{"id":"mowanjum-community-bylaws-2005","name":"Mowanjum Community By-laws 2005","slug":"mowanjum-community-by-laws-2005","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":179087,"registerId":"wa-mowanjum-community-bylaws-2005-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Mowanjum Community By-laws 2005","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nAboriginal Communities Act 1979\n\nMowanjum Community By-laws 2005\n\nWestern Australia\n\nMowanjum Community By-laws 2005\n\nContents\n\n1. Introduction 1\n\n2. How the Governing Council makes decisions 1\n\n3. Giving and refusing permission 2\n\n4. Who can be on the community lands 2\n\n5. Places that are out of bounds 3\n\n6. Driving and traffic control 3\n\n7. Fires 4\n\n8. Damaging other people’s things 4\n\n9. Other people’s houses 4\n\n10. Alcohol and drugs 4\n\n11. Bad behaviour 5\n\n12. Guns 5\n\n13. Police powers 6\n\n14. Offences against these by‑laws 6\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 8\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nAboriginal Communities Act 1979\n\nMowanjum Community By-laws 2005\n\n##### 1. Introduction\n\n(1) These are the *Mowanjum Community By-laws 2005*.\n\n(2) These by-laws have been made by the Governing Council of the association called Mowanjum Aboriginal Corporation and approved by the Lieutenant-Governor and Administrator.\n\n(3) The Mowanjum Aboriginal Corporation is an Aboriginal community to which the *Aboriginal Communities Act 1979* applies.\n\n(4) As that Act says, these by-laws apply to you if you are on the community lands of that Aboriginal community and it does not matter if you are a member of the community or not.\n\n(5) Under that Act the Lieutenant-Governor and Administrator has said which lands are the community lands of the community.\n\n(6) You are a member of the community if you are a member of the Corporation under its constitution.\n\n(7) These by-laws are in addition to the laws of Western Australia.\n\n##### 2. How the Governing Council makes decisions\n\n(1) When it is making a decision under these by-laws the Governing Council will consider the welfare of the community as the most important consideration.\n\n(2) The Governing Council does not have to give reasons for any of its decisions under these by-laws.\n\n(3) The Governing Council can tell you about a decision it has made under these by-laws by speaking or writing to you or by putting up a notice of it in a public place on the community lands.\n\n##### 3. Giving and refusing permission\n\n(1) The Governing Council can permit a member of the Council or any other person to make decisions on its behalf about giving, refusing or taking away permission under these by-laws and if it does it must do so in writing.\n\n(2) If you want the Governing Council’s permission under these by‑laws to do something, you must ask the Council, or a person who the Council has permitted to make decisions on its behalf about giving or refusing permission.\n\n(3) If these by-laws allow the Governing Council to give permission to do something, it can give permission to any person or to any class of persons and also can at any time —\n\n- require the person or class of persons to comply with conditions when doing the thing; or\n- change or take away any such conditions; or\n- take away the permission.\n\n\n(4) If these by-laws allow the Governing Council to give permission to do something, it can refuse to give permission.\n\n##### 4. Who can be on the community lands\n\n(1) If you are a member of the community you can be on the community lands at any time except when you are removed by a member of the Police Force under by-law 13(3).\n\n(2) If you are not a member of the community, you can only be on the community lands if you have got permission from the Governing Council.\n\n(3) In order to ask for permission to be on the community lands you may enter the community lands, as long as you go straight to the Administration Office.\n\n(4) If you get permission to be on the community lands before you enter them, you must tell a member of the Governing Council of your arrival as soon as you do arrive.\n\n(5) If you get permission from the Governing Council to be on the community lands, you must obey any conditions imposed by the Council on you when you are on the lands.\n\n(6) If you do not obey those conditions when you are on the community lands, the Governing Council can order you to leave the lands and, if it does, you must leave immediately.\n\n##### 5. Places that are out of bounds\n\n(1) The Governing Council can decide that some places on the community lands are out of bounds to all people, or to some people, at all times or at some times.\n\n(2) The Governing Council can decide that some places on the community lands are out of bounds to all vehicles, or some vehicles, at all times or at some times.\n\n(3) You must not enter a place that the Governing Council has said is out of bounds to you.\n\n(4) The Governing Council can put up signs to say which places are out of bounds and which people can and cannot enter them.\n\n##### 6. Driving and traffic control\n\n(1) When you are driving you must drive carefully and not cause danger to your passengers or other people.\n\n(2) The Governing Council can put up signs telling drivers where they can drive, how fast they can drive and how they must drive.\n\n(3) When you are driving you must obey those signs.\n\n##### 7. Fires\n\n(1) The Governing Council can decide where fires cannot be lit on the community lands.