{"id":"national-trust-northern-territory-act-1976","name":"National Trust (Northern Territory) Act 1976","slug":"national-trust-northern-territory-act-1976","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"nt","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":30324,"registerId":"nt-national-trust-northern-territory-act-1976-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"National Trust (Northern Territory) Act 1976","content":"NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA\nNATIONAL TRUST (NORTHERN TERRITORY) ACT 1976\nAs in force at 28 August 2013\nTable of provisions\n1 Short title ......................................................................................... 1\n2 Definitions ........................................................................................ 1\n3 Incorporation.................................................................................... 1\n4 Taking over of assets and liabilities of Northern Territory\nNational Trust Incorporated ............................................................. 2\n5 Membership of Trust ........................................................................ 2\n6 Objects of Trust ............................................................................... 2\n7 Branches and branch committees ................................................... 3\n9 Financial year of branch committees ............................................... 3\n10 Council of the Trust ......................................................................... 3\n11 Report and statement, &c., to be tabled in Legislative\nAssembly ......................................................................................... 4\n12 Exemption from rates and taxes ...................................................... 4\n13 Power of Council to make by-laws ................................................... 4\n14 Rules ............................................................................................... 5\nENDNOTES\n\n\n\nNORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA\n____________________\nAs in force at 28 August 2013\n____________________\nNATIONAL TRUST (NORTHERN TERRITORY) ACT 1976\nAn Act to establish a body to be known as The National Trust of\nAustralia Northern Territory\n1 Short title\nThis Act may be cited as the National Trust (Northern Territory)\nAct 1976.\n2 Definitions\nIn this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:\nbranch and branch committee mean respectively a branch of the\nTrust constituted by the Council under section 7(1) and a committee\nestablished for a branch pursuant to section 7(3).\nCouncil means the Council of the National Trust.\ncouncillor means a member of the Council.\nrules means the rules of the Trust made by the Council under\nsection 14.\nTrust and National Trust mean The National Trust of Australia\n(Northern Territory) established and incorporated under this Act.\n3 Incorporation\n(1) There is established by this Act a Trust by the name of \"The\nNational Trust of Australia (Northern Territory)\".\n(2) The Trust:\n(a) is a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common\nseal;\n(b) may acquire, hold and dispose of, and manage, control and\ndeal with, real and personal property;\n(c) may sue and be sued in its corporate name; and\n\nNational Trust (Northern Territory) Act 1976 2\n(d) is capable of doing and suffering all such acts and things as\nbodies corporate may by law do or suffer.\n(3) All courts, judges and persons acting judicially shall take judicial\nnotice of the common seal of the Trust affixed to a document and\nshall presume that it was duly affixed.\n4 Taking over of assets and liabilities of Northern Territory\nNational Trust Incorporated\n(1) The assets and liabilities of the Northern Territory National Trust\nIncorporated, an association incorporated under the Associations\nIncorporation Act 1963, are acquired and accepted by the Trust.\n(2) The Northern Territory National Trust Incorporated is dissolved.\n(3) The Trust shall carry out, complete or give effect to all dealings,\ntransactions or matters that the incorporated association, if it still\nexisted, would be legally or equitably bound to do, as if the Trust\nwere that incorporated association.\n(4) The certificate of incorporation of the Association under the\nAssociations Incorporation Act 1963 is cancelled.\n5 Membership of Trust\nThe Trust shall consist of the persons and bodies corporate who\nare for the time being members of the Trust in accordance with the\nrules.