{"id":"metric-conversion-act-1972","name":"Metric Conversion Act 1972","slug":"metric-conversion-act-1972","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":93292,"registerId":"wa-metric-conversion-act-1972-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-02","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Metric Conversion Act 1972","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nMetric Conversion Act 1972\n\nWestern Australia\n\nMetric Conversion Act 1972\n\nContents\n\n1. Short title 1\n\n2. Commencement 1\n\n3. Terms used 1\n\n5. Amendments to Acts may be made by proclamations 2\n\n6. Amendments of statutory instruments 3\n\n7. Power to amend subsidiary legislation 3\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 5\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nMetric Conversion Act 1972\n\nAn Act to facilitate the use of the metric system of measurement by amending certain references to physical quantities in certain Acts 2; to authorise the amendment, by proclamation or notice of other such references in Acts and other statutory instruments; and for incidental and other purposes.\n\n##### 1. Short title\n\nThis Act may be cited as the *Metric Conversion Act 1972* 1.\n\n##### 2. Commencement\n\nSubject to section 4(2), this Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent 1.\n\n##### 3. Terms used\n\nIn this Act unless the contrary intention appears —\n\n  metric system of measurement means measurement in terms of —\n\n(a) the units comprised in the International System of Units for the time being approved by the General Conference on Weights and Measures;\n\n(b) units decimally related to those units and for the time being so approved;\n\n(c) such other units as are declared from time to time pursuant to the *Metric Conversion Act 1970* of the Commonwealth 3, as amended from time to time, or pursuant to any Act of the Commonwealth in substitution for that Act, to be within the metric system;\n\n  statutory instrument means —\n\n(a) any proclamation or Order in Council;\n\n(b) any regulation, rule, local law, by‑law, notice, order or other instrument promulgated, made, given or published under or for the purposes of any Act.\n\n[Section 3 amended: No. 14 of 1996 s. 4.]\n\n[**4.** Omitted under the Reprints Act 1984 s. 7(4)(e).]\n\n##### 5. Amendments to Acts may be made by proclamations\n\n(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other Act or law, but subject to subsection (2), the Governor may by proclamation, in any case where he is of opinion that it is necessary or expedient so to do for giving proper effect to the purposes for which an Act was enacted, amend any reference in the Act to a physical quantity that is not expressed in terms of a unit or units in the metric system of measurement by substituting for that reference a reference to a physical quantity expressed in terms of a unit or units in the metric system of measurement.\n\n(2) A proclamation may be so made under subsection (1) as to —\n\n(a) take effect on such day or days as are specified therein, not being a day or days earlier than the day on which the proclamation is published in the *Government Gazette*; and\n\n(b) alter the physical quantity in the reference amended by the proclamation, but so that the physical quantity substituted by the proclamation —\n\n(i) is not less by more than 10% than; and\n\n(ii) does not exceed by more than 10%,\n\nthe physical quantity amended by the proclamation.\n\n(3) The Minister administering an Act affected by a proclamation made under this section shall cause a copy of the proclamation to be laid on the Table of each House of Parliament within the first 6 sitting days of the House after the publication of the proclamation in the *Government Gazette*.\n\n(4) If either House of Parliament passes a resolution of which notice has been given within the first 14 sitting days of that House after the copy of a proclamation made under this section has been laid on the table of that House, that the proclamation be disallowed, the proclamation thereupon ceases to have effect, but the disallowance of the proclamation does not affect or invalidate anything done, or omitted to be done, in good faith before the passing of the resolution.\n\n##### 6. Amendments of statutory instruments\n\n(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other Act or law, the Minister administering an Act under which a statutory instrument has been promulgated, made, given or published may, with the approval of the Governor, by notice published in the *Government Gazette* amend any reference in the statutory instrument to a physical quantity that is not expressed in terms of a unit or units in the metric system of measurement by substituting for that reference a reference to a physical quantity expressed in terms of a unit or units in the metric system of measurement.