{"id":"perth-anglican-church-of-australia-collegiate-school-act-1885","name":"Perth Anglican Church of Australia Collegiate School Act 1885","slug":"perth-anglican-church-of-australia-collegiate-school-act-1885","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":106007,"registerId":"wa-perth-anglican-church-of-australia-collegiate-school-act-1885-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Perth Anglican Church of Australia Collegiate School Act 1885","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nPerth Anglican Church of Australia Collegiate School Act 1885\n\nWestern Australia\n\nPerth Anglican Church of Australia Collegiate School Act 1885\n\nContents\n\n1. Body corporate dissolved 2\n\n2. Body corporate’s land etc. vested in Perth Diocesan Trustees on trust 2\n\n3. Rules and regulations may be made 2\n\n4. Lands etc. may be mortgaged 2\n\n6. Lands may be leased 3\n\n8. Crown and other rights reserved 4\n\n10. Short title 4\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 5\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nPerth Anglican Church of Australia Collegiate School Act 1885\n\nAn Act to dissolve the Corporation of ‘The Governors of the Perth Church of England Collegiate School’, and for other purposes 2.\n\nPreamble 2\n\nWhereas by an Ordinance of the Legislative Council, made and passed in the 29th year of the reign of Her present Majesty, No. 12, of 1863 3, the Lord Bishop of Perth, the Very Reverend the Dean of Perth, and the Venerable the Archdeacon of Perth, for the time being, and the other Governors for the time being of the Perth Church of England Collegiate School elected or thereafter to be elected in pursuance of the Statutes and Regulations thereof as adopted by the council of Governors, and specified and set forth in the Schedule to the said recited Ordinance annexed, were constituted and declared to be one Body Corporate by the name of ‘The Governors of the Perth Church of England Collegiate School’; And whereas the said Corporate Body has not been able to carry out the objects for which it was incorporated 4, and it is expedient to dissolve the same; And whereas the surviving Governors of the said Collegiate School and the majority of the principal donors of the funds contributed for the purpose of purchasing the School site, buildings, and premises, are desirous that the same should be vested in ‘The Standing Committee of the Synod of the West Australian Branch of the Church of England’ 5, to be held and applied by such Committee to such educational purposes as such Committee shall consider to be most nearly in accordance with the objects for which the said School was originally established; And whereas the said School site comprises the parcels of land known and marked on the Government plans of the city of Perth as allotments H 7 and H 1, containing together one and eight‑tenths acres or thereabouts;\n\nBe it therefore enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Western Australia and its Dependencies, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, as follows: —\n\n##### 1. Body corporate dissolved\n\nFrom and after the passing of this Act the said Body Corporate established by the said recited Ordinance by and under the name of ‘The Governors of the Perth Church of England Collegiate School’ shall be, and the same is hereby dissolved 2.\n\n##### 2. Body corporate’s land etc. vested in Perth Diocesan Trustees on trust\n\nThe said Perth allotments H 7 and H 1, together with the buildings thereon and all rights, easements, and appurtenances thereto belonging, and all other the lands, tenements, and hereditaments (if any) now belonging to or vested in ‘The Governors of the Perth Church of England Collegiate School’, shall be and are hereby henceforth vested in and shall be held and applied by ‘The Standing Committee of the Synod of the West Australian Branch of the Church of England’ 5 for such educational purposes as such Committee shall consider to be most nearly in accordance with the objects 4 for which the said School was originally established 2.\n\n##### 3. Rules and regulations may be made\n\nIt shall be lawful for the said Standing Committee 5 to make such rules and regulations for the management of any School or College that the said Committee may hereafter establish as to the said Standing Committee shall seem meet, and from time to time to amend, annul, or repeal such rules and regulations, and to make new rules and regulations in lieu thereof.