\n6 Objects of Trust\nThe Trust is established for the purposes of promoting:\n(a) the preservation and maintenance, for the benefit of the\npeople of Australia, of lands and buildings of beauty or\nhistoric, scientific, artistic, or architectural interest and, in\nrespect of lands, the preservation (as far as practicable) of\ntheir natural aspect, features and animal and plant life;\n(b) the protection and augmentation of the amenities of such\nlands and buildings and their surroundings;\n(c) the preservation of furniture and pictures and chattels of\nnational, historic, artistic or scientific interest;\n(d) the access to and enjoyment of such lands, buildings and\nchattels by the public; and\n\nNational Trust (Northern Territory) Act 1976 3\n(e) the co-operation with any corporation, body or society, either\nwithin or outside the Territory, having objects wholly or\nsubstantially similar to the objects of the Trust.\n7 Branches and branch committees\n(1) The Council may from time to time resolve that the members of the\nTrust for the time being resident in or otherwise connected with a\nspecified area shall constitute a branch of the Trust.\n(2) A resolution under subsection (1) shall specify the name of the\nbranch and the matters for which it is to be responsible.\n(3) The affairs of a branch shall be conducted by a branch committee,\nand rules:\n(a) shall make provision as to the composition and powers of\nbranch committees and with respect to the finances of\nbranches and their management;\n(b) without limiting the generality of section 14, may contain\nprovision with respect to any matter incidental or ancillary to a\nmatter specified in paragraph (a) or otherwise relating to the\nfunctioning of branch committees; and\n(c) may relate, in respect of any matter, to all branches or to a\nparticular branch or particular branches.\n(4) The number of branches constituted by virtue of this section shall\nnot exceed 18 at any one time.\n9 Financial year of branch committees\n(1) The financial year of each branch committee shall be the 12 months\nending 30 June.\n(2) Each branch committee shall maintain accounts in respect of the\nactivities of the branch and prepare a balance sheet to the end of\neach financial year for presentation to the Council.\n10 Council of the Trust\n(1) Subject to this Act, the affairs of the Trust shall be administered,\nmanaged and conducted by a council to be called \"The Council of\nthe National Trust\".\n(2) The Council shall consist of such number of members not\nexceeding 18 as is specified in the rules.\n\nNational Trust (Northern Territory) Act 1976 4\n(3) Members of the Council shall be elected by members of the Trust in\naccordance with the rules, and shall hold office as thereby\nprovided.\n(4) The rules shall secure that one member of the Council is elected by\neach branch.\n(5) The members of the Council shall elect annually one of their\nnumber to be President of the Trust, and the President shall also be\nchairman of the Council.\n(6) At a meeting of the Council the chairman of the meeting has, in\naddition to his deliberative vote, a casting vote.\n11 Report and statement, &c., to be tabled in Legislative\nAssembly\nThe Council shall cause to be prepared once in each year an\nannual report of the Trust's activities in the Territory and that report,\nand the statement of income and expenditure and balance sheet of\nthe Trust required by the rules to be prepared together with a\ncertificate from the auditor certifying the correctness of the\nstatement and balance sheet, shall be tabled in the Legislative\nAssembly at the next sitting of the Assembly after the preparation of\nthe report, statement or balance sheet, as the case may be.\n12 Exemption from rates and taxes\n(1) No taxes, rates (except water rates) or other imposts shall be\npayable under any law of the Territory on or in respect of any real\nproperty, whether freehold or leasehold, belonging to the Trust.\n(2) Succession duty shall not be payable under any law of the Territory\nin respect of any property derived by or accruing to the Trust.\n(3) An instrument by which any real or personal property is transferred\nto or vested in the Trust, or agreed to be so transferred or vested,\nshall be exempt from duty under the Stamp Duty Act 1978.\n13 Power of Council to make by-laws\n(1) The Council may make such by-laws, not inconsistent with this Act\nthat are necessary or convenient to make for the purpose of the\nadministration and enforcement of this Act.