{"id":"royal-agricultural-society-act-1926","name":"Royal Agricultural Society Act 1926","slug":"royal-agricultural-society-act-1926","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":110007,"registerId":"wa-royal-agricultural-society-act-1926-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Royal Agricultural Society Act 1926","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nRoyal Agricultural Society Act 1926\n\nWestern Australia\n\nRoyal Agricultural Society Act 1926\n\nContents\n\n1. Short title 1\n\n2. Terms used 1\n\n3. Registration of agricultural societies 1\n\n4. Register 2\n\n5. Shows in contravention of this Act may be restrained by injunction 2\n\n6. By‑laws of registered societies 3\n\n7. Regulations 4\n\nSchedule — Certificate of registration\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 6\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nRoyal Agricultural Society Act 1926\n\nAn Act for the affiliation of agricultural societies with the Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia.\n\n##### 1. Short title\n\nThis Act may be cited as the *Royal Agricultural Society Act 1926*, and shall come into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation 1.\n\n##### 2. Terms used\n\nIn this Act —\n\n  Agricultural Society means and includes any society, club, association, or other body of persons, whether corporate or not, registered in pursuance of this Act.\n\n  Agricultural Show means and includes any show having for its principal object the exhibition of agricultural or pastoral products and live stock, including horses in action.\n\n  Royal Agricultural Society means the Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia Incorporated.\n\n[Section 2 amended: No. 55 of 2004 s. 1066.]\n\n##### 3. Registration of agricultural societies\n\n(1) No society, club, association, or other body of persons, whether corporate or not, shall hold or promote an agricultural show unless and until such society, club, association, or other body of persons shall have become registered with the Royal Agricultural Society in the manner hereinafter prescribed, which registration shall be testified by the issue of a certificate in the form contained in the Schedule.\n\n(2) In order to obtain such registration, there shall be lodged with the secretary of the Royal Agricultural Society an application in writing —\n\n(a) under the common seal, duly affixed, of the applicant, if a body corporate; or\n\n(b) signed by at least 10 persons on behalf of a society, club, association, or body of persons not incorporated.\n\n(3) On receipt of such application the Royal Agricultural Society may grant such registration on payment of the prescribed fee.\n\n(4) However, registration shall not be refused if the application is made by or on behalf of a society, club, association, or body of persons established for agricultural show purposes before the commencement of this Act.\n\n(5) In any case, an application may be made to the State Administrative Tribunal for a review of the refusal by the Royal Agricultural Society to register any society, club, association, or other body of persons.\n\n[Section 3 amended: No. 55 of 2004 s. 1067; No. 19 of 2010 s. 32(2) and 51.]\n\n##### 4. Register\n\nThe Royal Agricultural Society shall keep a register at its office in Perth, in which shall be entered the full name and the postal address of all agricultural societies registered under this Act; and such register shall be open for inspection during the office hours of the Royal Agricultural Society.\n\n##### 5. Shows in contravention of this Act may be restrained by injunction\n\nIf any society, club, or association, or other body of persons, whether corporate or not, shall hold or promote an agricultural show in contravention of the provisions of this Act, the Royal Agricultural Society may proceed against such society, club, association, or body of persons, for an injunction to restrain it or them from so contravening the provisions of this Act.\n\n##### 6. By‑laws of registered societies\n\n(1) Uniform by‑laws governing all registered agricultural societies and the members thereof shall be made, and may be revoked altered, or amended, by the council of the Royal Agricultural Society and delegates of the registered agricultural societies, present and meeting together, at a conference convened from time to time by the Royal Agricultural Society.\n\n(1A) At every such conference the President of the Royal Agricultural Society, if present, shall be chairman. In his absence the members of the council present may elect one of their number to be chairman for that meeting.\n\n(1B) At every such conference the questions there considered shall be decided by open voting, and by the majority present. Each member of the council and each delegate present shall have one vote, and in the case of an equality of votes the chairman shall have a second or casting vote.\n\n(2) Uniform by‑laws shall be subject to the approval of the Governor, and section 42 of the *Interpretation Act 1984* 2 shall apply.\n\n(3) Every registered agricultural society may make by‑laws for the regulation of matters of domestic or local concern. All by‑laws so made, or any amendment thereof, shall be submitted to the Royal Agricultural Society for approval. Section 42 of the *Interpretation Act 1984* 2 shall not apply to by‑laws made by registered agricultural societies under this subsection.\n\n[Section 6 amended: No. 23 of 1940 s. 2; No. 19 of 2010 s. 51.]\n\n##### 7. Regulations\n\nThe Governor may make regulations enabling the cancellation of the registration of agricultural societies for breach of the by‑laws, or for other sufficient cause; and prescribing all matters and things that it may be necessary or convenient to prescribe for carrying out the provisions of this Act.