{"id":"C1939L00055","name":"National Registration Regulations","slug":"national-registration-regulations","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"repealed","isInForce":false,"actNumber":"55 of 1939","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":22032,"registerId":"commonwealth-C1939L00055-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","status":"Repealed","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"National Registration Regulations","content":"STATUTORY RULES.\n\n1939\\. No. 55.\n\nREGULATIONS UNDER THE NATIONAL REGISTRATION ACT 1939.\\*\n\nI, THE DEPUTY OF THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL in and over the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, hereby make the following Regulations under the National Registration Act 1939.\n\nDated this sixth day of July, 1939.\n\n![Signature of the Deputy of the Governor-General. ](image.001.jpeg)\n\nDeputy of the Governor-General.\n\nby his Excellency’s command.\n\n![Signature of the Minister of State for Defence. ](image.002.jpeg)\n\nMinister of State for Defence.\n\nNational Registration Regulations.\n\nCitation.\n\n1. These Regulations may be cited as the National Registration Regulations.\n\nDefinition.\n\n2. In these Regulations, “the Act” means the National Registration Act 1939.\n\nDeclaration by officers.\n\n3. The declaration to be made by officers in pursuance of section 11 of the Act shall be in accordance with the form of declaration contained in the Schedule to these Regulations.\n\nPerscribed value of property.\n\n4. For the purposes of sub-section (2.) of section 17 of the Act, the prescribed value of property shall be Five hundred pounds.\n\nMethod of filling in and furnishing property census forms.\n\n5.—(1.) For the purpose of the census of property directed to be taken under the Act, every person who is required to fill in and furnish to the Commonwealth Statistician a form or forms in pursuance of sub-section (2.) of section 17 of the Act shall—\n\n(a) obtain, or cause to be obtained, the form or forms which he is so required to fill in and furnish;\n\n(b) fill in and supply in the form or forms, in accordance with the instructions contained in or accompanying it or them, all the particulars specified therein;\n\n(c) except in the case of a company or other corporate body, sign his name to the form; and\n\n(d) within the time specified in the Proclamation by which the census is directed to be taken, transmit the form or forms to the Commonwealth Statistician in accordance with the instructions contained in or accompanying it or them.\n\n(2.) The form to be filled in and furnished by a company or other corporate body in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2.) of section 17 of the Act shall be signed by the legal representative of the company or corporate body. For the purposes of this sub-regulation, the expression “legal representative” means, in relation to any company or corporate body, the secretary or manager, or a director or other principal executive officer of the company or corporate body.\n\n\\* Notified in the Commonwealth Gazette on July, 1939.\n\n3523.—8/3.7.1939.—Price 3d.  \n\n(3.) Where a person—\n\n(a) holds property on behalf of some other person; or\n\n(b) is the agent of a person absent from Australia,\n\nhe shall fill in and furnish a separate form in respect of the property of each of those persons.\n\n(4.) Where the secretary or other prescribed officer of a company is required to fill in and furnish a form in respect of shares in or debentures of that company owned by persons outside Australia, he shall fill in and furnish a form separate from the form filled in and furnished in respect of the property of the company.\n\n(5.) Where a company has no secretary, the manager, or where a company has neither a secretary, or a manager, a director, of the company shall be the prescribed officer of the company for the purposes of sub-section (4.) of section 17 of the Act.\n\nNotification of change of address.\n\n6. A person required by section 22 of the Act to notify his change of address shall notify that change by obtaining from a post office or postal receiving office a card provided for the purpose and filling in and transmitting the card to the Commonwealth Statistician.\n\nPosters.\n\n7. For the purposes of any census directed to be taken under the Act, the Commonwealth Statistician may prepare posters in relation to the census for display at post offices and postal receiving offices throughout the Commonwealth, and at such other place or places as the Minister directs.\n\nEnvelopes.\n\n8. The Commonwealth Statistician may prepare and make available at post offices and postal receiving offices envelopes for the transmission of papers or forms required by the Act or these Regulations to be filled in and transmitted to the Commonwealth Statistician.\n\nCircular letters to Postmasters.\n\n9. The Commonwealth Statistician may prepare and furnish to Postmasters or persons in charge of postal receiving offices circular letters of instruction in relation to any census directed to be taken under the Act or matters arising therefrom.\n\nAcknowledgment cards.\n\n10. All acknowledgments by Postmasters, or persons in charge of postal receiving offices, of papers or forms supplied by the Commonwealth Statistician for the purposes of the Act shall be on cards designed and made available by the Commonwealth Statistician.\n\nCircular letters regarding forms incorrectly filled in.\n\n11. Where it appears to the Commonwealth Statistician that forms required by the Act to be filled in have been incorrectly filled in, he may send circular letters of instruction in relation thereto to the persons who have filled in the forms.\n\nTHE SCHEDULE.\n\nReg. 3.\n\nNational Registration Act 1939.\n\nDeclaration by Officer under Section 11.\n\nI, of\n\nbeing an officer executing powers and duties conferred and imposed upon me under the National Registration Act 1939, do solemnly and sincerely promise and declare that I will faithfully and to the best of my ability execute the powers  \n\nand duties so conferred and imposed upon me, and that I will not desert from my duty, or refuse or wilfully neglect, without just cause, to perform the duties of my office, or wilfully or without lawful authority alter any document or form under the said Act, or wilfully sign any untrue document or form, or, except as allowed by the said Act, divulge the contents of any form filled in in pursuance of the said Act, or any information furnished in pursuance of the said Act.\n\nDeclared at this\n\nday of , 19 .\n\n.................................................................................\n\n(Signature of officer.)\n\nBefore me—\n\n.................................................................................\n\n(Signature of Justice of the Peace, Commissioner for Declarations or Commissioner for Affidavits.)\n\nBy Authority: L. F. Johnston, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument is an original set of regulations that established the administrative framework for the 1939 national registration and property census; it does not amend, repeal or modify any other legislation."},"complexity_factors":["The regulation contains straightforward administrative instructions with no complex legal concepts, and uses clear language and defined forms."],"plain_english_summary":"The National Registration Regulations 1939 set out the administrative procedures for the wartime national registration and property census: who must complete and sign forms, how to notify address changes, and how forms are to be lodged and corrected. Applying to individuals, companies and agents, they are the practical, now-historical rules that enabled systematic collection of personal and property data during early WWII."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/national-registration-regulations","history":"/api/acts/national-registration-regulations/history","analysis":"/api/acts/national-registration-regulations/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/national-registration-regulations/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/national-registration-regulations/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/national-registration-regulations/documents"}}