{"id":"perth-building-society-merger-act-1986","name":"Perth Building Society (Merger) Act 1986","slug":"perth-building-society-merger-act-1986","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":106012,"registerId":"wa-perth-building-society-merger-act-1986-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Perth Building Society (Merger) Act 1986","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nPerth Building Society (Merger) Act 1986\n\nWestern Australia\n\nPerth Building Society (Merger) Act 1986\n\nContents\n\n1. Short title 2\n\n2. Commencement 2\n\n3. Terms used in this Act 2\n\n4. Perth Building Society authorised to apply for and implement merger 3\n\n5. Recognition of merger of Perth Building Society and Hotham Permanent Building Society 3\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 5\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nPerth Building Society (Merger) Act 1986\n\nAn Act to authorise the Perth Building Society, a building society incorporated in the State of Western Australia, to apply for a merger under the *Building Societies Act 1986* of the State of Victoria, as amended, between that building society and the Hotham Permanent Building Society, a building society incorporated in the State of Victoria; to give effect in this State to that merger; and to provide for matters incidental thereto or connected therewith.\n\nPreamble\n\nWhereas provision is made by the *Building Societies Act 1986* of the State of Victoria, as amended, (in this preamble referred to as “the Victorian Act”) for the merger of the assets, liabilities and undertakings of a building society incorporated in the State of Victoria and those of a building society incorporated in another State or a Territory of the Commonwealth;\n\nAnd whereas the Perth Building Society, a building society incorporated in the State of Western Australia, (in this preamble referred to as “PBS”) and Hotham Permanent Building Society, a building society incorporated in the State of Victoria, (in this preamble referred to as “Hotham”) propose to apply for the issue of a certificate under section 108C of the Victorian Act for the purpose of such a merger;\n\nAnd whereas the assets, liabilities and undertakings of PBS and those of Hotham will, if the applications of PBS and Hotham for such a certificate are successful, be merged, with the result that all the assets, liabilities and undertakings of Hotham will be vested in PBS;\n\nAnd whereas it is expedient that the aforesaid merger and vesting be given effect in the State of Western Australia by Act of the Parliament:\n\n[Preamble amended: No. 19 of 2010 s. 50.]\n\nBe it enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: —\n\n##### 1. Short title\n\nThis Act may be cited as the *Perth Building Society (Merger) Act 1986* 1.\n\n##### 2. Commencement\n\nThis Act shall come into operation on such day as is fixed by proclamation 1.\n\n##### 3. Terms used in this Act\n\nIn this Act, unless the contrary intention appears —\n\n  Hotham means Hotham Permanent Building Society, a building society incorporated under the Victorian Act;\n\n  merger certificate means certificate issued under section 108C of the Victorian Act in respect of the merger of the assets, liabilities and undertakings of PBS and Hotham;\n\n  merger time means time at which the merger certificate is issued;\n\n  PBS means Perth Building Society, a permanent society within the meaning of the *Building Societies Act 1976* 2;\n\n  rules means rules within the meaning of the *Building Societies Act 1976* 2;\n\n  the Victorian Act means the *Building Societies Act 1986* of the State of Victoria, as amended from time to time.\n\n##### 4. Perth Building Society authorised to apply for and implement merger\n\nNotwithstanding anything in the *Building Societies Act 1976* 2, PBS is hereby authorised to apply for the issue of a certificate under section 108C of the Victorian Act for the purpose of merging the assets, liabilities and undertakings of Hotham with those of PBS and to do all things necessary or desirable for that purpose and, after the merger time, for implementing the merger taking effect on the issue of that certificate.\n\n##### 5. Recognition of merger of Perth Building Society and Hotham Permanent Building Society\n\n(1) Notwithstanding anything in the *Building Societies Act 1976* 2 but subject to this section, the merger under the Victorian Act of the assets, liabilities and undertakings of Hotham with those of PBS has after the merger time full force and effect in this State.