\n\n(2) The provisions of section 5(2), (3) and (4) apply to a notice published under this section as though it were a proclamation made under section 5.\n\n##### 7. Power to amend subsidiary legislation\n\n(1) The Governor, on the recommendation of the Minister, may make regulations amending any subsidiary legislation made under any Act.\n\n(2) The Minister may make a recommendation under subsection (1) only if the Minister considers that each amendment proposed to be made by the regulations is solely for the purpose of amending a reference in the subsidiary legislation to a physical quantity that is not expressed in terms of a unit or units in the metric system of measurement by substituting for that reference a reference to a physical quantity expressed in terms of a unit or units in the metric system of measurement.\n\n(3) The quantity to be substituted need not be the exact metric equivalent of the quantity being replaced but must not be more than 10% greater or less than the quantity being replaced.\n\n[Section 7 inserted: No. 8 of 2009 s. 91.]\n\n[First to Fourth Schedules omitted under the Reprints Act 1984 s. 7(4)(e) 4.]\n\n![A:\\dline.gif]()\n\nNotes\n\n1 This reprint is a compilation as at 11 September 2009 of the *Metric Conversion Act 1972* and includes the amendments made by the other written laws referred to in the following table. The table also contains information about any reprint.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Short title** | **Number and year** | **Assent** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *Metric Conversion Act 1972* | 94 of 1972 | 4 Dec 1972 | 4 Dec 1972 (see s. 2) |\n| *Metric Conversion Act Amendment Act 1973* | 19 of 1973 | 6 Jun 1973 | s. 1-4: 6 Jun 1973   Amendment effected by Second Schedule to *Metric Conversion Act 1972* by Act No. 19 of 1973 took effect 11 Jan 1974 (see *Gazette* 4 Jan 1974 p. 52) |\n| *Metric Conversion Act Amendment Act (No. 2) 1973* | 83 of 1973 | 21 Dec 1973 | 21 Dec 1973 |\n| *Metric Conversion Act Amendment Act 1975* | 42 of 1975 | 11 Sep 1975 | 11 Sep 1975 |\n| *Local Government (Consequential Amendments) Act 1996* s. 4 | 14 of 1996 | 28 Jun 1996 | 1 Jul 1996 (see s. 2) |\n| *Statutes (Repeals and Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2009* s. 91 | 8 of 2009 | 21 May 2009 | 22 May 2009 (see s. 2(b)) |\n| **Reprint 1: The *Metric Conversion Act 1972* as at 11 Sep 2009** (includes amendments listed above) | | | |\n\n\n2 The provisions in this Act amending these Acts have been omitted under the *Reprints Act 1984* s. 7(4)(e).\n\n3\t*Metric Conversion Act 1970* (Cwlth) repealed by *Weights and Measures (National Standards) Amendment Act 1984* (No. 77 of 1984).\n\n4 The First to Fourth Schedules set out the amendments to be effected by section 4. As those amendments have been made, the Schedules are spent and are omitted under the *Reprints Act 1984* s. 7(4)(e).\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\nmetric system of measurement 3\n\nstatutory instrument 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"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose of facilitating metric conversion. The 2009 amendment (section 7) added a regulation-making power for subsidiary legislation, but this is a logical extension of the existing scheme rather than scope creep. The Schedules containing specific amendments were omitted once spent, which is standard maintenance, not expansion."},"complexity_factors":["Only 2 defined terms in the interpretation section (section 3)","Straightforward conditional logic: the 10% variance rule in sections 5(2)(b) and 7(3)","Minimal cross-referencing — only internal references to other sections of this Act","Short length (7 sections, with section 4 and the Schedules omitted as spent)","Simple procedural safeguards (tabling and disallowance) in section 5(3)-(4)","Single purpose legislation with narrow scope — metric conversion only"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a Western Australian law from 1972 that helped Australia switch from imperial measurements (like feet, pounds, and gallons) to the metric system (metres, kilograms, litres).\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Gives the government power to update old laws** that used imperial measurements, changing them to metric equivalents without needing to pass a whole new Act through Parliament each time.\n- **Allows amendments by proclamation** — the Governor can issue a formal announcement (proclamation) to change measurement references in existing Acts, provided the new metric amount is within 10% of the old imperial amount.\n- **Covers regulations and rules too** — Ministers can update statutory instruments (regulations, by-laws, etc.) through Gazette notices, again with Governor approval.