{"id":"roman-catholic-church-lands-amendment-act-1902","name":"Roman Catholic Church Lands Amendment Act 1902","slug":"roman-catholic-church-lands-amendment-act-1902","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":109941,"registerId":"wa-roman-catholic-church-lands-amendment-act-1902-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Roman Catholic Church Lands Amendment Act 1902","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nRoman Catholic Church Lands Amendment Act 1902\n\nWestern Australia\n\nRoman Catholic Church Lands Amendment Act 1902\n\nContents\n\n1. Short title 2\n\n2. Lands in the diocese of Geraldton vested in the Bishop of Geraldton 2\n\n3. Lands in any new diocese to vest in its bishop 2\n\n4. Lands in the diocese of Perth continue vested in the Archbishop of Perth 3\n\n5. Powers of bishops as to vested lands 3\n\n6. Purchases etc. protected from certain irregularities 3\n\n7. This Act to be read with 1895 Act 4\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 5\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nRoman Catholic Church Lands Amendment Act 1902\n\nAn Act to amend the Ordinance 22nd Victoria, No. 4 2, and the *Roman Catholic Church Lands Act 1895*, and to enable the bishop, for the time being, of each diocese of the Roman Catholic Church to exercise, in respect of the lands within his diocese, the powers granted by the said Act.\n\nPreamble\n\nWhereas at the respective times of the passing of the said Ordinance and Act there was only one Roman Catholic diocese in Western Australia embracing the whole of the State, and one bishop administering the ecclesiastical affairs of the Roman Catholic Church in Western Australia: And whereas the State is now divided into 2 dioceses, *viz*., the dioceses of Perth and Geraldton, and other dioceses may hereafter be created in the said State: And it is expedient that the lands and premises of the said church within each diocese should be vested in the bishop for the time being of the diocese: And that such bishop should be enabled to exercise in respect of all buildings, lands, and premises situate within his diocese and belonging to the Roman Catholic Church the powers granted by the said *Roman Catholic Church Lands Act 1895*:\n\nBe it therefore enacted by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, in this Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: —\n\n##### 1. Short title\n\nThis Act may be cited as the *Roman Catholic Church Lands Amendment Act 1902* 1.\n\n##### 2. Lands in the diocese of Geraldton vested in the Bishop of Geraldton\n\nAll the estate and interest in all buildings, lands, and premises belonging to the Roman Catholic Church, situate within the diocese of Geraldton, shall, without the necessity of any formal deed of assurance or transfer, from the time of the passing of this Act absolutely and indefeasibly vest in the Bishop of Geraldton and his successors in the said office, subject to the trusts mentioned and contained in the several deeds or other assurances in the law affecting the same 3.\n\n##### 3. Lands in any new diocese to vest in its bishop\n\n(1) Hereafter on the creation of a new diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, and the appointment of a bishop thereof, or an alteration of the boundaries of any diocese by adding an area thereto, whether the alteration is made before or after the coming into operation of the *Acts Amendment (Roman Catholic Church Lands) Act 1972*1, all the buildings, lands, and premises belonging to the said Church, situate within such new diocese or within the area added to a diocese, shall, without the necessity of any formal deed of assurance or transfer, vest absolutely and indefeasibly in such bishop and his successors in office or in the bishop of the diocese to which the area has been added and his successors in office, subject to the trusts in the several deeds or other assurances in the law affecting the same; and the estate and interest in all buildings, lands, and premises situate within a diocese which may hereafter be given, granted, or transferred by the Crown, or any person or persons, for Roman Catholic Church purposes, shall vest and be vested in the bishop, and his successors in office, of the diocese within which such buildings, lands, and premises are situate, under and subject to such trusts as may be imposed by the donors, grantors, or transferors thereof.\n\n(2) Where a question arises as to the diocese in which any buildings, land and premises belonging to the Roman Catholic Church are situated, a certificate under the hand and seal of The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Perth certifying that the buildings, land or premises are situate in the diocese specified in the certificate shall for the purposes of this Act be conclusive evidence of the fact.