{"id":"a-1976-56","name":"Nudity Act 1976","slug":"nudity-act-1976","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"act","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"56 of 1976","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":23996,"registerId":"act-a-1976-56-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Nudity Act 1976","content":"Australian Capital Territory\nNudity Act 1976\nA1976-56\nRepublication No 4\nEffective: 14 October 2015\nRepublication date: 14 October 2015\nLast amendment made by A2015-33\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel\n\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\nAbout this republication\nThe republished law\nThis is a republication of the Nudity Act 1976 (including any amendment made under the\nLegislation Act 2001, part 11.3 (Editorial changes)) as in force on 14 October 2015. It also\nincludes any commencement, amendment, repeal or expiry affecting this republished law to\n14 October 2015.\nThe legislation history and amendment history of the republished law are set out in endnotes 3\nand 4.\nKinds of republications\nThe Parliamentary Counsel’s Office prepares 2 kinds of republications of ACT laws (see the\nACT legislation register at www.legislation.act.gov.au):\n authorised republications to which the Legislation Act 2001 applies\n unauthorised republications.\nThe status of this republication appears on the bottom of each page.\nEditorial changes\nThe Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3 authorises the Parliamentary Counsel to make editorial\namendments and other changes of a formal nature when preparing a law for republication.\nEditorial changes do not change the effect of the law, but have effect as if they had been made\nby an Act commencing on the republication date (see Legislation Act 2001, s 115 and s 117).\nThe changes are made if the Parliamentary Counsel considers they are desirable to bring the law\ninto line, or more closely into line, with current legislative drafting practice.\nThis republication does not include amendments made under part 11.3 (see endnote 1).\nUncommenced provisions and amendments\nIf a provision of the republished law has not commenced, the symbol U appears immediately\nbefore the provision heading. Any uncommenced amendments that affect this republished law\nare accessible on the ACT legislation register (www.legislation.act.gov.au). For more\ninformation, see the home page for this law on the register.\nModifications\nIf a provision of the republished law is affected by a current modification, the symbol M\nappears immediately before the provision heading. The text of the modifying provision appears\nin the endnotes. For the legal status of modifications, see the Legislation Act 2001, section 95.\nPenalties\nAt the republication date, the value of a penalty unit for an offence against this law is $150 for\nan individual and $750 for a corporation (see Legislation Act 2001, s 133).\n\nR4\n14/10/15\nNudity Act 1976\nEffective: 14/10/15\ncontents 1\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\nAustralian Capital Territory\nNudity Act 1976\nContents\nPage\n1 Name of Act 2\n1A Notes 2\n2 Prescribed areas 2\n3 Public notice of declaration 2\n4 Being naked in prescribed area 2\nEndnotes\n1 About the endnotes 3\n2 Abbreviation key 3\n3 Legislation history 4\n4 Amendment history 5\n5 Earlier republications 6\n\n\n\nR4\n14/10/15\nNudity Act 1976\nEffective: 14/10/15\npage 1\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\nAustralian Capital Territory\nNudity Act 1976\nAn Act to permit nudity in certain public places\n\nSection 1\npage 2 Nudity Act 1976\nEffective: 14/10/15\nR4\n14/10/15\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\n1 Name of Act\nThis Act is the Nudity Act 1976.\n1A Notes\nA note included in this Act is explanatory and is not part of this Act.\nNote See the Legislation Act, s 127 (1), (4) and (5) for the legal status of\nnotes.\n2 Prescribed areas\n(1) The Minister may, in writing, declare an area to be a prescribed\narea.\n(2) A declaration is a notifiable instrument.\nNote A notifiable instrument must be notified under the Legislation Act.\n3 Public notice of declaration\n(1) Within 7 days after making a declaration under section 2, the\nMinister must give additional public notice of the declaration.\n(2) A declaration is not invalid if the Minister does not comply with\nsubsection (1).