{"id":"real-property-foreign-governments-act-1951","name":"Real Property (Foreign Governments) Act 1951","slug":"real-property-foreign-governments-act-1951","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":106483,"registerId":"wa-real-property-foreign-governments-act-1951-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Real Property (Foreign Governments) Act 1951","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nReal Property (Foreign Governments) Act 1951\n\nWestern Australia\n\nReal Property (Foreign Governments) Act 1951\n\nContents\n\n1. Short title 1\n\n2. Interpretation 1\n\n3. Power of foreign Governments to hold land 1\n\n4. Consent to conveyance of lands to foreign Governments 2\n\n5. Execution of instruments 2\n\n6. Foreign States deemed to be bodies corporate 3\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 4\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nReal Property (Foreign Governments) Act 1951\n\nAn Act to enable the Governments of foreign States to own and dispose of land in Western Australia, and for purposes incidental thereto.\n\n##### 1. Short title\n\nThis Act may be cited as the *Real Property (Foreign Governments) Act 1951* 1.\n\n##### 2. Interpretation\n\nIn this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —\n\n  foreign State means any State other than Western Australia, including any sovereign State, any State of the Commonwealth, any State forming part of any other federal State, and any State under the dominion or protection of His Majesty, or of any other State;\n\n  land means any estate or interest in land;\n\n  representative means diplomatic representative, consul, or consular officer.\n\n##### 3. Power of foreign Governments to hold land\n\n(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Government of a foreign State or a minister or member of any such Government shall be capable of owning and being registered as the owner of land in Western Australia, such land not to exceed an area of 2 hectares in the aggregate, without the approval of Parliament, and of conveying, transferring, mortgaging, demising, and being a party to any other disposition of such land.\n\n(2) In any instrument which relates to land in Western Australia —\n\n(a) the Government of a foreign State shall be described by the words “The Government of ”, the blank space being filled by the name of that State;\n\n(b) a minister or member of the Government of a foreign State shall be described by his official title, including or followed by the name of that State.\n\n(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), the Government of the United States of America or a minister or member of that Government shall be capable of owning and being registered as the owner of an estate of leasehold in land in Western Australia being portion of the land that is constituted the townsite of Exmouth under the provisions of the *Land Administration Act 1997*, such portion of the land not to exceed an area of 40.5 hectares in the aggregate.\n\n[Section 3 amended: No. 55 of 1964 s. 2; No. 73 of 1994 s. 4; No. 31 of 1997 s. 141; No. 8 of 2009 s. 108.]\n\n##### 4. Consent to conveyance of lands to foreign Governments\n\nAn instrument granting, conveying, transferring or demising land to the Government of a foreign State or to a minister or member of the Government of a foreign State shall not have any effect, or be registered, deposited, or enrolled pursuant to any Act, unless it contains or has endorsed thereon a statement by the appropriate Minister of the Crown for the State of Western Australia that he consents to the transaction evidenced or effected by that instrument.\n\n##### 5. Execution of instruments\n\n(1) An instrument granting, conveying, transferring, demising, mortgaging, or otherwise dealing with land, or an acceptance of a transfer of land, may be executed on behalf of the Government of a foreign State, or on behalf of a minister or member of the Government of a foreign State, by a representative of that Government resident within the Commonwealth.\n\n(2) A certificate, signed by the appropriate Minister of the Crown for the State of Western Australia and certifying that a person named therein is a representative of the Government of a foreign State and is resident in the Commonwealth, shall, if contained in or endorsed on any instrument relating to land, be accepted by the Registrar of Titles or Registrar of Deeds and Transfers as conclusive evidence of the fact so certified.\n\n(3) The appropriate Minister of the Crown for the State of Western Australia, on request made to him by or on behalf of a foreign State, and if satisfied as to the facts to be certified, shall give a certificate such as is mentioned in the last preceding subsection.\n\n[Section 5 amended: No. 47 of 2011 s. 16.]\n\n##### 6. Foreign States deemed to be bodies corporate\n\n(1) For purposes of owning and dealing with land pursuant to this Act, the Government of a foreign State or a minister or member of the Government of a foreign State shall be deemed to be a body corporate.\n\n(2) Where any instrument relating to land in Western Australia contains a reference to any such Government, minister or member, that reference shall be deemed to be a reference to the persons for the time being constituting that Government, or, as the case may be, to the person for the time being holding or acting in the office of that minister or member.\n\nNotes\n\n1 This is a compilation of the *Real Property (Foreign Governments) Act 1951* and includes the amendments made by the other written laws referred to in the following table. The table also contains information about any reprint 2.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Short title** | **Number and year** | **Assent** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *Real Property (Foreign Governments) Act 1951* | 3 of 1951 | 13 Nov 1951 | 13 Nov 1951 |\n| *Real Property (Foreign Governments) Act Amendment Act 1964* | 55 of 1964 | 30 Nov 1964 | 30 Nov 1964 |\n| *Statutes (Repeals and Minor Amendments) Act 1994* s. 4 | 73 of 1994 | 9 Dec 1994 | 9 Dec 1994 (see s. 2) |\n| *Acts Amendment (Land Administration) Act 1997* s. 141 | 31 of 1997 | 3 Oct 1997 | 30 Mar 1998 (see s. 2 and *Gazette* 27 Mar 1998 p. 1765) |\n| **Reprint 1: The *Real Property (Foreign Governments) Act 1951* as at 16 May 2003** (includes amendments listed above) | | | |\n| *Statutes (Repeals and Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2009* s. 108 | | 8 of 2009 | 21 May 2009 | 22 May 2009 (see s. 2(b)) |\n| *Statutes (Repeals and Minor Amendments) Act 2011* s. 16 | | 47 of 2011 | 25 Oct 2011 | 26 Oct 2011 (see s. 2(b)) |\n\n\n2 Marginal notes in the *Real Property (Foreign Governments) Act 1951* referring to legislation of other jurisdictions have been omitted from this reprint.\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\nforeign State 2\n\nland 2\n\nrepresentative 2\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as no legislative content was available for review. The submission contained only a broken webpage error message, not the text of the Act."