{"id":"tas:sr-2020-037","name":"Proclamation under the COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) Act 2020","slug":"proclamation-under-the-covid-19-disease-emergency-commercial-leases-act-2020","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"tas","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"37 of 2020","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":182546,"registerId":"tas-tas:sr-2020-037-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Proclamation under the COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) Act 2020","content":"> Proclamation under the COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) Act 2020\n\nI, the Governor in and over the State of Tasmania and its Dependencies in the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Executive Council, by this my proclamation made under section 2 of the [COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) Act 2020](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-2020-013) fix 3 June 2020 as the day on which the provisions of that Act, apart from section 17, commence.\n\n1 June 2020\n\nC. WARNER\n\nGovernor\n\nBy Her Excellency's Command,\n\nELISE ARCHER\n\nMinister for Building and Construction\n\nDisplayed and numbered in accordance with the *[Rules Publication Act 1953](/view/html/inforce/current/act-1953-050)*.\n\nNotified in the *Gazette* on 2 June 2020\n\nThis proclamation is administered in the Department of Justice.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"other","section":"Status Information - Currency of version","severity":"low","reasoning":"The combination of a 2020 last-modified date with a 2026 access date is not inherently absurd for an unamended instrument, but the promise of 3-working-day update cycles is rendered meaningless where no updates have ever occurred. The statement creates a false impression of active maintenance.","confidence":0.5,"description":"The instrument is described as 'current from 2 June 2020 to date (accessed 5 April 2026 at 16:20)' yet the file is stated to have been 'last modified 2 June 2020'. This implies the instrument has never been amended or updated in approximately six years, which, combined with the claim that legislation is 'usually updated within 3 working days after a change', suggests either the legislation has been perpetually current in its original form or the currency statement is misleading."},{"type":"other","section":"Document Structure - General","severity":"high","reasoning":"A Proclamation is a formal executive instrument that must contain operative content — typically a declaration that specified provisions of the parent Act are in force, specifying dates or conditions. This document contains only repeated metadata headings and zero operative content. It cannot achieve any legal effect as a Proclamation. The duplication of every heading suggests a catastrophic rendering or publication error, but as presented the instrument is legally void on its face.","confidence":0.95,"description":"Every heading and section in this instrument is duplicated verbatim (e.g., 'Proclamation under the COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) Act 2020' appears four times; 'Status Information' appears four times; 'Currency of version' appears four times; 'Authorisation' appears four times). This renders the document internally incoherent as a legislative instrument, since proclamations must have clear, singular operative provisions and there are none identifiable here at all."},{"type":"other","section":"Title - COVID-19 reference","severity":"medium","reasoning":"While clearly a typographical/rendering artefact, a Proclamation that does not unambiguously identify its parent Act could be challenged on the basis that the empowering instrument is uncertain. If a court or tribunal were asked to enforce obligations arising under this Proclamation, the corrupted title creates an arguable defect in authorisation.","confidence":0.7,"description":"The title alternates between 'COVID-1' (truncated) and 'COVID-19' across repeated headings (e.g., 'Proclamation under the COVID-1 Proclamation under the COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) Act 2020'). This creates an ambiguity as to which Act the Proclamation purports to be made under, since 'COVID-1' is not the name of any known Act."},{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"Operative provisions","severity":"high","reasoning":"It is logically impossible to comply with, rely upon, or enforce a Proclamation that has no operative content. Parties to commercial leases governed by the parent Act cannot determine what obligations or protections apply to them from this instrument. The instrument as presented is a legal nullity — it proclaims nothing.","confidence":0.98,"description":"The instrument contains no operative provisions whatsoever. A Proclamation under the COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) Act 2020 would be expected to proclaim a state of emergency, bring provisions into force, or specify relevant dates and conditions. None of these appear. The entire document consists solely of metadata, status information, and navigation links."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"low","section_a":"Status Information - 'usually updated within 3 working days after a change to the legislation'","section_b":"Authorisation - 'File last modified 2 June 2020'","confidence":0.55,"description":"The status information asserts an active update policy of 3 working days following any legislative change, implying ongoing maintenance. However, the file modification date of 2 June 2020 — unchanged across approximately six years to the access date of 5 April 2026 — contradicts the implication that the site actively tracks and reflects legislative changes. Either the instrument has genuinely never changed (making the update-frequency promise irrelevant and potentially misleading) or changes have occurred and have not been reflected, directly contradicting the update policy."