{"id":"roman-catholic-church-property-act-1911","name":"Roman Catholic Church Property Act 1911","slug":"roman-catholic-church-property-act-1911","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":109946,"registerId":"wa-roman-catholic-church-property-act-1911-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Roman Catholic Church Property Act 1911","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nRoman Catholic Church Property Act 1911\n\nWestern Australia\n\nRoman Catholic Church Property Act 1911\n\nContents\n\n1. Short title 1\n\n2. Interpretation 1\n\n3. Certain property vested in Archbishop 1\n\n4. Bishop to be corporation sole 2\n\n10. Execution of documents 2\n\n11. Land titles, registration and fees 2\n\n12. Corporate name on land records 3\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 4\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nRoman Catholic Church Property Act 1911\n\nAn Act to vest in the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Perth, and his successors in office, all property belonging to or held on account of the said Diocese, and to make further provision for disposing of such property, and for other purposes connected therewith.\n\n##### 1. Short title\n\nThis Act may be cited as the *Roman Catholic Church Property Act 1911* 1.\n\n##### 2. Interpretation\n\nIn this Act the word Property includes property of every kind whatsoever, both legal and equitable, real and personal, and choses in action.\n\n##### 3. Certain property vested in Archbishop\n\nAll property now or hereafter belonging to the Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church known as the Diocese of Perth 2, or vested in any person as trustee on account of the said Church in the said Diocese (including all lands mentioned in or affected by Act No. 4 of 1858 3, or the *Roman Catholic Church Lands Act 1895*, excepting such lands as have been lawfully alienated or as are vested in the Bishop of any other Diocese under the *Roman Catholic Lands Amendment Act 1902*), shall by virtue hereof (but subject to the last‑mentioned Act) vest absolutely in the Roman Catholic Bishop for the time being of the said Diocese 4 and his successors in office subject to all trusts and dispositions respectively affecting the same.\n\n##### 4. Bishop to be corporation sole\n\n(1) For the purposes of this Act and of *The Roman Catholic Church Lands Act 1895*, the said Bishop for the time being shall be a corporation sole, by the name of “The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Perth”, with perpetual succession, and by and in that name may sue and be sued and shall have power to purchase, take, and hold property and (subject as hereinafter provided, and to the trusts and dispositions aforesaid) to sell, mortgage, lease, or dispose of any property hereby vested, and may in respect of any real or leasehold property hereby vested exercise all powers conferred on the Bishop for the time being administering the ecclesiastical affairs of the Roman Catholic Church of Western Australia, and his successors in office, by *The* *Roman Catholic Church Lands Act 1895*.\n\n(2) The said Bishop shall have an official seal and all courts, judges and persons acting judicially shall take notice of that official seal affixed to a document and shall presume that it was duly affixed.\n\n[Section 4 amended: No. 67 of 1972 s. 5.]\n\n[**5-9.** Deleted: No. 67 of 1972 s. 6.]\n\n##### 10. Execution of documents\n\nAll documents required to be executed by the said Bishop for the purpose of giving effect to any transaction or dealing with property shall be signed by the said Bishop and his official seal shall be affixed thereto.\n\n[Section 10 inserted: No. 67 of 1972 s. 7.]\n\n##### 11. Land titles, registration and fees\n\nThe vesting of any land by this Act in “the Roman Catholic Bishop of Perth” shall be registered and noted under the *Transfer of Land Act 1893* or the *Registration of Deeds Act 1856*, as the case may require, and on the document of title of such land free of charge.\n\n[Section 11 amended: No. 81 of 1996 s. 153(2); No. 60 of 2006 s. 154.]\n\n##### 12. Corporate name on land records\n\nOn the coming into operation of the *Acts Amendment (Roman Catholic Church Lands) Act 1972* 1, all land vested, by this Act or otherwise, in “The Roman Catholic Bishop of Perth” shall vest in “The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Perth” without the necessity of any change of name to that effect in the Register under the *Transfer of Land Act 1893* or in the Book of Registry kept under the *Registration of Deeds Act 1856*, as the case may be.\n\n[Section 12 inserted: No. 67 of 1972 s. 8; amended: No. 81 of 1996 s. 153(1).]\n\nNotes\n\n1 This is a compilation of the *Roman Catholic Church Property Act 1911* and includes the amendments made by the other written laws referred to in the following table 6. The table also contains information about any previous reprint.