{"id":"railway-tilley-to-karara-act-2010","name":"Railway (Tilley to Karara) Act 2010","slug":"railway-tilley-to-karara-act-2010","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":106461,"registerId":"wa-railway-tilley-to-karara-act-2010-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Railway (Tilley to Karara) Act 2010","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nRailway (Tilley to Karara) Act 2010\n\nWestern Australia\n\nRailway (Tilley to Karara) Act 2010\n\nContents\n\nPart 1 — Preliminary\n\n1. Short title 2\n\n2. Commencement 2\n\nPart 2 — Authority to construct railway\n\n3. Authority to construct Tilley to Karara railway 3\n\nPart 3 — Application of various written laws if construction of railway undertaken by contractor\n\n4. Terms used 4\n\n5. Application of Part 4\n\n6. *Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972* 4\n\n7. *Environmental Protection Act 1986* 4\n\nSchedule 1 — Line of Tilley to Karara Railway\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 6\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nRailway (Tilley to Karara) Act 2010\n\nAn Act to authorise the construction of a railway from Tilley to Karara, and for related purposes.\n\nThe Parliament of Western Australia enacts as follows:\n\n## Part 1 — Preliminary\n\n##### 1. Short title\n\nThis is the *Railway (Tilley to Karara) Act 2010*.\n\n##### 2. Commencement\n\nThis Act comes into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.\n\n## Part 2 — Authority to construct railway\n\n##### 3. Authority to construct Tilley to Karara railway\n\nA railway, with all necessary, proper and usual works and facilities in connection with the railway, may be constructed and maintained along the line described in Schedule 1.\n\n## Part 3 — Application of various written laws if construction of railway undertaken by contractor\n\n##### 4. Terms used\n\nIn this Part —\n\nproposal has the meaning given in the *Environmental Protection Act 1986* section 3(1);\n\nPublic Transport Authority means the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia established under the *Public Transport Authority Act 2003* section 5.\n\n[Section 4 amended: No. 14 of 2025 s. 34.]\n\n##### 5. Application of Part\n\nThis Part applies if the Public Transport Authority enters into a contract or arrangement with another person (the  contractor) for the construction of all, or part, of the railway (the construction of the railway).\n\n##### 6. *Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972*\n\nFor the purposes of the construction of the railway, the *Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972* applies in relation to any land required to be used for the construction of the railway as if the contractor were the owner of that land.\n\n[Section 6 inserted: No. 23 of 2023 s. 32.]\n\n##### 7. *Environmental Protection Act 1986*\n\nFor the purposes of the construction of the railway, the *Environmental Protection Act 1986* applies as if, despite anything else in that Act, the contractor had been nominated under section 38(6) of that Act as the person responsible for any proposal in respect of the construction of the railway.\n\nSchedule 1 — Line of Tilley to Karara Railway\n\n[s. 3]\n\n1. The Tilley to Karara railway commences about 336.5 kilometres along the Avon Yard to Mullewa Railway line at point 1 in the sequence specified in the Table then continues, generally in an easterly or south‑easterly direction, along a straight line between each of the points in the sequence, and terminates at point 10, about 74 kilometres from point 1.\n\nTable\n\n| **Point no.** | **East** | **North** |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| 1 | 404000 | 6773000 |\n| 2 | 418900 | 6773000 |\n| 3 | 420000 | 6773700 |\n| 4 | 423803 | 6774160 |\n| 5 | 428775 | 6770355 |\n| 6 | 443240 | 6770410 |\n| 7 | 450215 | 6772010 |\n| 8 | 467440 | 6771655 |\n| 9 | 471475 | 6772630 |\n| 10 | 474220 | 6771125 |\n\n\n2. The course to be taken by the railway is shown as a red line on Public Transport Authority Plan 17‑C‑15‑1001.\n\nNote for this Schedule:\n\nCoordinate references are to Map Grid of Australia 1994 grid coordinates in Zone 50 of the Universal Transverse Mercator Grid System based on the Geocentric Datum of Australia.\n\n![]()\n\nNotes\n\nThis is a compilation of the *Railway (Tilley to Karara) Act 2010* and includes amendments made by other written laws. For provisions that have come into operation see the compilation table.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Short title** | | **Number and year** | **Assent** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *Railway (Tilley to Karara) Act 2010* | | 25 of 2010 | 7 Jul 2010 | 7 Jul 2010 (see s. 2) |\n| *Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2021* s. 351 | | 27 of 2021 | 22 Dec 2021 | 1 Jul 2023 (see s. 2(e) and SL 2023/40 cl. 2(b)) |\n| *Aboriginal Heritage Legislation Amendment and Repeal Act 2023* s. 32 | | 23 of 2023 | 24 Oct 2023 | 15 Nov 2023 (see s. 2(d) and SL 2023/161 cl. 2) |\n| *Statutes (Repeals and Minor Amendments) Act 2025* s. 34 | 14 of 2025 | 25 Sep 2025 | 26 Sep 2025 (see s. 2(b)) | |\n\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\nconstruction of the railway 5\n\ncontractor 5\n\nproposal 4\n\nPublic Transport Authority 4\n\n© State of Western Australia 2025.\n\nThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0). To view relevant information and for a link to a copy of the licence, visit www.legislation.wa.gov.au.\n\nAttribute work as: © State of Western Australia 2025.\n\nBy Authority: GEOFF O. LAWN, Government Printer\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: authorising the Tilley to Karara railway and managing contractor liability under heritage and environmental laws. The 2023 and 2025 amendments updated references and terminology but did not expand the scope beyond the original railway project."