{"id":"proof-of-sunrise-and-sunset-act-1923","name":"Proof of Sunrise and Sunset Act 1923","slug":"proof-of-sunrise-and-sunset-act-1923","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"sa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":106401,"registerId":"sa-proof-of-sunrise-and-sunset-act-1923-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Proof of Sunrise and Sunset Act 1923","content":"South Australia\nProof of Sunrise and Sunset Act 1923\nAn Act to facilitate the proof of the times of sunrise and sunset, and for purposes incidental thereto.\n\nContents\n1\tShort title\n2\tAlmanac to be published in Government Gazette every three months\n3\tAlmanac when published to be prima facie evidence of times of sunrise and sunset\nLegislative history\n\nThe Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows:\n1—Short title\nThis Act may be cited as the Proof of Sunrise and Sunset Act 1923.\n2—Almanac to be published in Government Gazette every three months\n\t(1)\tDuring each of the months of March, June, September, and December in every year, the Minister shall publish or cause to be published in the Government Gazette an almanac for the three calendar months next succeeding the month in which such publication takes place.\n\t(2)\tEvery almanac published as aforesaid shall set out times of sunrise and sunset on every day during the period of such almanac.\n3—Almanac when published to be prima facie evidence of times of sunrise and sunset\nThe publication in the Government Gazette of any such almanac may be proved by the production of a copy of the Government Gazette containing such almanac, and any almanac published as aforesaid shall be prima facie evidence that the times of sunrise and sunset on any day during the period of such almanac are the times set out in such almanac as being the times of sunrise and sunset on such day.\nLegislative history\nNotes\n\t•\tFor further information relating to the Act and subordinate legislation made under the Act see the Index of South Australian Statutes or www.legislation.sa.gov.au.\nPrincipal Act\nYear\nNo\nTitle\nAssent\nCommencement\n1923\n1559\n Proof of Sunrise and Sunset Act 1923\n31.10.1923\n31.10.1923\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Unable to assess whether scope changed from original intent — the legislative text was not accessible due to a broken URL following a website migration on 24 March 2026."},"complexity_factors":["The actual legislative text was not retrievable — a 'Page Not Found' error was returned instead of the Act's content","Based on title alone, the Act appears to be a narrow, single-purpose evidentiary rule with minimal complexity","1923 vintage legislation of this type typically contains only a few short provisions"],"plain_english_summary":"**No legislation could be analysed.**\n\nThe link provided did not return the actual text of the *Proof of Sunrise and Sunset Act 1923* (SA). Instead, it returned a **'Page Not Found'** error from the South Australian legislation website, likely because the URL was created before a website update on 24 March 2026 and is now broken.\n\n**What we do know from the title alone:**\nThe *Proof of Sunrise and Sunset Act 1923* is a South Australian law that has historically dealt with how courts accept evidence (proof) of the times of sunrise and sunset — for example, in cases where the time of day matters legally (such as whether an offence occurred during daylight or darkness). It is a very old and narrow piece of legislation.\n\n**To access the actual Act**, try searching directly at [www.legislation.sa.gov.au](https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au) for the Act by name."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"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":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act remains narrowly focused on creating an official published almanac and on making that publication prima facie evidence of sunrise and sunset times. It does not appear to have grown beyond its original purpose of facilitating proof of those times: there are no added functions, expanded regulatory powers, or new beneficiary classes beyond what the 1923 text sets out."},"complexity_factors":["Very short Act: 3 operative sections (plus short title)","No defined terms or interpretation section","Simple, fixed quarterly publication schedule (March, June, September, December) set out in s2(1)","Single evidentiary rule (prima facie evidence) in s3 with straightforward proof-by-production procedure","No cross-references to other legislation, no exceptions, no penalties, and no conditional nested provisions","One substantive ambiguity that increases interpretive risk (no specification of reference location or time standard), but this does not materially complicate the statutory structure"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does (mechanics)\n\n- Requires the South Australian Minister to publish, in the Government Gazette, an \"almanac\" four times a year — during March, June, September and December — covering the next three calendar months (s2(1)).\n- Each published almanac must list the time of sunrise and sunset for every day in the covered period (s2(2)).\n- A printed copy of the Government Gazette containing the almanac is evidence that the Gazette was published, and the almanac is \"prima facie\" evidence (meaning it is taken as correct unless disproved) that the listed times are the times of sunrise and sunset for those days (s3).\n\nWho this affects\n\n- Courts, tribunals and parties to legal proceedings who need to prove what time sunrise or sunset occurred on a particular day (s3).\n- Government officials and agencies that rely on an authoritative published record of sunrise/sunset times.