\n\n##### 4. Lands etc. may be mortgaged\n\nAnd whereas the Right Reverend Henry Hutton Parry, Bishop of Perth, the chairman of the said Governors, has with the sanction of the said Governors expended certain moneys in building upon, repairing, and improving the said lands, tenements, and hereditaments, and it is deemed expedient to authorise the said Standing Committee 5 to raise, by mortgage of the said lands, tenements, and hereditaments hereby vested in the said Committee, sufficient funds for the repayment to the said Bishop of the moneys so expended by him as aforesaid, with the interest due thereon: Be it further enacted that it shall be lawful for the said Standing Committee to mortgage the said lands, tenements, and hereditaments, or any part thereof, in fee simple or for any term of years, for any sum of money not exceeding the sum of £1 400 6, in such manner as the said Committee shall think fit, and to assure the said lands, tenements, and hereditaments, or any part thereof, to the mortgagee or mortgagees thereof, his, her, or their heirs and assigns, either with or without a power of sale and leasing respectively, in case of default being made in the payment of the principal or interest moneys by such mortgage secured at the time or times therein appointed for the payment thereof respectively, and with such other powers and provisions as shall be deemed expedient; and to give receipts for the money so to be advanced; and the said lands, tenements, and hereditaments shall be held and enjoyed by the mortgagee or mortgagees thereof, his, her, or their heirs and assigns, freed and absolutely discharged from the trusts to which the same may for the time being be subject.\n\n[**5.** Deleted: 60 Vict. private Act s. 6.]\n\n##### 6. Lands may be leased\n\nThe said Standing Committee 5 may from time to time demise the same lands, tenements, and hereditaments, or any part thereof, to any person or persons, for any term of years not exceeding 7 years, at such rent or rents and under such covenants and conditions as the said Committee may think fit.\n\n[**7.** Deleted: 60 Vict. private Act s. 6.]\n\n##### 8. Crown and other rights reserved\n\nProvided that nothing herein contained shall be deemed to affect any right, title, or interest of Her Majesty, her heirs or successors, or of any body politic or corporate, or of any other person, save and except such as are mentioned herein, and those claiming by, from, through, and under them.\n\n[**9.** Omitted under the Reprints Act 1984 s. 7(4)(f).]\n\n##### 10. Short title\n\nThis Act may be cited as the *Perth Anglican Church of Australia Collegiate School Act 1885* 1.\n\n[Section 10 inserted: No. 81 of 1966 s. 2; amended: No. 121 of 1976 s. 7.]\n\n![dline]()\n\n\n\nNotes\n\n1 This reprint is a compilation as at 8 May 2015 of the *Perth Anglican Church of Australia Collegiate School Act 1885* and includes the amendments made by the other written laws referred to in the following table. The table also contains information about any reprint.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Short title** | **Number and year** | **Assent** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Untitled 7 | 1885 (49 Vict. No. 19) | 24 Sep 1885 | 24 Sep 1885 |\n| *Church of England School Lands Act 1896* s. 6 8 | 1896 60 Vict. Private Act | 27 Oct 1896 | 27 Oct 1896 |\n| *Statute Law Revision (Short Titles) Act 1966* s. 2 | 81 of 1966 | 12 Dec 1966 | 12 Dec 1966 |\n| *Anglican Church of Australia Act 1976* s. 7 | 121 of 1976 | 1 Dec 1976 | 24 Aug 1981 (see s. 2(2) and *Gazette* 30 Jan 1981 p. 441) |\n| **Reprint of the *Perth Anglican Church of Australia Collegiate School Act 1885* as at 20 Aug 1987** (includes amendments listed above) | | | |\n| **Reprint of the *Perth Anglican Church of Australia Collegiate School Act 1885* as at 3 May 2002** (includes amendments listed above) | | | |\n| **Reprint 3: The *Perth Anglican Church of Australia Collegiate School Act 1885* as at 8 May 2015** (includes amendments listed above) | | | |\n\n\n2 Under the *Anglican Church of Australia Act 1976* s. 7, a reference in a law of the State to “Church of England” or “Church of England in Western Australia” is to be construed as a reference to the “Anglican Church of Australia”, and that construction shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be and be deemed to be a direct amendment to that law. References in this provision have not been changed due to their context.  \n\n3 Act No. 29 Vict. No. 12 (1865) was repealed by this Act s. 9. The reference to “1863” seems to be an error.