\n\nNational Trust (Northern Territory) Act 1976 5\n(2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), the Council may, in\nrespect of property vested in or controlled or managed by the Trust,\nmake by-laws, not inconsistent with this Act, for any of the following\npurposes:\n(a) for ensuring the safety and the preservation of, and preventing\ndamage to or destruction of, that property;\n(b) for regulating traffic and for ensuring orderly conduct on the\npart of visitors on that property;\n(c) for fixing the hours during which that property or any building\nor structure on that property shall be open to the public;\n(d) for fixing the payment to be made for admission to any\nproperty or any building or structure on any property and for\nproviding for the exclusion or removal from any property or\nfrom any part thereof or building or structure thereon, of\npersons who have not made the prescribed payment, or who\nbehave in a disorderly manner;\n(e) for preventing trespassing;\n(f) for preventing persons from injuring, destroying, taking or\nremoving, or in any way interfering with, animals, birds, trees\nand plants; and\n(g) for imposing the following maximum penalties for a\ncontravention of the by-laws:\n(i) for an individual – $50;\n(ii) for a corporation – 40 penalty units.\n14 Rules\n(1) The Council may make rules, not inconsistent with this Act:\n(a) with respect to any matter for which rules are required or\npermitted to provide by any of the preceding provisions of this\nAct; or\n(b) regulating in any other respect the membership, affairs,\nbusiness or management of the Trust.\n(2) For the making of a rule under this section, the agreement is\nrequired of members of the Council totalling two-thirds at least of\nthe number of members constituting a full Council.\n\nENDNOTES\nNational Trust (Northern Territory) Act 1976 6\nENDNOTES\n1 KEY\nKey to abbreviations\namd = amended od = order\napp = appendix om = omitted\nbl = by-law pt = Part\nch = Chapter r = regulation/rule\ncl = clause rem = remainder\ndiv = Division renum = renumbered\nexp = expires/expired rep = repealed\nf = forms s = section\nGaz = Gazette sch = Schedule\nhdg = heading sdiv = Subdivision\nins = inserted SL = Subordinate Legislation\nlt = long title sub = substituted\nnc = not commenced\n2 LIST OF LEGISLATION\nNational Trust (Northern Territory) Ordinance 1976 (Act No. 59, 1976)\nAssent date 16 November 1976\nCommenced 16 November 1976\nStatute Law Revision Act (No. 3) 1981 (Act No. 91, 1981)\nAssent date 21 September 1981\nCommenced 21 September 1981\nCompanies and Securities (Consequential Amendments) Act 1986 (Act No. 18, 1986)\nAssent date 30 June 1986\nCommenced 1 July 1986 (s 2)\nNational Trust (Northern Territory) Amendment Act 1986 (Act No. 66, 1986)\nAssent date 19 December 1986\nCommenced ss 1 – 3, 4(c), 8 and 11: 19 December 1986;\nrem: 30 September 1987 (Gaz G39, 30 September 1987, p 6)\nCorporations (Consequential Amendments) Act 1990 (Act No. 59, 1990)\nAssent date 14 December 1990\nCommenced 1 January 1991 (s 2, s 2 Corporations (NT) Act 1990 (Act\nNo. 56, 1990) and Gaz S76, 21 December 1990)\nCorporations Reform (Consequential Amendments NT) Act 2001 (Act No. 17, 2001)\nAssent date 29 June 2001\nCommenced 15 July 2001 (s 2, s 2 Corporations Act 2001 (Cth Act No. 50,\n2001) and Cth Gaz S285, 13 July 2001)\nPenalties Amendment (Miscellaneous) Act 2013 (Act No. 23, 2013)\nAssent date 12 July 2013\nCommenced 28 August 2013 (Gaz G35, 28 August 2013, p 2)\n\nENDNOTES\nNational Trust (Northern Territory) Act 1976 7\n3 SAVINGS AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS\ns 11 National Trust (Northern Territory) Amendment Act 1986 (Act No. 66,\n1986)\n4 GENERAL AMENDMENTS\nGeneral amendments of a formal nature (which are not referred to in the table\nof amendments to this reprint) are made by the Interpretation Legislation\nAmendment Act 2018 (Act No. 22, 2018) to: ss 1, 4 and 12.\n5 LIST OF AMENDMENTS\nlt amd No. 91, 1981, s 2\ns 1 amd No. 91, 1981, s 2\ns 2 amd No. 91, 1981, s 2; No. 66, 1986, s 4\nss 3 – 4 amd No. 91, 1981, s 2\ns 7 amd No. 91, 1981, s 2\nsub No. 66, 1986, s 5\ns 8 rep No. 66, 1986, s 5\ns 9 amd No. 66, 1986, s 6\ns 10 amd No. 91, 1981, s 2; No. 66, 1986, s 7\ns 12 amd No. 91, 1981, s 2\ns 13 amd No. 91, 1981, s 2; No. 18, 1986, s 3; No. 66, 1986, s 8; No. 59, 1990,\ns 4; No. 17, 2001, s 21; No. 23, 2013, s 12\ns 14 amd No. 91, 1981, s 2\nsub No. 66, 1986, s 9\nsch hdg amd No. 91, 1981, s 2\nrep No. 66, 1986, s 10\nsch amd No. 91, 1981, s 2\nrep No. 66, 1986, s 10","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act as reprinted contains several later amendments (noted in the endnotes) that updated cross-references (for example to Corporations Acts), made formal drafting changes and updated penalty/administrative provisions (e.g. Penalties Amendment 2013). Those changes are largely consequential, technical or administrative and do not materially expand the Act’s core scope: creation of the Trust, its objects (preservation and public access), governance by Council and branches, its corporate powers, its reporting obligations and the tax/rate/duty exemptions for Trust property (ss 3, 6, 10, 11, 12). In short, the legislation has been modernised and tidied in places but has not grown significantly beyond its original purpose."