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short — only 7 substantive sections plus a Schedule","Minimal defined terms — only 4 defined terms in the entire Act","No nested exceptions or complex conditional logic","Simple structure: preliminary provisions, authority to build, and application of other laws to contractors","Schedule 1 contains only a table of coordinates and a reference to a map","Cross-references are limited to three external Acts (Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972, Environmental Protection Act 1986, Public Transport Authority Act 2003)","Recent amendments (2023, 2025) are straightforward substitutions without structural complexity"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis Act gives the green light to build a specific railway line in Western Australia — running from Tilley to Karara, roughly 74 kilometres in a generally easterly/south-easterly direction through the state's wheatbelt/mid-west region.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n*   **The Public Transport Authority of WA** — the government body that can build the railway or hire someone else to do it.\n*   **Contractors** — private companies that might be hired to actually construct the railway.\n*   **Landowners and traditional custodians** along the route — because the railway crosses their land.\n*   **Environmental regulators** — because the Act changes how environmental laws apply to this project.\n\n**Key things the law does:**\n\n1.  **Authorises construction** — It legally permits the railway to be built and maintained along a very specific route mapped out using GPS-style coordinates (Map Grid of Australia 1994).\n\n2.  **Deals with heritage protection** — If a contractor builds the railway, the *Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972* treats that contractor as if they were the landowner. This means the contractor (not just the government) has legal duties to protect Aboriginal heritage sites.\n\n3.  **Handles environmental approvals** — If a contractor builds the railway, they're treated as the \"responsible person\" under the *Environmental Protection Act 1986*. This streamlines who is legally accountable for environmental assessments and approvals during construction.\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nWithout this Act, the Public Transport Authority couldn't legally build this specific railway. The Act also solves a practical problem: if the government hires a private builder, this legislation makes sure that builder — not just the government — is directly responsible for following Aboriginal heritage and environmental laws. This protects both cultural heritage and the environment while allowing the project to proceed."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope change cannot be assessed — the legislative text was not available in the provided source material. The Act title suggests a geographically specific, single-purpose piece of legislation authorising a defined railway route, which is typically consistent with narrow original intent. No amendments or scope expansions can be confirmed or denied."},"complexity_factors":["Insufficient source material — the actual legislative text was not retrievable, only a broken webpage placeholder was provided","Cannot assess cross-references to other Acts, definitions, schedules, or operative provisions","Railway-specific Acts of this type are typically narrow and technical in scope, which would ordinarily keep complexity moderate, but this cannot be confirmed","Any compulsory land acquisition provisions, if present, would add complexity for affected landowners"],"plain_english_summary":"A 2010 Western Australian Act concerning a railway between Tilley and Karara, likely authorising use, construction or reservation of land for a rail link—probably to service local mining activity (notably Karara Mining).  \n\nIt chiefly affects landowners/occupiers along the corridor and mining or transport businesses in the Mid West; the full Act text wasn’t available in the source, so obtain the statute from WA authorities for a definitive legal view."},"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":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"Since enactment the Act's practical scope has been adjusted by later amendments that alter how heritage and environmental laws apply to contractors. Notably, s.6 (inserted 2023) makes the contractor the equivalent of a landowner for Aboriginal heritage law purposes, and s.7 applies the Environmental Protection Act as if the contractor were the nominated person responsible for the proposal; section 5 conditions these effects on the Public Transport Authority entering a construction contract (see ss.5–7 and the compilation table entries for 2021, 2023 and 2025)."},"complexity_factors":["Short, purpose‑specific statute with a single physical alignment defined by technical coordinates in Schedule 1 (metes-and-bounds style).","Cross‑references and legal effects tied to other Acts (Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972; Environmental Protection Act 1986) that import external approval regimes (ss.6–7).","Conditional application depending on contracting decisions by the Public Transport Authority (triggered by s.5).","Deeming provisions that change legal status of third parties (contractor treated as landowner; contractor treated as nominated proponent) — shifts compliance burdens onto private parties (ss.6–7).","Amendments and compilation history updating heritage and defined‑term references, requiring readers to check later Acts and commencement notes (compilation table; amendments to s.4, insertion of s.6)."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act authorises construction and maintenance of a railway between Tilley and Karara along the route described in Schedule 1. \n\nIt affects the Public Transport Authority and any contractor it engages: if the Authority contracts construction, the contractor is treated under the Aboriginal Heritage Act as if they owned the land and under the Environmental Protection Act as the nominated proponent, so the contractor assumes cultural and environmental approval and compliance responsibilities (ss.5–7)."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/railway-tilley-to-karara-act-2010","history":"/api/acts/railway-tilley-to-karara-act-2010/history","analysis":"/api/acts/railway-tilley-to-karara-act-2010/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/railway-tilley-to-karara-act-2010/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/railway-tilley-to-karara-act-2010/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/railway-tilley-to-karara-act-2010/documents"}}