\n\n4 The objects are set out in the preamble to Act No. 29 Vict. No. 12 (1865) which relevantly reads:\n\nobject of teaching the Holy Scriptures in the Original Tongues, the Principles of the Christian Religion, Classics, and Mathematics, together with any Language, Art, Branch of Science, or of Literature that shall from time to time be deemed by the Authorities of the said School to constitute a sound and liberal education;\n\n5 The body “The Standing Committee of the Synod of the West Australian Branch of the Church of England” was incorporated by 38 Vict. No. 18 (1874). The 1874 Act was repealed by 52 Vict. No. 8 (1888) (now known as the *Anglican Church of Australia (Diocesan Trustees) Act 1888*). The 1888 Act replaced the Standing Committee referred to above with a new body “The Diocesan Trustees of the Church of England in Western Australia”. The name of that new body was changed to “The Perth Diocesan Trustees” by the *Church of England Diocesan Trustees and Lands Act 1918* s. 11 (now known as the *Anglican Church of Australia Diocesan Trustees and Lands Act 1918*). Section 5 of the 1888 Act reads as follows:\n\n5. Standing Committee replaced by Trustees\n\nThe words “Standing Committee”, in 49th Victoria, No. 19, shall be read as and taken to mean The Perth Diocesan Trustees, and all rights, powers, privileges, and discretions thereby conferred, and all duties thereby imposed upon the said Standing Committee shall be enjoyed, exercised, and performed by the said Diocesan Trustees.\n\n6 The reference to the old currency is of historical interest only and so has not been amended under the *Decimal Currency Act 1965.*\n\n7 Now known as the *Perth Anglican Church of Australia Collegiate School Act 1885.* The short title *Perth Church of England Collegiate School Act 1885* was  inserted by the *Statute Law Revision (Short Titles) Act 1966* s. 2 and subsequently changed by the *Anglican Church of Australia Act 1976* s. 7 (see note under s. 10).\n\n8 Now known as the *Anglican Church of Australia School Lands Act 1896.*\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":"The Act remains faithful to its original, narrow purpose: dissolving the original governors’ corporate body and vesting its school property in a diocesan trustee body with powers to manage educational uses, make rules, mortgage (subject to a cap) and grant short leases. Subsequent amendments reflected institutional name changes and minor drafting updates (including short‑title insertion) and some deletions; they did not broaden the Act’s core subject matter or convert it into a general regulatory instrument. The principal mechanics and scope (vesting, trustee discretion, mortgage/lease authorisations) are unchanged."},"complexity_factors":["Short Act (10 substantive sections, several deleted/omitted)","Small number of operative provisions (dissolution, vesting, rule‑making, mortgage, lease)","Few defined terms; meaning of bodies clarified by historical notes rather than embedded definitions","Cross‑references to other Acts and historical name changes (Standing Committee ↔ Diocesan Trustees; Church of England ↔ Anglican Church of Australia)","One numerical limit (mortgage cap of £1,400) and fixed lease maximum (7 years) — simple but specific constraints","Deleted and omitted sections present in the text create minor navigational complexity in the printed reprint"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does (mechanically)**\n\n- Dissolves the old corporate body called “The Governors of the Perth Church of England Collegiate School” (section 1).\n- Transfers ownership of the school land (allotments H7 and H1), the buildings on them, and any other property previously held by that corporate body to the diocesan trustees (originally the “Standing Committee of the Synod”, now the Perth Diocesan Trustees). Those trustees must hold and apply the property for educational purposes that are as close as possible to the school’s original aims (section 2; preamble and note 4 describe the original objects).\n- Gives the trustees power to make, amend or repeal rules and regulations for managing any school or college they establish (section 3).\n- Authorises the trustees to mortgage the vested land and property to raise up to £1,400 (old currency) to repay the Bishop of Perth for money he expended on building and repairs; mortgages may include powers of sale or leasing and give the mortgagee possession freed from the original trusts in case of default (section 4).\n- Allows the trustees to lease the land for terms of up to seven years on terms they decide (section 6).\n- Confirms that the Act does not affect any rights of the Crown or other third‑party rights not expressly dealt with in the Act (section 8).\n- Provides the Act’s short title (section 10).\n\n**Who is affected**\n\n- The former corporate governors: their corporate entity is dissolved (s.1) and their property is transferred.\n- The Perth Diocesan Trustees (formerly the Standing Committee): they become the legal owners/holders of the land and have broad discretion about educational uses, rules, mortgages and leases (ss.2–4,6).