\n\n[Section 3 amended: No. 67 of 1972 s. 3.]\n\n##### 4. Lands in the diocese of Perth continue vested in the Archbishop of Perth\n\nSubject to the provisions of this Act all buildings, lands, and premises situate in the diocese of Perth 4, and belonging to the Roman Catholic Church, shall continue vested in the Bishop 5 of the diocese of Perth, or his successors in office, subject to the trusts affecting the same.\n\n##### 5. Powers of bishops as to vested lands\n\nAll or any of the powers and authorities granted by the *Roman Catholic Church Lands Act 1895*, to the bishop for the time being administering the ecclesiastical affairs of the Roman Catholic Church in Western Australia, and his successors in office, may from time to time be exercised by the bishop of the diocese in respect of the lands vested in him within his diocese, but subject always to the provisions of the said Act and the obligations, restrictions, and exceptions therein contained.\n\n##### 6. Purchases etc. protected from certain irregularities\n\nNo purchaser, mortgagee, or lessee shall be bound to inquire whether the buildings, lands, and premises to be affected by any dealing or dealings are within the diocese of the bishop exercising, or purporting to exercise any of the aforesaid powers and authorities with respect to lands vested in him, nor as to the appointment of such bishop, nor be affected by notice that the person purporting to exercise any such powers or authorities has not been duly and properly appointed the bishop of the diocese.\n\n##### 7. This Act to be read with 1895 Act\n\nThis Act shall be incorporated and read together with the *Roman Catholic Church Lands Act 1895*.\n\nNotes\n\n1 This is a compilation of the *Roman Catholic Church Lands Amendment Act 1902* and includes the amendments made by the other written laws referred to in the following table 6.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Short title** | **Number and year** | **Assent** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *Roman Catholic Church Lands Amendment Act 1902* | 1 & 2 Edw. VII | 19 Feb 1902 | 19 Feb 1902 |\n| *Acts Amendment (Roman Catholic Church Lands) Act 1972* Pt. I | 67 of 1972 | 16 Nov 1972 | 16 Nov 1972 |\n\n\n2 Now cited as the *Roman Catholic Church Lands Ordinance 1858.*\n\n3 Also see *Roman Catholic Geraldton Church Property Act 1925.*\n\n4 Now the Archdiocese of Perth. See *Roman Catholic Church Property Acts Amendment Act 1916* s. 2.\n\n5 Now the Archbishop of Perth. See *Roman Catholic Church Property Acts Amendment Act 1916.* Note also *Roman Catholic Church Property Act 1911* s. 12.\n\n6  This Act is to be read as one with the following Act:\n\n *The Roman Catholic Church Lands Act 1895.*\n\n  This Act is affected by the following Acts:\n\n  \t*Roman Catholic Church Property Act 1911*\n\n\t\t*Roman Catholic Church Property Act Amendment Act 1912*\n\n *Roman Catholic Church Property Acts Amendment Act 1916.*\n\nOther relevant written laws:\n\n *Roman Catholic Church Lands Ordinance 1858*\n\n *Roman Catholic Geraldton Church Property Act 1925*\n\n *Roman Catholic New Norcia Church Property Act 1929*\n\n *Roman Catholic Bunbury Church Property Act 1955*\n\n *Roman Catholic Bishop of Broome Property Act 1957.*\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Act changes the scope of ecclesiastical land ownership from a single statewide bishop to the bishop of each diocese: lands within each diocese vest in that diocesan bishop (ss 2–4, 3(1)). It extends that rule to future dioceses and boundary additions, preserves existing trusts and deeds, enables diocesan exercise of powers under the 1895 Act (s 5), and limits third-party enquiry into a bishop’s appointment or boundary placement (s 6)."},"complexity_factors":["Automatic vesting on creation/alteration of dioceses requires tracking ecclesiastical boundaries over time (s 3(1)).","Vesting is subject to trusts and prior deeds, creating interaction with existing private legal obligations (ss 2, 3(1), 4).","Incorporation and reliance on the earlier Roman Catholic Church Lands Act 1895 means interpretive dependency on another statute (s 7).","Conclusive certification by the Archbishop of Perth as to diocesan location centralises factual determination and limits inquiry (s 3(2)).","Protections for third parties reduce due-diligence duties but raise questions about when apparent episcopal authority is sufficient (s 6).","Historical amendments and cross-references (notably the 1972 amendment and later property acts listed in the notes) add layers for legal research and application."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act transfers legal title to Roman Catholic Church buildings, land and premises to the bishop of the diocese in which the land sits, automatically on the Act’s operation or when a new diocese or boundary change occurs, subject to existing trusts (ss 2–4, 3(1)). It enables those diocesan bishops to exercise powers under the 1895 Act over such lands and protects purchasers, mortgagees and lessees from having to investigate diocesan boundaries or a bishop’s appointment (ss 5–7)."