\n\n(2) You must not light or use a fire on the community lands at a place where fires cannot be lit.\n\n(3) This by‑law does not stop you lighting or using a fire in or near a house for cooking or heating.\n\n(4) This by‑law does not let you break the law in the *Bush Fires Act 1954*.\n\n##### 8. Damaging other people’s things\n\nYou must not intentionally damage any thing that does not belong to you.\n\n##### 9. Other people’s houses\n\n(1) You must not enter another person’s house without their permission.\n\n(2) You must leave another person’s house if they ask you to leave.\n\n##### 10. Alcohol and drugs\n\n(1) For this by-law —\n\n- a “harmful substance” is any substance that may harm your health if you swallow or inhale it, such as glue or petrol; and\n- an “illegal drug” is any drug that it is illegal to possess under the laws of Western Australia.\n\n\n(2) Unless you have the Governing Council’s permission to do so you must not —\n\n- bring any alcohol on to the community lands; or\n- give any alcohol to another person; or\n- have or keep any alcohol; or\n- drink any alcohol.\n\n\n(3) You must not —\n\n- bring any illegal drug on to the community lands; or\n- give any illegal drug to another person; or\n- have or keep any illegal drug; or\n- deliberately swallow or inhale or inject yourself with any illegal drug or harmful substance.\n\n\n(4) If you are affected by alcohol or any drug or harmful substance you must go to your house and stay in it until you stop being affected.\n\n(5) This by-law does not stop you taking any medicine in the way it is meant to be taken or any drug that has been prescribed for you by a doctor or nurse.\n\n##### 11. Bad behaviour\n\n(1) You must not behave in an indecent or disorderly way such as by using bad, threatening or abusive language, fighting or being rowdy.\n\n(2) You must not interrupt any meeting of the Governing Council or the Community or any customary meeting by being noisy or by any other disorderly or offensive behaviour.\n\n##### 12. Guns\n\n(1) For this by-law a “gun” is any shotgun, rifle, pistol or other weapon that is a firearm under the *Firearms Act 1973*.\n\n(2) You must tell the person in charge of the Administration Office about every gun that you own.\n\n(3) You must tell the person in charge of the Administration Office about every gun that you bring on to the community lands, even if it is not your gun.\n\n(4) The person in charge of the Administration Office must keep a list of all the community members that have a gun.\n\n##### 13. Police powers\n\n(1) If a member of the Police Force believes a person is breaking, or has broken, one of these by‑laws, he or she can ask the person for the person’s name and address.\n\n(2) If a member of the Police Force asks you for your name and address under by‑law 13(1), you must tell him or her.\n\n(3) If a member of the Police Force believes a person is breaking, or has broken, one of these by‑laws, he or she can arrest the person and remove him or her from the community lands.\n\n(4) A person who is arrested under by‑law 13(3) must be released after being dealt with by a court for the breach and in any event must not be kept in custody for longer than 24 hours.\n\n(5) A member of the Police Force can remove anything from the community lands including but not limited to vehicles and animals.\n\n##### 14. Offences against these by‑laws\n\n(1) You commit an offence against these by‑laws —\n\n- if you do not obey one of these by‑laws; or\n- if you do not obey a condition that was imposed by the Governing Council when it gave you permission under these by‑laws to do something.\n\n\n(2) A member of the Police Force can charge a person with committing an offence against these by‑laws.\n\n(3) You will not be guilty of an offence against these by‑laws if you show the court that at the time of the offence you were a member of the community and that what you did was a custom of the community.\n\n(4) A court that finds a person guilty of an offence against these by‑laws can fine the person not more than $5 000.\n\n(5) If a court finds a person guilty of an offence against these by‑laws and finds that when the person committed the offence the person damaged property of another person or the Mowanjum Aboriginal Corporation, the court may order the person to pay compensation of not more than $250 to the other person or the corporation.\n\nNotes\n\n1 This is a compilation of the *Mowanjum Community By-laws 2005.* The following table contains information about those by-laws.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Citation** | **Gazettal** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| *Mowanjum Community By-laws 2005* | 21 Dec 2005 p. 6177-87 | 21 Dec 2005 |\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":[]},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as the legislative content is unavailable. No comparison between original intent and final form is possible from the information provided."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative text is available to assess complexity","The page has been removed from the Western Australian legislation website","Only metadata (title, year) and a broken-link notice were provided — no operative provisions, schedules, or definitions are accessible"],"plain_english_summary":"The Mowanjum Community By-laws 2005 would be a set of local, legally enforceable rules for the Mowanjum Aboriginal community near Derby (WA), governing community behaviour and local matters such as visitors, alcohol, animals and day‑to‑day governance. They directly affect residents and anyone on community land and matter for local order and safety.