\n- The Bishop of Perth (in the historical fact pattern): he is to be repaid from funds raised by mortgage up to the statutory cap (s.4).\n- Lenders and lessees: lenders may take security over the property and, on default, hold the property freed from the original trust; lessees can enter medium‑term leases (up to 7 years) (ss.4,6).\n- Donors and the public who expected the original school purposes: their interests are indirectly affected because the trustees decide how the property is applied “as nearly as may be” to the original objects (s.2; preamble).\n\n**Why it matters (practical effects and incentives)**\n\n- Ownership and control shift from a failing governors’ corporation to the diocesan trustees (s.1–2). That centralises decision‑making about the property in a church trustee body which has broad discretion to determine educational uses (s.2, s.3).\n- The trustees are enabled to raise money by mortgaging the property (s.4). That creates an option to convert capital tied up in land into cash to repay a creditor (the Bishop) or potentially fund other uses the trustees approve. Lenders get a secured interest; on enforcement they may hold the property no longer subject to the original trust (s.4).\n- The trustees can grant leases up to seven years (s.6). Short leases limit long‑term commitments but allow commercial or educational tenancy arrangements of moderate duration.\n\n**Costs, trade‑offs and risks**\n\n- Concentrated benefits: the trustees receive legal ownership and operational discretion; the Bishop (historically) was made whole by repayment (s.4).\n- Diffuse costs / opportunity costs: original donors and other stakeholders lose control through dissolution and vesting; the trustees’ broad discretion means uses can depart from donors’ specific expectations so long as they are “as nearly in accordance” with the original objects (s.2; preamble clarifies those objects).\n- Financial risk: mortgaging creates the possibility that a mortgagee, on default, could hold and enjoy the land freed from the trust (s.4). That is a concrete mechanism by which trust assets could be lost to the original charitable purpose if the trustees borrow and fail to repay.\n- Governance discretion and implementation risk: the Act vests substantial unqualified decision‑making power in the trustees (rule‑making, mortgages, leases) (ss.3–4,6). That concentrates choice with a small decision‑maker and creates risk that trustees’ priorities will diverge from donors or the community.\n- Compliance / administrative burden: minimal for the wider public. Trustees must manage mortgages and leases and comply with the usual legal formalities for those transactions; the Act itself imposes no detailed reporting or oversight mechanism.\n\n**Effects on private enterprise and markets**\n\n- The Act is primarily about internal property and governance within church institutions. It does not create broad regulatory obligations or market interventions.\n- It permits secured lending (mortgages) against the property and medium‑term leasing (s.4, s.6), which may facilitate transactions with private parties (lenders, tenants). It does not restrict contract freedom for tenants or mortgagees beyond the statutory cap on mortgage principal (s.4).\n\n**Concrete levers and who decides**\n\n- Who pays: lenders provide funds; if trustees borrow, the mortgagee is repaid from the property or may take ownership in default (s.4). Lessees pay rent (s.6). The Bishop was set to be repaid under the mortgage authorisation (s.4).\n- Who decides: the Perth Diocesan Trustees decide how to apply the property, what rules to make for any school/college, whether to mortgage or lease, and on what terms (ss.2–4,6).\n- Behaviour changes: the trustees can convert property value into liquidity (mortgage), enter tenancy relationships (leases), and restructure operations of a successor school under their own rules (ss.3–4,6).\n\n**Relevant statutory cross‑references and name changes**\n\n- Later Acts substituted institutional names (for example, references to “Church of England” are read as “Anglican Church of Australia”; the Standing Committee was later replaced by the Perth Diocesan Trustees). These are constructional and historical updates recorded in the notes to the Act; they do not materially alter the core mechanics described above (notes and compilation table)."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope change cannot be assessed as the legislative text was inaccessible. The broken URL means no comparison between original intent and enacted provisions is possible."