{"id":"tas:sr-2008-173","name":"Proclamation under the Police Powers (Surveillance Devices) Act 2006","slug":"proclamation-under-the-police-powers-surveillance-devices-act-2006","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"tas","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"173 of 2008","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":315694,"registerId":"tas-tas:sr-2008-173-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-08","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Proclamation under the Police Powers (Surveillance Devices) Act 2006","content":"> Proclamation under the Police Powers (Surveillance Devices) Act 2006\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](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-2006-022#GS2@EN) [Police Powers (Surveillance Devices) Act 2006](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-2006-022) fix 1 January 2009 as the day on which that Act commences.\n\n22 December 2008\n\nPETER G. UNDERWOOD\n\nGovernor\n\nBy His Excellency's Command,\n\nMICHELLE O'BYRNE\n\nMinister for Environment, Parks, Heritage and the Arts acting for and on behalf of the Minister for Justice\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 31 December 2008\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":"medium","reasoning":"A proclamation instrument with no recorded modifications since 2017 claiming currency to 2026 is internally suspicious. If the legislation is truly unchanged for nearly 9 years in an active area like surveillance device powers, this either reflects genuine stasis (plausible but worth flagging) or an administrative failure to record amendments. The tension between 'last modified 5 July 2017' and the 2026 access date, combined with the existence of a Table of Amending Instruments link, suggests amendments may exist that are not properly reflected.","confidence":0.55,"description":"The version is stated to be 'current from 31 December 2008 to date (accessed 8 April 2026 at 1:52)' while the file was last modified on 5 July 2017, yet the document claims currency up to 2026 without any recorded amendments after 2017."},{"type":"other","section":"Document Structure - Entire Document","severity":"high","reasoning":"A Proclamation under an Act is a formal executive instrument with legal effect. The published document contains zero operative legal content. This creates a logical absurdity: the instrument is cited as legally current and binding ('current from 31 December 2008 to date') yet nothing in the published text declares, proclaims, or enacts anything. Citizens and officers cannot comply with, or be bound by, a proclamation whose operative text is entirely absent from the authoritative published version.","confidence":0.82,"description":"The document contains no substantive operative provisions whatsoever. A Proclamation is a legally operative instrument that should declare something — a commencement date, a prescribed area, an appointment — yet the entire published text consists solely of metadata, status information, and navigation elements repeated multiple times."},{"type":"self_contradicting","section":"Status Information - Update Policy","severity":"low","reasoning":"The update-within-3-days assurance conflicts with the 2017 modification date if any amending instruments post-date 2017. The Table of Amending Instruments exists as a separate link, suggesting there may be amendments, but the base file has not been updated. This is a low-severity administrative contradiction rather than a substantive legal one.","confidence":0.45,"description":"The site states legislation is 'usually updated within 3 working days after a change' but the file was last modified 5 July 2017. If subsequent amendments exist (as the Table of Amending Instruments link implies), the 3-working-day update guarantee has been systematically breached across nearly a decade."},{"type":"other","section":"Document Structure - Repeated Headings","severity":"low","reasoning":"In strict statutory interpretation, duplicated provisions can create interpretive difficulties. If two identical headings exist, a literal reading could suggest two separate sections with identical names — a structural absurdity. More practically, it undermines confidence in the authenticity and integrity of the authoritative published version of the instrument.","confidence":0.7,"description":"Every heading and section title in the document is duplicated verbatim (e.g., 'Status Information Status Information', 'Currency of version Currency of version', 'Authorisation Authorisation'). While likely a formatting/rendering error, if treated as the authoritative legal text, it creates ambiguity as to which instance of each heading constitutes the operative provision."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Status Information - 'Version current from 31 December 2008 to date (accessed 8 April 2026 at 1:52)'","section_b":"Authorisation - 'File last modified 5 July 2017'","confidence":0.65,"description":"The document simultaneously claims to be current as of April 2026 and to have last been modified in July 2017. These two statements are in direct tension: if the file has not been modified since 2017, it cannot have been updated to reflect any post-2017 legal developments, yet the currency statement represents it as authoritative and current to 2026."