\n- **Parliamentary oversight** — any proclamation must be tabled in Parliament and can be disallowed (cancelled) by either House within 14 sitting days.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Government drafters and legal editors who maintain Western Australian legislation.\n- Anyone reading older WA laws that still contain imperial references (though most have been converted by now).\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis was the legal machinery that allowed WA to complete metric conversion smoothly in the 1970s without clogging up Parliament with hundreds of tiny amendment bills just to change \"miles\" to \"kilometres\" or \"pounds\" to \"kilograms\"."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Act's core purpose—facilitating metric conversion—remains, but its scope has been expanded since enactment. The 2009 insertion of section 7 added a power for the Governor, on ministerial recommendation, to amend subsidiary legislation via regulations (see s7, inserted 2009), thereby extending administrative amendment ability beyond proclamations and ministerial notices (s5–s6). Section 3 was also amended in 1996 to update definitions, reflecting incremental broadening of instruments and delegated powers over time."},"complexity_factors":["Delegated amendment powers to the Governor by proclamation (s5) increase executive discretion over primary legislation references.","Ministerial power to amend statutory instruments with Governor's approval and Gazette notice (s6) creates multiple administrative routes.","Power to amend subsidiary legislation via regulations on ministerial recommendation (s7) broadens the classes of instruments subject to administrative change.","Parliamentary oversight by disallowance of proclamations/notices provides a legislative check but relies on timing windows (s5(3)–(4), s6(2)).","Numeric constraint requiring substituted quantities to be within ±10% of original amounts imposes a measurable technical limit (s5(2)(b), s7(3)).","Wide definition of 'statutory instrument' (s3) covers proclamations, regulations, local laws, by‑laws and notices, expanding the scope of potential amendments.","Timing and commencement rules (s5(2)(a))—effective dates cannot precede Gazette publication—require administrative coordination."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act lets Western Australian authorities replace non‑metric references in Acts, regulations and other legal instruments with metric equivalents. It authorises the Governor (by proclamation) and Ministers (by notice) to make those substitutions and allows regulations to amend subsidiary legislation (s5, s6, s7). \n\nDecisions are taken by the Governor or responsible Minister but Parliament may disallow proclamations/notices; substituted quantities must stay within ±10% of the original (s5(2), s7(3)). Affected agencies, businesses and instrument drafters bear the compliance and updating costs."},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as no legislative text was provided. The source material returned only a website error message and an Acknowledgement of Country, containing no substantive legal content to analyse."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative content was retrievable — the page returned a 'no longer available' error message rather than actual legislation","Any complexity assessment of the underlying Act is impossible without access to its text","The Metric Conversion Act 1972 is historically known to be relatively straightforward in purpose, but specific provisions, schedules, or amendments cannot be evaluated"],"plain_english_summary":"## ⚠️ Content Unavailable\n\nThe requested legislation — the **Metric Conversion Act 1972 (Western Australia)** — could not be retrieved. The page no longer exists at its previous web address due to system and security upgrades on the Western Australian legislation website.\n\n**What we do know generally:** The Metric Conversion Act 1972 was legislation designed to transition Australia from imperial measurements (like inches, pounds, and gallons) to the metric system (metres, kilograms, litres). This was part of a national push in the early 1970s to standardise measurements across commerce, industry, and everyday life.\n\n**What you should do:** To find the current text of this Act, visit the Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office website directly and search using the menu — do not rely on old bookmarks or links."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/metric-conversion-act-1972","history":"/api/acts/metric-conversion-act-1972/history","analysis":"/api/acts/metric-conversion-act-1972/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/metric-conversion-act-1972/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/metric-conversion-act-1972/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/metric-conversion-act-1972/documents"}}