},"complexity_factors":["Short, self-contained Act (14 substantive sections)","Small number of defined terms in s 2 (6 definitions)","Limited cross-references (Associations Incorporation Act 1963; Stamp Duty Act 1978; penalty-unit framework)","Few conditional rules and exceptions (not more than 2–3 nested conditions per section)","Specific numeric caps (max 18 branches; Council size not exceeding 18)","Rule-making threshold: 2/3 Council majority required (s 14(2))","Multiple historical amendments listed in endnotes (formal and consequential amendments increase reader attention but not substantive complexity)"],"plain_english_summary":"The Act creates the National Trust of Australia (Northern Territory) as a corporate body, moves assets from the prior association, and sets governance by a member‑elected Council with branch committees. It gives the Trust corporate powers, by‑law and fee‑setting authority, and audit/reporting duties to the Legislative Assembly. Crucially, Trust property is exempt from Territory rates, stamp duty and succession duty (but not water rates), incentivising donations/transfers. It therefore promotes private stewardship of heritage while producing identifiable foregone public revenue."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"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"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains focused on its original purpose: establishing and empowering the National Trust of Australia (Northern Territory) for heritage conservation. While amended several times (notably in 1986 to restructure branch governance and in 2013 to update penalty units), these changes refined operational details rather than expanding the scope beyond heritage preservation and property management."},"complexity_factors":["Short statute with only 14 operative sections (one section, s 8, was repealed)","Minimal defined terms — only 6 definitions in section 2","Straightforward corporate structure with clear powers in section 3","Simple conditional logic — primarily 'may' powers rather than complex mandatory duties","Limited cross-referencing — mostly internal references to 'the rules' (governance rules made under s 14)","No nested exceptions or highly conditional provisions","Penalty provisions are simple fixed amounts (s 13(2)(g))","Some minor complexity in transition provisions (s 4) dealing with predecessor body's assets/liabilities"],"plain_english_summary":"This law creates **The National Trust of Australia (Northern Territory)** — a government-established body corporate (a legal entity that can own property, sue, and be sued) responsible for protecting heritage sites and natural areas in the NT.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Establishes the Trust** as a permanent legal body that can buy, sell, and manage land and buildings\n- **Takes over** an existing volunteer heritage group (Northern Territory National Trust Incorporated), absorbing all its assets and debts\n- **Sets the Trust's mission**: preserving historic buildings, beautiful landscapes, and culturally significant objects; protecting native plants and animals on Trust land; and letting the public visit these places\n- **Creates a governance structure**: A **Council** (up to 18 elected members) runs the Trust, with at least one member elected from each regional **branch** (local chapters, capped at 18 total)\n- **Gives tax breaks**: Trust property is exempt from most rates and taxes, and donations of property to the Trust don't attract stamp duty\n- **Allows rule-making**: The Council can make **by-laws** (rules with penalties up to $50 for individuals) to manage visitor behaviour, set opening hours, and protect heritage sites from damage\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Anyone who owns or visits heritage properties managed by the National Trust\n- Local communities with National Trust branches\n- People donating land or historic items to the Trust\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis law provides the legal backbone for heritage conservation in the Northern Territory. It transforms a volunteer association into a statutory body with real legal powers, property rights, and tax advantages — ensuring historic sites and natural areas can be protected long-term for public benefit."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/national-trust-northern-territory-act-1976","history":"/api/acts/national-trust-northern-territory-act-1976/history","analysis":"/api/acts/national-trust-northern-territory-act-1976/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/national-trust-northern-territory-act-1976/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/national-trust-northern-territory-act-1976/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/national-trust-northern-territory-act-1976/documents"}}