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: reallocating church land ownership following the creation of new dioceses. The 1972 amendment expanded the mechanism to cover future boundary alterations, but this is a logical extension of the original geographic allocation function rather than scope creep. The Act has not expanded into broader church governance, property law, or religious regulation."},"complexity_factors":["Short statute (7 sections, approximately 1,500 words)","Minimal defined terms (only standard interpretive references)","Simple conditional logic limited to future diocese creation in section 3","Heavy reliance on external legislation (Roman Catholic Church Lands Act 1895) for substantive powers, with this Act serving primarily as a geographic allocation mechanism","One amendment incorporated (1972 amendment to section 3 regarding boundary alterations)","Straightforward vesting mechanism without nested exceptions"],"plain_english_summary":"This 1902 Western Australian law updates how church property is legally owned and managed after the state was split into multiple Catholic dioceses.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Splits property ownership by geography**: Before this law, all Roman Catholic Church land in Western Australia was legally owned by one bishop (the Bishop of Perth). After the state was divided into two dioceses (Perth and Geraldton), this law changed the rules so that each bishop only legally owns and controls church property within their own geographic area.\n\n- **Automatic transfer**: When the law passed, all church land in the Geraldton area automatically transferred to the Bishop of Geraldton without needing any paperwork or formal deeds. The same automatic transfer happens whenever a new diocese is created in the future.\n\n- **Protects buyers**: People who buy, lease, or mortgage church property are protected—they don't need to check if the bishop actually has authority over that specific land or whether he was properly appointed.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- The Roman Catholic Church in Western Australia (specifically the bishops of Perth and Geraldton, and any future bishops)\n- Anyone buying, leasing, or borrowing against church property\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis law solved a practical problem: you can't have one bishop legally owning all church property when the church is now run by multiple bishops in different regions. It ensures each bishop can manage local church assets (sell, lease, or develop them) without legal confusion, while keeping the original rules about what the property can be used for (the \"trusts\" attached to the land)."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as no legislative text was retrievable. The page hosting this Act has been removed from the Western Australian legislation website due to a system upgrade."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative text is available — the source page returned a 404-style error message only","Complexity cannot be meaningfully assessed without access to the actual provisions","Score of 1 reflects the absence of content to analyse, not the inherent simplicity of the law"],"plain_english_summary":"## Roman Catholic Church Lands Amendment Act 1902 (WA)\n\n**The content of this legislation is unavailable.** The source page has been taken offline as part of a website system upgrade by the Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office. No legislative text could be retrieved for analysis.\n\nBased solely on the title, this appears to be a **1902 Western Australian law** that amended earlier legislation dealing with land ownership or management rights of the Roman Catholic Church in Western Australia. Laws of this type typically governed how religious organisations could hold, transfer, or develop property — but **no conclusions can be drawn** about the specific provisions, rights, or obligations created by this Act without access to the actual text."},"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/roman-catholic-church-lands-amendment-act-1902","history":"/api/acts/roman-catholic-church-lands-amendment-act-1902/history","analysis":"/api/acts/roman-catholic-church-lands-amendment-act-1902/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/roman-catholic-church-lands-amendment-act-1902/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/roman-catholic-church-lands-amendment-act-1902/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/roman-catholic-church-lands-amendment-act-1902/documents"}}