\n\nThe legislative text is currently unavailable; contact the WA Parliamentary Counsel’s Office, the Mowanjum Community or the WA Department of Communities for access."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The by-laws remain focused on their original purpose: providing basic governance, safety, and behavioural rules for a specific Aboriginal community. The scope covers standard community by-law matters (access control, alcohol, firearms, public order) without significant expansion beyond what would be expected for local community regulation."},"complexity_factors":["Short document: only 14 by-laws plus introduction","Minimal defined terms: only 3 explicit definitions ('harmful substance', 'illegal drug', 'gun')","Simple sentence structure throughout, written in accessible language","No cross-references to other legislation except incidental mentions of the Aboriginal Communities Act 1979, Bush Fires Act 1954, and Firearms Act 1973","No nested exceptions or complex conditional logic — most rules are straightforward prohibitions or permissions","Clear structure with numbered by-laws matching the table of contents"],"plain_english_summary":"These by-laws are the local rules for the Mowanjum Aboriginal community near Derby in Western Australia. They were made by the community's Governing Council under the Aboriginal Communities Act 1979.\n\n**Who they apply to:**\n- Everyone on the community lands — whether you're a community member or just visiting\n- Community members are people who belong to the Mowanjum Aboriginal Corporation\n\n**What they cover:**\n- **Access control:** Non-members need permission to enter the community lands, and the Governing Council can declare certain areas \"out of bounds\"\n- **Behaviour rules:** No fighting, abusive language, or disorderly conduct; no interrupting community meetings\n- **Alcohol and drugs:** Strict controls — you generally can't bring, keep, or drink alcohol without Council permission; illegal drugs and harmful substances (like petrol or glue) are completely banned\n- **Safety:** Rules about driving carefully, fire restrictions, and registering firearms with the Administration Office\n- **Property:** No damaging others' property, and no entering someone's house without permission\n\n**Enforcement:**\n- Police can ask for your name and address, arrest you for breaking by-laws, and remove you from the lands\n- Breaking these rules can result in fines up to $5,000 and compensation orders up to $250\n- There's a special defence: if you're a community member and what you did was a community custom, you're not guilty of the offence\n\n**Key feature:** These by-laws operate alongside regular Western Australian law — they add extra rules specific to this community rather than replacing state laws."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The by‑laws apply to the community lands identified under the Aboriginal Communities Act and govern access, conduct and local management consistent with that Act (s1(3)‑(5)). They allocate decision‑making to the Governing Council and enforcement to police and courts (s2, s13, s14) but do not, on their face, expand the community's legal reach beyond the powers expressed in the instrument."},"complexity_factors":["Broad discretion for the Governing Council to grant, condition, change or revoke permissions and to set out‑of‑bounds areas without having to give reasons (s2(1)‑(2), s3, s5).","Different regimes for members and non‑members: members may stay except when removed by police; non‑members need permission to be on the lands and must comply with conditions (s1(4), s4(1)‑(6)).","Enforcement by external authorities: police may require name/address, arrest and remove people, and seize items (s13(1)‑(5)).","Criminal penalties and civil compensation imposed by courts (fine up to $5,000; compensation up to $250 for damaged property), plus a statutory defence for customary conduct by members (s14(3)‑(5)).","Interplay with other state laws and Acts: by‑laws are additional to WA law and expressly do not override specialist Acts (s1(7), s7(4), s10(5)).","Specific administrative obligations such as gun reporting and record keeping by the Administration Office (s12(2)‑(4)).","Operational detail left to signs and notices (traffic, out‑of‑bounds), creating variable compliance obligations depending on on‑the‑ground markings (s5, s6)."],"plain_english_summary":"**These by-laws set rules for behaviour, access and safety on Mowanjum community lands, covering who may enter, vehicle and fire controls, alcohol/drug bans, gun reporting and penalties.** They apply to everyone on the community lands, members and non-members alike (s1(4), s4). The Governing Council decides permissions, out‑of‑bounds areas and conditions without having to give reasons (s2(1)‑(2), s3, s5); police enforce the rules and courts can fine up to $5,000 and order limited compensation (s13, s14(4)‑(5))."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/mowanjum-community-by-laws-2005","history":"/api/acts/mowanjum-community-by-laws-2005/history","analysis":"/api/acts/mowanjum-community-by-laws-2005/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/mowanjum-community-by-laws-2005/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/mowanjum-community-by-laws-2005/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/mowanjum-community-by-laws-2005/documents"}}