\nNote Public notice means notice on an ACT government website or in a daily\nnewspaper circulating in the ACT (see Legislation Act, dict, pt 1). The\nrequirement in s (1) is in addition to the requirement for notification on\nthe legislation register as a notifiable instrument.\n4 Being naked in prescribed area\nA person does not commit an offence against a territory law only\nbecause the person is naked in an area declared by the Minister\nunder section 2 to be a prescribed area.\n\nEndnotes\nAbout the endnotes 1\nR4\n14/10/15\nNudity Act 1976\nEffective: 14/10/15\npage 3\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\nEndnotes\n1 About the endnotes\nAmending and modifying laws are annotated in the legislation history and the\namendment history. Current modifications are not included in the republished\nlaw but are set out in the endnotes.\nNot all editorial amendments made under the Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3 are\nannotated in the amendment history. Full details of any amendments can be\nobtained from the Parliamentary Counsel’s Office.\nUncommenced amending laws are not included in the republished law. The\ndetails of these laws are underlined in the legislation history. Uncommenced\nexpiries are underlined in the legislation history and amendment history.\nIf all the provisions of the law have been renumbered, a table of renumbered\nprovisions gives details of previous and current numbering.\nThe endnotes also include a table of earlier republications.\n2 Abbreviation key\nA = Act NI = Notifiable instrument\nAF = Approved form o = order\nam = amended om = omitted/repealed\namdt = amendment ord = ordinance\nAR = Assembly resolution orig = original\nch = chapter par = paragraph/subparagraph\nCN = Commencement notice pres = present\ndef = definition prev = previous\nDI = Disallowable instrument (prev...) = previously\ndict = dictionary pt = part\ndisallowed = disallowed by the Legislative r = rule/subrule\nAssembly reloc = relocated\ndiv = division renum = renumbered\nexp = expires/expired R[X] = Republication No\nGaz = gazette RI = reissue\nhdg = heading s = section/subsection\nIA = Interpretation Act 1967 sch = schedule\nins = inserted/added sdiv = subdivision\nLA = Legislation Act 2001 SL = Subordinate law\nLR = legislation register sub = substituted\nLRA = Legislation (Republication) Act 1996 underlining = whole or part not commenced\nmod = modified/modification or to be expired\n\nEndnotes\n3 Legislation history\npage 4 Nudity Act 1976\nEffective: 14/10/15\nR4\n14/10/15\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\n3 Legislation history\nThis Act was originally a Commonwealth ordinance—the Nudity Ordinance 1976\n(Cwlth).\nThe Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 (Cwlth), s 34 (4)\nconverted most former Commonwealth ordinances in force in the ACT into ACT\nenactments. This allowed the ACT Legislative Assembly to amend and repeal the\nlaws. This Act was converted into an ACT enactment on 11 May 1989 (self-\ngovernment day).\nAs with most ordinances in force in the ACT, the name was changed from\nOrdinance to Act by the Self-Government (Citation of Laws) Act 1989 A1989-21,\ns 5 on 11 May 1989 (self-government day).\nBefore 11 May 1989, ordinances commenced on their notification day unless\notherwise stated (see Seat of Government (Administration) Act 1910 (Cwlth),\ns 12).\nLegislation before becoming Territory enactment\nNudity Act 1976 A1976-56\nnotified 10 November 1976\ncommenced 10 November 1976\nas amended by\nLegislation after becoming Territory enactment\nLegislation (Consequential Amendments) Act 2001 A2001-44 pt 261\nnotified 26 July 2001 (Gaz 2001 No 30)\ns 1, s 2 commenced 26 July 2001 (IA s 10B)\npt 261 commenced 12 September 2001 (s 2 and see Gaz 2001\nNo S65)\nStatute Law Amendment Act 2005 (No 2) A2005-62 sch 3 pt 3.16\nnotified LR 21 December 2005\ns 1, s 2 commenced 21 December 2005 (LA s 75 (1))\nsch 3 pt 3.16 commenced 11 January 2006 (s 2 (1))\n\nEndnotes\nAmendment history 4\nR4\n14/10/15\nNudity Act 1976\nEffective: 14/10/15\npage 5\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\nRed Tape Reduction Legislation Amendment Act 2015 A2015-33\nsch 1 pt 1.48\nnotified LR 30 September 2015\ns 1, s 2 commenced 30 September 2015 (LA s 75 (1))\nsch 1 pt 1.48 commenced 14 October 2015 (s 2)\n4 Amendment history\nNotes\ns 1A ins A2005-62 amdt 3.163\nPrescribed areas\ns 2 sub A2001-44 amdt 1.2960\nPublic notice of declaration\ns 3 sub A2001-44 amdt 1.2960; A2015-33 amdt 1.158\nBeing naked in prescribed area\ns 4 sub A2005-62 amdt 3.164\n\nEndnotes\n5 Earlier republications\npage 6 Nudity Act 1976\nEffective: 14/10/15\nR4\n14/10/15\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\n5 Earlier republications\nSome earlier republications were not numbered. The number in column 1 refers to\nthe publication order.