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Short title** | **Number and year** | **Assent** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *Roman Catholic Church Property Act 1911* | 36 of 1911 | 16 Feb 1911 | 16 Feb 1911 |\n| *Roman Catholic Church Property Acts Amendment Act 1916* s. 6(1) and (2) | 4 of 1916 | 17 Nov 1916 | 17 Nov 1916 |\n| *Acts Amendment (Roman Catholic Church Lands) Act 1972* Pt. II | 67 of 1972 | 16 Nov 1972 | 16 Nov 1972 |\n| **Reprint of the *Roman Catholic Church Property Act 1911* as at 28 Jul 1987**    (includes amendments listed above) | | | |\n| *Transfer of Land Amendment Act 1996* s. 153(1) and (2) | 81 of 1996 | 14 Nov 1996 | 14 Nov 1996 (see s. 2(1)) |\n| **Reprint 2: the *Roman Catholic Church Property Act 1911* as at 7 Feb 2003**   (includes amendments listed above) | | | |\n| *Land Information Authority Act 2006* s. 154 | 60 of 2006 | 16 Nov 2006 | 1 Jan 2007 (see s. 2(1) and *Gazette* 8 Dec 2006 p. 5369) |\n\n\n2 Now the Archdiocese of Perth. See *Roman Catholic Church Property Acts Amendment Act 1916* s. 2.\n\n3 Now cited as the *Roman Catholic Church Lands Ordinance 1858.*\n\n4 Now the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Perth. See s. 12 and the *Roman Catholic Church Property Acts Amendment Act 1916*.\n\n5 Footnote no longer applicable.\n\n6  This Act is to be read as one with the following Act:\n\n *Roman Catholic Church Property Act Amendment Act 1912.*\n\n  This Act is affected by the following Act:\n\n *Roman Catholic Church Property Acts Amendment Act 1916.*\n\nOther relevant written laws:\n\n\t\t*Roman Catholic Church Lands Ordinance 1858*\n\n\t\t*The Roman Catholic Church Lands Act 1895*\n\n\t\t*Roman Catholic Church Lands Amendment Act 1902*\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\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\nProperty 2\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: vesting Catholic Church property in the Bishop/Archbishop of Perth and establishing the legal mechanics for managing that property. While amendments have updated terminology (Bishop to Archbishop, Diocese to Archdiocese) and streamlined execution requirements, the core scope has not expanded beyond property management for the Perth Archdiocese."},"complexity_factors":["Very short statute (12 sections, with sections 5-9 deleted)","Only 1 defined term ('Property' in section 2)","Heavy reliance on external legislation (references to 6+ other Acts including the Roman Catholic Church Lands Act 1895, Transfer of Land Act 1893, etc.)","Historical layering: original 1911 text modified by amendments in 1916, 1972, 1996, and 2006, requiring footnotes to track name changes (Bishop → Archbishop, Diocese → Archdiocese)","Conditional exceptions in section 3 (excluding lands alienated or vested in other dioceses)","Simple procedural requirements (section 10: sign and seal; section 11: registration without fees)"],"plain_english_summary":"This Western Australian law from 1911 deals with who legally owns property belonging to the Catholic Church in Perth.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Transfers ownership**: All property belonging to the Catholic Diocese of Perth (now called the Archdiocese) is transferred from various trustees and individuals into the name of the Bishop of Perth (now the Archbishop).\n- **Creates a 'corporation sole'**: The Bishop is made into a special type of legal entity called a 'corporation sole' — this means the office itself (the position of Archbishop) can own property, sue people in court, and be sued, rather than the person holding the office. When one Archbishop dies or retires, the next one automatically takes over all the property without needing complicated legal transfers.\n- **Simplifies land deals**: The Archbishop can buy, sell, lease, or mortgage church property using an official seal, and documents must be signed by the Archbishop with this seal attached.\n- **Free registration**: When church land is registered under this Act, it doesn't attract government fees.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Perth and its leadership\n- People buying from or selling to the Catholic Church in Perth\n- Anyone dealing with land titles involving church property\n\n**Why it matters:**\nBefore this law, church property was often held by individual trustees, which created legal headaches when trustees died or changed. This law centralises ownership in the Bishop/Archbishop's office, making it easier to manage church assets across generations of church leaders without constant legal transfers."