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Title heading (first instance): 'Proclamation under the COVID-1'","section_b":"Title heading (second instance): 'Proclamation under the COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) Act 2020'","confidence":0.75,"description":"The instrument's own title is internally inconsistent, referring to two different apparent parent Acts — the non-existent 'COVID-1' Act and the actual 'COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) Act 2020'. While plainly a rendering error, the document as a legal instrument cannot simultaneously be made under two differently named Acts, one of which does not exist."}]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a commencement proclamation, which serves precisely its intended purpose of bringing an Act into force. It has not expanded beyond its original function."},"complexity_factors":["Single operative provision fixing a commencement date","No defined terms","No cross-references to other legislation (except citation of the parent Act)","No conditional logic or exceptions beyond the simple exclusion of section 17","Standard formal proclamation language following a template"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a formal government notice (a **proclamation**) that sets the start date for Tasmania's COVID-19 commercial lease emergency laws.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Activates the law:** It declares that most provisions of the *COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) Act 2020* will take effect on **3 June 2020**.\n- **Excludes one section:** Section 17 of the Act does **not** commence on this date (it starts later or through a separate process).\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Commercial landlords and tenants in Tasmania who were waiting for these emergency rental protections to begin.\n- The Act itself imposed temporary rules on commercial leases during the pandemic (such as rent relief obligations and restrictions on evictions).\n\n**Why it matters:**\n- Without this proclamation, the Act would remain dormant \"on the shelf\" and unenforceable.\n- This document flipped the switch, giving tenants and landlords legal rights and obligations from 3 June 2020 onward."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The proclamation does not alter the content or reach of the underlying Act; it only fixes the commencement date for most provisions (3 June 2020) and leaves section 17 uncommenced, so the substantive scope remains that of the Act as enacted."},"complexity_factors":["Single administrative act (commencement proclamation) with no substantive policy changes","Relies on an external Act for operative content (the COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) Act 2020)","Explicit exception leaving section 17 uncommenced, creating a minor point of follow-up","Uses executive discretion under section 2 to fix commencement timing","Formalities (Gazette notification, departmental administration) included but procedurally routine","No implementation detail, obligations or enforcement mechanisms specified in the proclamation itself"],"plain_english_summary":"This proclamation uses the Governor’s power under section 2 to bring almost all of the COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) Act 2020 into force on 3 June 2020, except for section 17. It was made on Executive Council advice, notified in the Gazette, and is administered by the Department of Justice. Mechanically, from 3 June landlords, tenants and other parties covered by that Act must comply with its rules; the proclamation does not change the Act’s substance, only its commencement date (section 2)."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Based on the available information, this Proclamation appears to operate within the original intended scope of the parent Act — providing emergency commercial lease relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no indication from the metadata that the scope expanded or contracted from its original purpose."},"complexity_factors":["The document provided is largely metadata and status information — the actual operative text of the Proclamation is not reproduced, limiting substantive analysis","Proclamations are generally short, formulaic instruments with limited technical complexity","The parent Act (COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) Act 2020) involves more complexity, but this instrument simply activates or supplements it rather than creating new legal frameworks","No amending instruments appear to have introduced significant complexity since June 2020"],"plain_english_summary":"This Proclamation formally brings into effect parts of Tasmania’s COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) Act 2020, activating temporary protections for commercial tenants and landlords (shops, offices, warehouses) affected by the pandemic. It’s the legal “on” switch that made those emergency lease rules enforceable around mid‑2020.\n\nThe document shown appears to be metadata/status information about the Proclamation rather than the full operative text with detailed dates and conditions."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-covid-19-disease-emergency-commercial-leases-act-2020","history":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-covid-19-disease-emergency-commercial-leases-act-2020/history","analysis":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-covid-19-disease-emergency-commercial-leases-act-2020/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-covid-19-disease-emergency-commercial-leases-act-2020/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-covid-19-disease-emergency-commercial-leases-act-2020/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-covid-19-disease-emergency-commercial-leases-act-2020/documents"}}