\n- Private individuals or businesses that currently prepare or rely on other almanacs or time tables when timing legal rights, obligations or compliance windows.\n\nWhy it matters (stated purpose and practical effects)\n\n- The Act's stated purpose is to \"facilitate the proof of the times of sunrise and sunset\" and related incidental matters. Mechanically, it does that by creating a simple, official published source that courts will accept as correct unless shown otherwise (s1; s3).\n\nPractical consequences, costs and incentives\n\n- Who pays: The State incurs the administrative cost of producing and publishing the almanac in the Government Gazette (s2(1)). Those costs are routine publication expenses and are likely small in scale.\n- Who decides: The Minister (or the Minister's office) decides the content and arranges publication (s2(1)–(2)). The Act does not prescribe who prepares the astronomical data or what method is used to calculate times.\n- Legal effect: The Gazetteed almanac reduces the need for parties to call expert evidence or produce multiple independent almanacs to prove sunrise/sunset times in litigation — lowering evidentiary cost and simplifying proof (s3).\n- Rebuttability: \"Prima facie\" evidence is rebuttable. If a party can produce reliable contrary evidence (for example, a contemporaneous instrumented record or corrected calculation), a court may disregard the Gazette entry (s3).\n\nTrade-offs and implementation risks\n\n- Accuracy and source risk: The Act does not specify the calculation standard (reference location within the State, time standard such as standard time or mean solar time, or the data source). That omission can create ambiguity about which geographic point or time convention the almanac uses, and therefore potential disputes about accuracy or applicability to particular localities.\n- Bureaucratic discretion: The Minister (or agency) has discretion over how the almanac is compiled and published; the Act imposes no procedural or quality-control requirements. Errors in the published times could be relied on by parties until successfully rebutted, producing transient legal uncertainty.\n- Substitution effects: Private or commercial almanac publishers and expert witnesses may see reduced demand for their services in routine cases where the Government almanac suffices as evidence; they will remain relevant where accuracy or locality disputes arise.\n- Limited fiscal or market impact: The requirement is narrowly administrative. It is unlikely to affect prices, competition or market structure beyond modestly reducing some private evidentiary service demand.\n\nConcrete behavioural change\n\n- Parties and courts will routinely accept the Government Gazette almanac as the starting point for proof of sunrise/sunset unless specific contrary evidence is put forward (s3).\n- Government agencies will have an on-record schedule to reference for time-sensitive rules or administrative acts that depend on sunrise/sunset.\n\nKey statutory citations\n\n- Publication schedule and content: s2(1)–(2).\n- Evidentiary effect and proof of publication: s3.\n\nSummary: The Act creates an official, quarterly-published almanac of sunrise and sunset times in the Government Gazette and makes that almanac prima facie evidence of those times, simplifying proof in legal and administrative contexts while leaving calculation methods, location reference and accuracy control to the responsible Minister or agency."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose of facilitating proof of sunrise and sunset times. The mechanism (quarterly almanac publication) and legal effect (prima facie evidence) are exactly as described in the long title and preamble. No expansion of scope has occurred."},"complexity_factors":["Only 3 operative sections","No defined terms section","No cross-references to other legislation","Simple, unconditional operative provisions","Single purpose legislation with no exceptions or nested conditions","Total length under 400 words"],"plain_english_summary":"This law makes it easier to prove what time the sun rose or set on any particular day in South Australia. Here's how it works:\n\n- **What it does**: The Minister must publish an almanac (a calendar with astronomical data) in the Government Gazette every three months — specifically in March, June, September, and December. Each almanac covers the next three months and lists sunrise and sunset times for every day.\n\n- **Why it matters**: Before this law, if you needed to prove in court (or elsewhere) exactly when the sun rose or set — perhaps for a criminal case, insurance claim, or property dispute — you'd need expert evidence or complex calculations. Now, you can simply produce a copy of the Government Gazette containing the relevant almanac.\n\n- **The legal effect**: The almanac is **prima facie evidence** (meaning it's accepted as true unless someone proves otherwise) of sunrise and sunset times. This saves time and money by avoiding the need to call astronomers or produce complex calculations in every case where this information matters.\n\n- **Who it affects**: Primarily lawyers, courts, insurers, and anyone involved in disputes where the time of sunrise or sunset is legally relevant — such as determining whether an accident occurred during daylight hours, or whether a curfew was breached."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/proof-of-sunrise-and-sunset-act-1923","history":"/api/acts/proof-of-sunrise-and-sunset-act-1923/history","analysis":"/api/acts/proof-of-sunrise-and-sunset-act-1923/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/proof-of-sunrise-and-sunset-act-1923/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/proof-of-sunrise-and-sunset-act-1923/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/proof-of-sunrise-and-sunset-act-1923/documents"}}