{"id":"tas:sr-1998-014","name":"Proclamation under the Road Safety (Alcohol and Drugs) Amendment Act 1997","slug":"proclamation-under-the-road-safety-alcohol-and-drugs-amendment-act-1997","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"tas","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"14 of 1998","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":319049,"registerId":"tas-tas:sr-1998-014-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-08","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Proclamation under the Road Safety (Alcohol and Drugs) Amendment Act 1997","content":"> Proclamation under the Road Safety (Alcohol and Drugs) Amendment Act 1997\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(2) of the](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-1997-068#) [Road Safety (Alcohol and Drugs) Amendment Act 1997](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-1997-068) fix 1 March 1998 as the day on which that Act, other than sections 1, 2, 3 and 6(1), commences.\n\n16 February 1998\n\nG.S.M. GREEN\n\nGovernor\n\nBy His Excellency's Command,\n\nT. JOHN CLEARY\n\nMinister for Transport\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 25 February 1998\n\nThis proclamation is administered in the Department of Transport.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument does not change the substantive scope of the Amendment Act; it only fixes the date on which most of the Act commences (1 March 1998) while leaving sections 1, 2, 3 and 6(1) uncommenced. It therefore alters timing and implementation obligations but not the Act’s content."},"complexity_factors":["Purely a commencement proclamation with no substantive amendments to the Act","Explicit exclusion of specific sections (1, 2, 3 and 6(1)) requires checking the parent Act to know what remains inactive","Formal legal cross-reference to section 2(2) of the Amendment Act introduces a technical dependency","Administrative particulars (Governor/Executive Council decision, Gazette notice, administering department) are procedural but straightforward","Potential operational complexity lies outside this instrument (implementation by transport agencies), not in the proclamation text"],"plain_english_summary":"This proclamation sets 1 March 1998 as the day the Road Safety (Alcohol and Drugs) Amendment Act 1997 takes effect, except for sections 1, 2, 3 and 6(1) (see section 2(2)). The Governor, acting with Executive Council advice, fixed the commencement date; the Department of Transport is the administering agency and a Gazette notice was published on 25 February 1998. The change makes the Act’s requirements operational from that date so regulators and road users must begin complying and enforcing the new rules."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"self_contradicting","section":"Status Information - Currency of version","severity":"low","reasoning":"The currency statement implies the version is unchanged from 1998, but a file modification date of 2021 suggests some change occurred. While this may be a metadata update rather than a substantive amendment, the document provides no clarification, leaving the reader unable to determine the true legislative history.","confidence":0.55,"description":"The document states it is 'current from 25 February 1998 to date (accessed 8 April 2026 at 3:27)' while simultaneously stating 'File last modified 16 April 2021'. A proclamation that has allegedly remained unchanged since 1998 yet was modified in 2021 creates an internal inconsistency regarding what 'current' actually means."},{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"Document Structure - General","severity":"high","reasoning":"A proclamation with no operative content cannot fulfil its legal function. Citizens, courts, and administrators have no means of determining what provisions were commenced, on what date, or under what authority beyond the title reference. This renders the instrument legally meaningless on its face.","confidence":0.85,"description":"The proclamation document contains no substantive operative provisions whatsoever. A proclamation is a formal legal instrument that brings legislation or specific provisions into force on a nominated date, yet this document contains no commencement date, no nominated provisions, and no operative text."},{"type":"other","section":"Table of Amending Instruments","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Once a commencement date is proclaimed, that historical fact cannot be altered retrospectively without creating legal chaos regarding the intervening period. Amending a proclamation raises the question of what legal effect actions taken in reliance on the original proclamation would have.","confidence":0.65,"description":"The document references a Table of Amendments via a hyperlink, implying this proclamation has itself been amended. It is logically anomalous for a commencement proclamation — an instrument whose sole function is to declare a single historical fact (that legislation commenced on a given date) — to require subsequent amendment."},{"type":"other","section":"Document Structure - Duplication","severity":"low","reasoning":"Courts and administrators must rely on the authoritative text of legislation. A document where every element is duplicated raises questions about which instance is operative, though in practice this is almost certainly a publication error rather than a legislative drafting flaw.","confidence":0.4,"description":"Every heading and section in this document is duplicated verbatim (e.g. 