\n\n(2) After the merger time —\n\n(a) a person who was a member of Hotham immediately before the merger time is a member of PBS in accordance with the rules of PBS;\n\n(b) a person who was a depositor, lender or other creditor of Hotham immediately before the merger time is a depositor, lender or other creditor of PBS on the same terms and conditions as those on which he was a depositor, lender or other creditor of Hotham;\n\n(c) a person who was a borrower from Hotham immediately before the merger time is a debtor of PBS on the same terms and conditions as those on which he was a debtor of Hotham;\n\n(d) the duties, responsibilities and obligations imposed immediately before the merger time on Hotham, and the immunities, rights and privileges of or vested in, exerciseable by or available to Hotham immediately before the merger time, are transferred to PBS, and PBS is subject to those duties, responsibilities and obligations and entitled to those immunities, rights and privileges;\n\n(e) the property and assets that immediately before the merger time were vested in Hotham are by force of this section vested in PBS;\n\n(f) the debts and liabilities of Hotham immediately before the merger time are by force of this section debts and liabilities of PBS;\n\n(g) PBS is by force of this section substituted as a party to any proceedings pending in any court to which Hotham was a party immediately before the merger time;\n\n(h) PBS is by force of this section substituted as a party to any arrangement or contract entered into by or on behalf of Hotham and in force immediately before the merger time; and\n\n(i) any reference to Hotham in any agreement, instrument, deed or other document whatsoever is to be construed as a reference to PBS unless such a construction is inconsistent with the context or subject‑matter so far as that reference relates to any period after the merger time.\n\nNotes\n\n1 This is a compilation of the *Perth Building Society (Merger) Act 1986* 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| *Perth Building Society (Merger) Act 1986* | 83 of 1986 | 9 Dec 1986 | s. 1 and s. 2: 9 Dec 1986;   Act other than s. 1 and s. 2: 9 Jan 1987 (see s. 2 and *Gazette* 9 Jan 1987 p. 17) |\n| **Reprint 1: The *Perth Building Society (Merger) Act 1986* as at 10 Aug 2007** | | | |\n| *Standardisation of Formatting Act 2010* s. 50 | 19 of 2010 | 28 Jun 2010 | 11 Sep 2010 (see s. 2(b) and *Gazette* 10 Sep 2010 p. 4341) |\n\n\n2 Now known as the *Housing Societies Act 1976*. The short title was amended by the *Building Societies Amendment Act 2001* s. 5(1).\n\nDefined terms\n\n*[This is a list of terms defined and the provisions where they are defined. The list is not part of the law.]*\n\n**Defined term Provision(s)**\n\nHotham 3\n\nmerger certificate 3\n\nmerger time 3\n\nPBS 3\n\nrules 3\n\nthe Victorian Act 3\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as the legislative text is inaccessible. Based on the title, the Act appears to have had a narrow, single-purpose scope — facilitating a specific building society merger — which is consistent with how such legislation typically operates. No evidence of scope change can be identified."},"complexity_factors":["The legislative text is entirely unavailable — only an error page was provided","No provisions, schedules, definitions, or operative clauses can be assessed","Complexity cannot be meaningfully rated; score of 1 reflects absence of content, not simplicity of the law itself","Historical legislation from 1986 may involve superseded regulatory frameworks that would otherwise add complexity"],"plain_english_summary":"The Perth Building Society (Merger) Act 1986 appears to have been a purpose‑specific Western Australian law that facilitated the merger of the Perth Building Society with another financial institution, dealing with transfer of assets, liabilities, member rights and staff entitlements. \n\nIt would have chiefly affected members, employees, creditors and borrowers; the text is currently unavailable online — contact the WA Parliament website or the Parliamentary Counsel’s Office for access."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act’s scope remains a narrow, society‑specific authorisation and recognition of a merger between Perth Building Society and Hotham Permanent Building Society, giving effect in Western Australia to a merger under the Victorian Act (see s.3–5). The only recorded later amendment was formatting (Standardisation of Formatting Act 2010 s.50) and did not alter the operative authorisation (s.4) or recognition provisions (s.5). Commencement is by proclamation (s.2), so timing is an executive decision."