},"complexity_factors":["No actual legislative text was provided — only a website error message","Analysis is impossible without the substantive content of the Act","Complexity cannot be meaningfully assessed from a title alone"],"plain_english_summary":"**No analysable content available.**\n\nThe legislation text you've provided does not contain the actual content of the *Real Property (Foreign Governments) Act 1951* (WA). Instead, it only contains a website error message indicating the page is no longer accessible due to system upgrades.\n\n**What we can infer from the title alone:**\nThe *Real Property (Foreign Governments) Act 1951* is a Western Australian law that likely deals with how foreign governments (such as embassies or consulates) can hold, acquire, or deal with real property (land and buildings) in Western Australia. Such laws typically address issues like whether a foreign government can own land outright, and what rules or restrictions apply.\n\n**To get the actual text of this Act**, you can:\n- Visit the Western Australian legislation website: [www.legislation.wa.gov.au](https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au)\n- Search for the Act title directly\n- Contact the Parliamentary Counsel's Office helpdesk as suggested in the error message"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"other","section":"Entire document","severity":"high","reasoning":"The document purports to be the Real Property (Foreign Governments) Act 1951 (WA) but consists entirely of a broken webpage notice indicating the content is unavailable. Analysing it as legislation would itself be a logical absurdity — one cannot derive statutory meaning, definitions, obligations, or contradictions from an error message.","confidence":1,"description":"The submitted text contains no actual legislative content — only a 404-style error page, navigation metadata, and an Acknowledgement of Country. There is no legislation present to analyse."},{"type":"self_contradicting","section":"Page title vs content","severity":"medium","reasoning":"A document cannot simultaneously be an Act of Parliament and an admission that no such content exists at that location. The heading and the body are irreconcilable.","confidence":0.97,"description":"The document is headed 'Real Property (Foreign Governments) Act 1951' but the body of the text explicitly states the page 'is no longer available'. The title creates a representation of legislative substance that the content wholly fails to deliver."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"high","section_a":"Document title: 'Real Property (Foreign Governments) Act 1951'","section_b":"Body text: 'The following page real-property-foreign-governments-act-1951.html is no longer available on this website.'","confidence":0.99,"description":"The document asserts it is a piece of legislation in its title while simultaneously asserting in its body that the legislation is not available. These two propositions cannot both be true."}]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: enabling foreign governments to hold limited amounts of land in Western Australia with ministerial oversight. The amendments since 1951 have been minor—updating references to other statutes (like the Land Administration Act 1997), adjusting the specific hectare limits slightly, and modernising language. The special provision for the USA regarding Exmouth was added in 1964 but fits within the original framework of allowing specific foreign government land holdings. There has been no significant expansion into unrelated areas."},"complexity_factors":["Only 3 defined terms in the interpretation section (foreign State, land, representative)","Straightforward conditional logic with clear numerical limits (2 hectares general, 40.5 hectares for USA)","Minimal cross-referencing—only references to the Land Administration Act 1997 for the Exmouth townsite definition","Short statute—only 6 substantive sections plus short title and interpretation","No nested exceptions or complex procedural requirements beyond the ministerial consent mechanism","Simple deeming provision in section 6 treating foreign governments as bodies corporate"],"plain_english_summary":"This Western Australian law from 1951 allows foreign governments to buy and own land in WA, but with strict limits and oversight.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Lets foreign governments own land**: Foreign governments (and their ministers) can register as owners of land in Western Australia, but generally can't hold more than **2 hectares** (about 5 acres) in total without getting approval from the WA Parliament.\n- **Special exception for the USA**: The United States government gets special treatment—it can lease up to **40.5 hectares** (about 100 acres) in the town of Exmouth. This relates to the US military/naval communications base that was established there.\n- **Requires government consent**: Any sale or transfer of land to a foreign government must include written consent from the relevant WA Minister. Without this consent, the deal is invalid and can't be registered.\n- **Lets diplomats sign documents**: Foreign governments can have their diplomatic representatives (ambassadors, consuls) in Australia sign land documents on their behalf. The WA Minister can issue certificates confirming these representatives' authority.\n- **Treats governments like companies**: For land ownership purposes, foreign governments are treated as if they were corporations (legal entities that can own property).\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Foreign embassies and consulates wanting to buy property in WA\n- The US government (specifically regarding its Exmouth facility)\n- Property lawyers and the land titles office handling these transactions\n- WA government ministers who must approve these land deals\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis law balances diplomatic needs (letting foreign governments establish embassies/consulates) with national security and land sovereignty concerns. The 2-hectare limit prevents foreign states from buying up large amounts of Australian land without parliamentary scrutiny, while the special US exemption reflects Australia's strategic military alliance with America."},"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"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/real-property-foreign-governments-act-1951","history":"/api/acts/real-property-foreign-governments-act-1951/history","analysis":"/api/acts/real-property-foreign-governments-act-1951/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/real-property-foreign-governments-act-1951/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/real-property-foreign-governments-act-1951/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/real-property-foreign-governments-act-1951/documents"}}