},{"severity":"low","section_a":"Status Information - 'Legislation on this site is usually updated within 3 working days after a change to the legislation'","section_b":"Table of Amending Instruments - Existence of a separate amendment history link implying amendments exist","confidence":0.4,"description":"The promise of updates within 3 working days contradicts the apparent failure to update the base file since 2017 if any amending instruments post-date that modification. The existence of a dedicated Table of Amending Instruments strongly implies amendments have been made to this proclamation, yet the base file modification date suggests those amendments have not been incorporated into the primary document within the promised timeframe."}]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The proclamation does not change the Act’s substantive scope or obligations; it solely fixes the date the Act becomes operative (1 January 2009) under the authority of s 2 and executive proclamation."},"complexity_factors":["Single, discrete action: sets a commencement date rather than creating new duties or offences.","Procedural instrument: made by the Governor on Executive Council advice (formal executive process).","Low substantive content: does not amend or interpret the Act’s provisions.","Administrative linkages: notification in the Gazette and administration by the Department of Justice require coordination.","Legal reference: relies on s 2 of the Police Powers (Surveillance Devices) Act 2006 to effect commencement."],"plain_english_summary":"This proclamation fixes 1 January 2009 as the day the Police Powers (Surveillance Devices) Act 2006 comes into force in Tasmania (pursuant to s 2). It takes effect by order of the Governor with Executive Council advice and was notified in the Gazette.\n\nIt affects Tasmania’s police, oversight bodies and people subject to surveillance by making the Act operative; administrative and compliance tasks fall to the Department of Justice and to law enforcement agencies."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a commencement instrument with a single, narrow purpose. It has not expanded beyond its original intent of bringing the parent Act into force on a specified date."},"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","Standard proclamation format — essentially a template document"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a **commencement proclamation** — a formal government notice that brings a law into force.\n\n**What it does:**\n- Sets **1 January 2009** as the date when Tasmania's *Police Powers (Surveillance Devices) Act 2006* officially starts operating.\n\n**Who made it:**\n- The **Governor of Tasmania** (Peter G. Underwood), acting on advice from the **Executive Council** (the Premier and senior ministers).\n- Signed off by Minister Michelle O'Byrne, who was temporarily covering for the Justice Minister.\n\n**Why it matters:**\n- Laws passed by Parliament don't automatically take effect immediately. This proclamation is the legal \"switch\" that turns the Act on.\n- Until this date, police had no powers under this specific Act to use surveillance devices. After this date, they could apply for warrants to use listening devices, tracking devices, and other surveillance equipment under the rules set out in the 2006 Act.\n\n**Key context:**\n- The Act was passed in 2006, but the government waited over two years to bring it into force — likely to allow time for police training, equipment procurement, or administrative preparation."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"A proclamation of this kind has a strictly defined and narrow purpose: to commence an Act or provisions of an Act on a specified date. There is no indication from the available text that the scope has shifted from that original administrative intent."},"complexity_factors":["The document itself is procedural and administrative — it contains almost no substantive legal content","Very limited text available — the document is largely metadata, status information, and formatting rather than operative legal provisions","Understanding its purpose requires familiarity with the concept of a proclamation as a commencement mechanism, which is not intuitive to laypeople","The actual legal complexity sits in the parent Act (Police Powers (Surveillance Devices) Act 2006), not this instrument"],"plain_english_summary":"This Proclamation formally brings the Police Powers (Surveillance Devices) Act 2006 into operation in Tasmania, giving that law effect from 31 December 2008. It doesn't change the law itself—it simply sets the commencement date.\n\nIt matters because, from that date, Tasmanian police must follow the Act’s authorisation and privacy safeguards when using surveillance devices, and the public gains the Act’s legal protections."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-police-powers-surveillance-devices-act-2006","history":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-police-powers-surveillance-devices-act-2006/history","analysis":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-police-powers-surveillance-devices-act-2006/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-police-powers-surveillance-devices-act-2006/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-police-powers-surveillance-devices-act-2006/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-police-powers-surveillance-devices-act-2006/documents"}}