\nSince 12 September 2001 every authorised republication has been published in\nelectronic pdf format on the ACT legislation register. A selection of authorised\nrepublications have also been published in printed format. These republications\nare marked with an asterisk (*) in column 1. Electronic and printed versions of an\nauthorised republication are identical.\nRepublication No Amendments to Republication date\n1 not amended 31 May 1991\n2 A2001-44 9 August 2002\n3 A2005-62 11 January 2006\n© Australian Capital Territory 2015","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"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":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose. Originally enacted as the Nudity Ordinance 1976, it has always been about permitting nudity in specifically declared areas. The amendments since 1976 have been minor housekeeping updates—converting from Commonwealth ordinance to ACT enactment, updating legislative references (e.g., to the Legislation Act 2001), and modernising the public notice requirements. The core mechanism (Minister declares area → nudity permitted there) has remained unchanged for nearly 40 years."},"complexity_factors":["Only 4 operative sections (1, 1A, 2, 3, 4)","No defined terms in the body of the Act","Minimal cross-referencing (only references to 'notifiable instrument' and 'Legislation Act')","Simple conditional logic: declaration by Minister → public notice → immunity from offence","Single exception in section 3(2) regarding validity of declarations","Extremely short length (approximately 2 pages of substantive law)"],"plain_english_summary":"This law lets the ACT Minister designate specific public places as prescribed areas where being naked is not an offence. It requires public notice of such declarations but keeps the legal exception valid even if notice is missed.\n\nIt affects anyone who uses public spaces, the Minister who makes declarations, and enables legal nude beaches (e.g., Murrays Beach)."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The core effect — that nudity in Minister‑declared 'prescribed areas' is not an offence (s2, s4) — remains the Act’s substantive scope. Amendments recorded in the endnotes (A2001-44, A2005-62, A2015-33) and republication relate to conversion to ACT enactment, editorial updates, and procedural notification requirements (s3), rather than a material expansion or contraction of the Act’s substantive coverage."},"complexity_factors":["Single substantive rule (s4): being naked in a declared area is not an offence — reduces legal complexity.","Ministerial discretion to declare areas (s2) concentrates decision-making power in one office.","Declarations are notifiable instruments (s2(2)), tying the measure to delegated‑legislation processes and the legislation register.","Public‑notice requirement within 7 days (s3(1)) paired with a non‑invalidity clause (s3(2)) creates a procedural compliance point and a source of legal uncertainty.","Absence of definitions for key terms like “area” and lack of procedural detail on delimitation of boundaries increases scope for factual disputes."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act allows people to be naked without committing a territory offence in public places the Minister formally declares to be ‘prescribed areas’ (s2, s4). It therefore affects members of the public and operators of land or venues that might be declared.\n\nThe Minister makes written, notifiable declarations and must give public notice within 7 days, although failure to give that notice does not invalidate a declaration (s2(2), s3). The law places decision authority with the Minister, requires limited administrative notification, and creates potential uncertainty about exact lawful locations."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/nudity-act-1976","history":"/api/acts/nudity-act-1976/history","analysis":"/api/acts/nudity-act-1976/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/nudity-act-1976/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/nudity-act-1976/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/nudity-act-1976/documents"}}