},"complexity_factors":["The actual legislative text was entirely unavailable — the source page returned a broken link error","No provisions, clauses, schedules or operative text could be analysed","Complexity cannot be meaningfully assessed without the document content","Score of 1 reflects absence of analysable material, not simplicity of the law itself"],"plain_english_summary":"Likely a 19th‑century Western Australian law creating or incorporating the Perth Anglican Collegiate School, setting out its legal status, governance and property arrangements. It would primarily affect the school’s governing body, the Anglican Church in WA, and students, staff and parents. Because the statute’s text is unavailable, this inference is provisional — don’t rely on it for legal or practical decisions."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: dissolving the 1863 corporation and transferring its specific land assets to church trustees for educational use. While the names of the bodies involved have been updated by later amendment Acts (Church of England → Anglican Church of Australia; Standing Committee → Perth Diocesan Trustees), the substantive scope has not expanded beyond the original land transfer and management framework established in 1885."},"complexity_factors":["Very short statute (10 sections, with 3 deleted/omitted)","Minimal defined terms (only historical body names referenced)","Simple linear structure with no nested conditions or cross-references to other Acts (except historical notes)","Straightforward operative provisions (dissolve, vest, mortgage, lease)","No exceptions to exceptions or complex conditional logic","Historical currency reference (£1,400) preserved but noted as obsolete"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis 1885 Western Australian law wound up a failed school corporation and transferred its assets to church trustees for educational use.\n\n**The backstory:**\nIn 1863, the government created a corporate body called \"The Governors of the Perth Church of England Collegiate School\" to run a church school in Perth. By 1885, this body had failed to achieve its goals. The surviving governors and major donors wanted the school's land (two city allotments in Perth) transferred to the Anglican Church's Standing Committee instead.\n\n**What the law actually does:**\n\n*   **Dissolves the old corporation** — The 1863 \"Governors\" body corporate is abolished (Section 1).\n*   **Transfers the assets** — The school land (Allotments H 7 and H 1, about 1.8 acres in Perth) plus buildings and any other property, is handed over to \"The Standing Committee of the Synod of the West Australian Branch of the Church of England\" (Section 2). This body is now known as the **Perth Diocesan Trustees** (the name was changed by later laws).\n*   **Sets the purpose** — The trustees must use the land for educational purposes that match the original school's aims: teaching scripture, classics, mathematics, and general liberal education (Section 2).\n*   **Gives management powers** — The trustees can make rules for running any school or college they establish (Section 3).\n*   **Allows borrowing** — The trustees can mortgage the land to raise up to £1,400 (old currency) to repay money the Bishop had spent on buildings and repairs. If they default on the loan, the mortgagee gets the land free of the educational trust (Section 4).\n*   **Allows leasing** — The trustees can lease the land for up to 7 years at a time (Section 6).\n*   **Protects other rights** — The law doesn't affect anyone else's existing rights to the land (Section 8).\n\n**Who it affects:**\nPrimarily the Anglican Church in Perth (specifically the Perth Diocesan Trustees), anyone with interests in the specific Perth land mentioned, and historically, the Bishop of Perth who was owed money for building repairs.\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis is a historical tidying-up exercise. It rescued assets from a defunct educational venture and placed them under church control with a continuing obligation to use them for education. The law has been updated over time mainly to reflect name changes (from \"Church of England\" to \"Anglican Church of Australia\" and from \"Standing Committee\" to \"Perth Diocesan Trustees\")."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/perth-anglican-church-of-australia-collegiate-school-act-1885","history":"/api/acts/perth-anglican-church-of-australia-collegiate-school-act-1885/history","analysis":"/api/acts/perth-anglican-church-of-australia-collegiate-school-act-1885/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/perth-anglican-church-of-australia-collegiate-school-act-1885/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/perth-anglican-church-of-australia-collegiate-school-act-1885/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/perth-anglican-church-of-australia-collegiate-school-act-1885/documents"}}