs how state laws are to be read and understood, so it would affect drafters, courts, regulators and anyone relying on SA legislation by providing rules to ensure consistent interpretation and legal certainty. \n\nThe regulation text could not be retrieved (404 error), so a reliable summary isn’t possible here. To confirm details, search www.legislation.sa.gov.au for “Legislation Interpretation Regulations 2021” or contact the SA Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPCWeb@sa.gov.au)."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"Yes. The December 2022 amendment altered r 4 by inserting r 4(2) and amending r 4(1), adding a defined list of 'eligible councils', creating the notion of a 'designated eligible council' (to be named by the Minister in the Gazette), and providing an alternative 'relevant day' the Minister may fix. These changes modify which council meetings are caught or excluded by the prescription and introduce ministerial timing discretion for the regulation's transition."},"complexity_factors":["Cross‑references to multiple provisions of the Legislation Interpretation Act 2021 (eg. section 39(3), section 60(2)(c), section 19(2))","Detailed list of prescribed meeting types that refer to specific provisions of the Local Government Act 1999","Ministerial discretion to designate 'designated eligible councils' and to fix the 'relevant day' by Gazette notice","Temporal triggers and alternative definitions of 'relevant day' (statutory date vs Ministerial notice)","Transitional rule converting pre‑existing non‑operative notes into editorial notes on commencement","Explicit list of named 'eligible councils' which narrows the classing rules and may create differential treatment","Amendment history (r 4 amended and r 4(2) inserted by 118/2022) requiring attention to versioning and revocations"],"plain_english_summary":"These Regulations specify which local‑government gatherings count as \"meetings\" for the Legislation Interpretation Act 2021 and list council, electors', Stormwater Management Authority and certain public consultation meetings. They also provide a transitional rule converting some pre‑existing non‑operative publication notes into formal editorial notes when the Act commences. The rules affect South Australian councils, their subsidiaries, the Minister (who may designate certain councils and fix timing) and those who publish or rely on legislative materials."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/legislation-interpretation-regulations-2021","history":"/api/acts/legislation-interpretation-regulations-2021/history","analysis":"/api/acts/legislation-interpretation-regulations-2021/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/legislation-interpretation-regulations-2021/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/legislation-interpretation-regulations-2021/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/legislation-interpretation-regulations-2021/documents"}}