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The original instrument vested diocesan property in the diocesan bishop and provided disposal powers. Subsequent amendments and insertions altered mechanics and naming: the Act now expressly creates the bishop as a corporation sole styled \"The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Perth\" for the purposes of the Act (s 4(1); s 12), requires executed documents to bear the official seal (s 10), and mandates registration of the statutory vesting on land records free of charge (s 11). The text retains the original limitation that all vested property remains subject to existing trusts and dispositions (s 3). Compilation notes record multiple later Acts and amendments that affect name, registration and administrative procedure; those amendments change the operational details and record‑keeping obligations without removing the fundamental vesting and trust‑preservation features (s 3; s 11; s 12)."},"complexity_factors":["Broad statutory definition of \"property\" covering legal and equitable interests (s 2) increases coverage but keeps mechanics simple.","Vesting of diverse property classes into a corporation sole requires coordination between equitable trusts and statutory title (s 3).","Creation of a corporation sole with transactional powers and official seal affects litigation and contracting formalities (s 4(1)‑(2); s 10).","Interplay with multiple other statutes (Roman Catholic Church Lands Act 1895; Transfer of Land Act 1893; Registration of Deeds Act 1856) creates administrative cross‑dependencies (s 3; s 11).","Amendments and automatic name‑change provisions (s 12 and compilation notes) require registries to effect changes without standard procedures.","Deleted sections (5–9) and subsequent insertions (s 10, s 12) mean users must consult the consolidated text and compilation history for current mechanics."],"plain_english_summary":"The Act vests all property of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Perth in the diocesan bishop’s office—styled as the corporation sole “Roman Catholic Archbishop of Perth”—giving that office legal title and powers to buy, sell, mortgage and otherwise deal with land, while preserving any existing trusts or dispositions. Transactions must be executed by the bishop with his seal, and land registries must record the statutory vesting and name change free of charge."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as the legislative text was not available for review. No comparison between original intent and current operation can be made from the retrieved content."},"complexity_factors":["Insufficient legislative text was retrievable — the source page returned a 404-style error, preventing substantive analysis","Historical legislation from 1911 may use archaic legal language and concepts","Property law intersecting with religious entity legal status adds some structural complexity","Corporation sole arrangements (where one officeholder legally represents an institution) can be conceptually unfamiliar to non-lawyers"],"plain_english_summary":"## Roman Catholic Church Property Act 1911 (WA)\n\n**⚠️ Content Unavailable**\n\nThe actual text of this Western Australian legislation could not be retrieved — the source page is no longer available due to a website system upgrade.\n\n**What we can infer from the title:**\nThis is a Western Australian law from 1911 that likely deals with how the Roman Catholic Church can **legally own, manage, and transfer property** in Western Australia. Laws like this typically allow a religious body (which isn't a regular legal person) to hold land and assets through a nominated legal representative (such as a Bishop or Archbishop acting as a 'corporation sole' — meaning one person legally authorised to hold property on behalf of an institution).\n\n**Who it likely affects:**\n- The Roman Catholic Church and its dioceses in Western Australia\n- Church administrators and trustees managing Church property\n- Anyone buying, selling, or leasing land to or from the Catholic Church in WA\n\n**Why it matters:**\nWithout this law (or one like it), the Church could face serious legal difficulties owning land and buildings, since it is not a company or individual.\n\n*Note: A full analysis is not possible without access to the actual legislative text. Please visit the Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office website directly to locate the current version.*"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/roman-catholic-church-property-act-1911","history":"/api/acts/roman-catholic-church-property-act-1911/history","analysis":"/api/acts/roman-catholic-church-property-act-1911/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/roman-catholic-church-property-act-1911/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/roman-catholic-church-property-act-1911/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/roman-catholic-church-property-act-1911/documents"}}