{"id":"F2016L00308","name":"Norfolk Island Administrator Ordinance 2016","slug":"norfolk-island-administrator-ordinance-2016","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":438596,"registerId":"F2016L00308-fast-fetch-1775954956703","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Norfolk Island Administrator Ordinance 2016","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nNorfolk Island Administrator Ordinance 2016\n\n \n\nOrdinance No. 2, 2016\n\nI, General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Ret’d), Governor‑General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, make the following Ordinance.\n\nDated 10 March 2016\n\nPeter Cosgrove\n\nGovernor‑General\n\nBy His Excellency’s Command\n\nPaul Fletcher\n\nMinister for Major Projects, Territories and Local Government\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1 Name\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Authority\n\n4 Definitions\n\n5 The Acts Interpretation Act 1901 does not apply\n\nPart 2—Administrator\n\n6 Establishment\n\n7 Appointment\n\n8 Functions and powers\n\n9 Outside employment\n\n10 Resignation\n\n11 Other terms and conditions\n\n12 Acting Administrator\n\n \n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This is the Norfolk Island Administrator Ordinance 2016.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this Ordinance specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this Ordinance At the same time as Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Norfolk Island Legislation Amendment Act 2015 commences. 1 July 2016\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this Ordinance as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Ordinance.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Ordinance. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Ordinance.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This Ordinance is made under section 19A of the Norfolk Island Act 1979.\n\n4  Definitions\n\n  In this Ordinance:\n\nAdministrator means the Administrator of the Territory appointed under section 7.\n\n5  The Acts Interpretation Act 1901 does not apply\n\n  The Acts Interpretation Act 1901 does not apply to this Ordinance.\n\nNote: The Interpretation Act 1979 (Norfolk Island) applies instead (because this Ordinance is an enactment for the purposes of that Act), and it is through section 8A of that Act that certain provisions of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 apply.\n\nPart 2—Administrator\n\n \n\n6  Establishment\n\n  There is to be an Administrator of the Territory.\n\n7  Appointment\n\n (1) The Administrator is to be appointed by the Governor‑General by written instrument.\n\nNote: For reappointment, see section 33AA of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (applying because of section 8A of the Interpretation Act 1979 (Norfolk Island)).\n\n (2) The Administrator holds office on a full‑time basis.\n\n (3) The Administrator holds office during the Governor‑General’s pleasure.\n\n8  Functions and powers\n\n (1) The Administrator must exercise all powers, and perform all functions, that are conferred on him or her by or under a law in force in the Territory in accordance with such written directions (if any) as are given to him or her by the responsible Commonwealth Minister under this subsection.\n\n (2) A direction under subsection (1) may be of a general or specific nature.\n\n (3) The responsible Commonwealth Minister may, by written notice given to the Administrator, direct that, before the Administrator exercises a specified power or performs a specified function, the Administrator must:\n\n (a) notify the responsible Commonwealth Minister of the Administrator’s intention to exercise that power or perform that function; and\n\n (b) do so at least the specified number of days before exercising that power or performing that function.\n\n9  Outside employment\n\n  The Administrator must not engage in paid employment outside the duties of his or her office without the responsible Commonwealth Minister’s approval.\n\n10  Resignation\n\n (1) The Administrator may resign his or her appointment by giving the Governor‑General a written resignation.\n\n (2) The resignation takes effect on the day it is received by the Governor‑General or, if a later day is specified in the resignation, on that later day.\n\n11  Other terms and conditions\n\n  The Administrator holds office on the terms and conditions (if any) in relation to matters not covered by an Act or this Ordinance that are determined by the responsible Commonwealth Minister.\n\n12  Acting Administrator\n\n (1) The responsible Commonwealth Minister may, by written instrument, appoint a person to act as the Administrator:\n\n (a) during a vacancy in the office of the Administrator (whether or not an appointment has previously been made to the office); or\n\n (b) during any period, or during all periods, when the Administrator:\n\n (i) is absent from duty or from the Territory; or\n\n (ii) is, for any reason, unable to perform the duties of the office.\n\nNote: Sections 33AB and 33A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (applying because of section 8A of the Interpretation Act 1979 (Norfolk Island)) have rules that apply to acting appointments.\n\n (2) If a person is appointed to act as the Administrator, the exercise of the powers and the performance of the functions of the Administrator by the person during the absence of the Administrator from duty or from the Territory does not affect the exercise of any power or the performance of any function by the Administrator.\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"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Ordinance implements and details the Administrator position under section 19A of the Norfolk Island Act 1979 by specifying appointment, duties, ministerial directions, terms and acting arrangements. It does not itself expand or narrow the Administrator’s substantive statutory powers beyond establishing procedural controls and ministerial supervision."},"complexity_factors":["Small number of short, clear provisions (appointment, functions, resignation, acting, outside employment).","Centralised discretion for the responsible Commonwealth Minister to issue written directions and set terms (creates administrative levers).","References and interplay with other statutes (Norfolk Island Act 1979; Interpretation Act 1979 (Norfolk Island); Acts Interpretation Act 1901) add cross‑instrument interpretation requirements.","Procedural compliance burdens on the Administrator: written‑notice requirements before exercising specified powers and prior approval for outside paid employment.","Acting appointment rules and reappointment/tenure concepts rely on external Acts (adds modest interpretive complexity)."],"plain_english_summary":"Creates the office of the Norfolk Island Administrator, appointed by the Governor‑General to serve full‑time and subject to the responsible Commonwealth Minister’s written directions. The Ordinance requires the Administrator to follow directions, seek ministerial approval for paid outside work, and comply with notice requirements before using specified powers; the Minister also sets other terms and can appoint acting Administrators. Who decides: the Commonwealth (Governor‑General and responsible Minister). Who bears compliance costs: the Administrator, via approval, notification and condition‑setting requirements."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: establishing the office of Administrator, appointment procedures, functions, and basic administrative arrangements. It has not expanded beyond this narrow remit."},"complexity_factors":["Very short statute (12 sections across 2 Parts)","Only 1 defined term ('Administrator')","Simple sequential structure with no nested exceptions","Minimal cross-referencing (only references to the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 and Interpretation Act 1979 (Norfolk Island) via notes)","Straightforward conditional logic (if vacancy/absence → acting appointment)","No delegated legislation provisions or complex machinery provisions"],"plain_english_summary":"This law creates the office of Administrator for Norfolk Island as the Australian federal government’s on‑island representative. Appointed by the Governor‑General and answerable to the federal minister, the Administrator exercises duties under Norfolk Island law subject to ministerial directions and acting arrangements. It affects the Administrator, Norfolk Island residents, and the territories minister, and matters because the island’s governance shifted from local self‑government to direct federal administration after 2015."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/norfolk-island-administrator-ordinance-2016","history":"/api/acts/norfolk-island-administrator-ordinance-2016/history","analysis":"/api/acts/norfolk-island-administrator-ordinance-2016/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/norfolk-island-administrator-ordinance-2016/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/norfolk-island-administrator-ordinance-2016/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/norfolk-island-administrator-ordinance-2016/documents"}}