'Status Information Status Information', 'Currency of version Currency of version', 'Authorisation Authorisation'). While likely a rendering or scraping artefact, if taken as the authoritative text of the instrument, it creates an absurdity where the legal document has no singular authoritative statement of any provision."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"low","section_a":"Currency of version: 'Version current from 25 February 1998 to date'","section_b":"Authorisation: 'File last modified 16 April 2021'","confidence":0.6,"description":"The version currency statement asserts the instrument is in the same form as it was in February 1998, while the file modification date records a change as recently as April 2021, over 23 years later. These two statements cannot both be accurate simultaneously without explanation."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Title: 'Proclamation under the Road Safety (Alcohol and Drugs) Amendment Act 1997'","section_b":"Table of Amending Instruments: implies the proclamation has been subsequently amended","confidence":0.5,"description":"The instrument is derived from and subordinate to the Road Safety (Alcohol and Drugs) Amendment Act 1997, yet the existence of a Table of Amending Instruments implies the proclamation has been altered after the fact. A proclamation's authority flows entirely from its parent Act; amending the proclamation without amending the parent Act raises questions about the source of power for such amendments."}]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a standard commencement instrument performing exactly the function intended — bringing an Act into force on a specified date with stated exceptions. No scope creep."},"complexity_factors":["Single operative provision fixing a commencement date","No defined terms","No cross-references to other legislation beyond citation of the parent Act and standard publication rules","Simple exclusion of four specific sections (1, 2, 3 and 6(1))","Standard proclamation format with ceremonial language but minimal legal substance"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a **commencement proclamation** — a formal government notice that brings most of a new law into effect.\n\n**What it does:**\n- The *Road Safety (Alcohol and Drugs) Amendment Act 1997* was passed by Parliament, but it needed an official \"start date\" before it could actually be enforced.\n- This document, signed by the Tasmanian Governor on 16 February 1998, declares that **most of that Act starts on 1 March 1998**.\n\n**What's excluded:**\n- Sections 1, 2, 3 and 6(1) of the Act **do not** start on this date. (These sections likely contain definitions, the Act's title, and other preliminary matters that may have already commenced automatically, or are being delayed for separate reasons.)\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Tasmanian drivers, police, and courts — anyone involved in road safety, alcohol and drug testing, or related offences.\n\n**Why it matters:**\n- Without this proclamation, the new road safety rules would sit on the shelf unenforced. This document flips the switch, making the amended drink and drug driving laws legally active from 1 March 1998."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"A Proclamation by definition does not change the scope of the legislation it activates — it simply brings the already-passed Amendment Act into force. There is no indication from the available text that this Proclamation altered the intended scope of the Road Safety (Alcohol and Drugs) Amendment Act 1997."},"complexity_factors":["This is a Proclamation (a commencement instrument), not the substantive law itself — its function is narrow and procedural","The document as provided contains almost no operative legal content — it is largely administrative metadata","The underlying Act (Road Safety (Alcohol and Drugs) Amendment Act 1997) may be more complex, but that complexity is not analysable from this document alone","Tasmanian-specific administrative structure adds minor contextual complexity for non-Tasmanian readers"],"plain_english_summary":"This Proclamation brings the Road Safety (Alcohol and Drugs) Amendment Act 1997 into force in Tasmania from 25 February 1998, making the Act’s updated rules on drink‑ and drug‑driving—testing, legal limits, offences and enforcement—legally operative. It affects all Tasmanian drivers, the police who test and enforce those rules, and courts that apply the amended offences and penalties."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-road-safety-alcohol-and-drugs-amendment-act-1997","history":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-road-safety-alcohol-and-drugs-amendment-act-1997/history","analysis":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-road-safety-alcohol-and-drugs-amendment-act-1997/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-road-safety-alcohol-and-drugs-amendment-act-1997/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-road-safety-alcohol-and-drugs-amendment-act-1997/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-road-safety-alcohol-and-drugs-amendment-act-1997/documents"}}