},"complexity_factors":["Cross‑jurisdictional reliance on the Victorian Building Societies Act (defined as the Victorian Act) and on a Victorian merger certificate (definitions in s.3)","Statutory vesting/transfer of assets, liabilities, duties, rights and immunities from Hotham to PBS (s.5)","Automatic substitution of PBS in pending proceedings and contracts, requiring legal re‑characterisation of parties (s.5(g)–(h))","Operation notwithstanding conflicting provisions of the Western Australian Building Societies Act 1976 (express override in s.4 and s.5)","Commencement by proclamation, creating a timing decision by executive action rather than automatic operation (s.2)","Narrow, entity‑specific scope tied to named societies which limits generalisability but requires precise identification in documents (preamble and s.3 definitions)","Dependence on the external event of issuance of a Victorian merger certificate (merger time concept in s.3)"],"plain_english_summary":"This Act authorises the Perth Building Society (PBS) to seek a merger under Victoria’s building-societies law with Hotham Permanent Building Society and makes that merger effective in Western Australia. It transfers Hotham’s assets, liabilities, memberships, contracts and legal rights to PBS and substitutes PBS in existing proceedings and agreements. The measure directly affects Hotham’s members, depositors, creditors, borrowers and counterparties; timing of operation is set by proclamation."},"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"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This legislation remains tightly scoped to its original purpose: facilitating the 1986/1987 merger between Perth Building Society and Hotham Permanent Building Society. The only amendment since enactment (Standardisation of Formatting Act 2010) was cosmetic — updating formatting and citation style — not substantive. The Act has not expanded beyond its original transactional purpose."},"complexity_factors":["Only 5 operative sections (plus short title and commencement)","6 defined terms, all straightforward (names of entities and references to other statutes)","No nested exceptions or conditional logic beyond a single \"subject to this section\" qualifier in section 5(1)","Single cross-reference to Victorian legislation (Building Societies Act 1986) and one to WA's Building Societies Act 1976","Clear sequential structure: definitions → authorisation → legal effects","No delegated legislation or regulation-making powers","Purpose-built for one specific transaction rather than ongoing regulatory scheme"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a short Western Australian law from 1986 that allows two building societies (basically old-fashioned banks that take deposits and make home loans) to merge across state borders.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Authorises the merger**: It gives the Perth Building Society (based in WA) special permission to merge with Hotham Permanent Building Society (based in Victoria) under Victorian law.\n- **Makes the merger work in WA**: Normally, a merger approved under Victorian law might not automatically be recognised in Western Australia. This Act fixes that by saying the merger has \"full force and effect\" in WA once it happens.\n- **Transfers everything automatically**: When the merger certificate is issued under Victorian law, everything owned or owed by Hotham instantly transfers to Perth Building Society:\n  - **Members** of Hotham become members of Perth Building Society\n  - **Depositors and lenders** to Hotham become depositors and lenders to Perth Building Society on the same terms\n  - **Borrowers** from Hotham now owe money to Perth Building Society instead\n  - **Property, assets, debts, and legal obligations** all switch over automatically\n  - **Court cases and contracts** involving Hotham now involve Perth Building Society instead\n  - **Documents** mentioning Hotham are read as mentioning Perth Building Society\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis is a \"private Act\" — legislation written for a specific corporate transaction rather than general rules. It solves a practical problem: building societies were regulated by state laws, and merging across state lines required both states to recognise the deal. Without this Act, Perth Building Society couldn't legally absorb a Victorian competitor, or the merged entity might face legal confusion in WA about who owned what."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/perth-building-society-merger-act-1986","history":"/api/acts/perth-building-society-merger-act-1986/history","analysis":"/api/acts/perth-building-society-merger-act-1986/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/perth-building-society-merger-act-1986/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/perth-building-society-merger-act-1986/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/perth-building-society-merger-act-1986/documents"}}