\n\nSchedule — Certificate of registration\n\n[s. 3(1)]\n\n[Heading inserted: No. 19 of 2010 s. 32(3).]\n\n*THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY ACT 1926*\n\nCertificate of Registration\n\nTHIS IS TO CERTIFY that the\n\nSociety has this day been registered by the Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia (Incorporated), in pursuance of the provisions of the *Royal Agricultural Society Act 1926*.\n\nDated this day of 20 .\n\n..........................................\n\nPresident.\n\n..........................................\n\nSecretary.\n\n![dline]()\n\nNotes\n\n1 This reprint is a compilation as at 19 September 2014 of the *Royal Agricultural Society Act 1926* and includes the amendments made by the other written laws referred to in the following table 4. The table also contains information about any reprint.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Short title** | **Number and year** | **Assent** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *Royal Agricultural Society Act 1926* | 41 of 1926 (17 Geo V No. 41) | 16 Dec 1926 | 1 Mar 1927 (see s. 1 and *Gazette* 18 Feb 1927 p. 358) |\n| *Royal Agricultural Society Act Amendment Act 1940* | 23 of 1940 (4 Geo VI No. 23) | 29 Nov 1940 | 29 Nov 1940 |\n| **Reprint of the *Royal Agricultural Society Act 1926* as at 18 Jul 1989** (includes amendments listed above) | | | |\n| **Reprint of the *Royal Agricultural Society Act 1926* as at 24 Aug 2001** (includes amendment listed above) | | | |\n| *State Administrative Tribunal (Conferral of Jurisdiction) Amendment and Repeal Act 2004* Pt. 2 Div. 116 3 | 55 of 2004 | 24 Nov 2004 | 1 Jan 2005 (see s. 2 and    *Gazette* 31 Dec 2004 p. 7130) |\n| *Standardisation of Formatting Act 2010* s. 32 and 51 | 19 of 2010 | 28 Jun 2010 | 11 Sep 2010 (see s. 2(b) and *Gazette* 10 Sep 2010 p. 4341) |\n| **Reprint 3: The *Royal Agricultural Society Act 1926* as at 19 Sep 2014** (includes amendments listed above) | | | |\n\n\n2 Under the *Interpretation Act 1984* s. 16, a reference to the *Interpretation Act 1918* s. 36 may be read as a reference to the *Interpretation Act 1984* s. 42. The reference was changed under the *Reprints Act 1984* s. 7(3)(g).\n\n3 The *State Administrative Tribunal (Conferral of Jurisdiction) Amendment and Repeal Act 2004* Pt. 5, the *State Administration Tribunal Act 2004* s. 167 and 169, and the *State Administrative Tribunal Regulations 2004* r. 28 and 42 deal with certain transitional issues some of which may be relevant for this Act.\n\n4 This Act is to be read as one with the *Royal Agricultural Society Act Amendment Act 1929*.\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\nAgricultural Show 2\n\nAgricultural Society 2\n\nRoyal Agricultural Society 2\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act remains focused on affiliating agricultural societies with the Royal Agricultural Society and regulating who may hold agricultural shows. Subsequent amendments and reprints (notably administrative updates in 1940, the conferral of review to the State Administrative Tribunal in 2004, and formatting changes in 2010) adjusted decision‑review mechanisms and modernised references, but did not materially expand the Act's original subject‑matter or policy scope. Changes are procedural and supervisory rather than a broadening of substantive purposes."},"complexity_factors":["Short Act: 7 substantive sections plus a Schedule","Only 3 defined terms in the interpretation section (Agricultural Society; Agricultural Show; Royal Agricultural Society)","Simple conditional logic: registration required (s 3(1)), with limited exceptions (s 3(4))","A few cross‑references to external instruments: Interpretation Act (s 6(2) & notes) and State Administrative Tribunal review (s 3(5))","Procedural detail for by‑laws (conference voting and chairing rules in ss 6(1A)–(1B))","Discretionary powers (registration, refusal, cancellation) but with a single external review path (SAT) — low nesting of exceptions"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does (mechanically):**\n\n- Requires any group that wants to hold or promote an agricultural show to be registered with the Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia (the Royal Agricultural Society) before running the show (s 3(1)).\n- Sets out how to apply for registration: a corporate body must lodge an application under its common seal, or an unincorporated society must have the application signed by at least 10 members (s 3(2)).\n- Allows the Royal Agricultural Society to register an applicant on payment of a prescribed fee (s 3(3)).\n- Exempts groups that existed for agricultural show purposes before the Act started from being refused registration on that ground (s 3(4)).\n- Allows refusal of registration to be reviewed by the State Administrative Tribunal (s 3(5)).\n- Requires the Royal Agricultural Society to keep a public register (name and postal address) of all registered agricultural societies at its Perth office, available for inspection in office hours (s 4).\n- Gives the Royal Agricultural Society a court remedy: it may seek an injunction to stop any unregistered body from holding or promoting an agricultural show (s 5).\n- Prescribes how \"uniform by‑laws\" that govern all registered societies are made and amended: by a conference of the council of the Royal Agricultural Society together with delegates from registered societies (s 6(1)); voting and chairing rules for those conferences are specified (ss 6(1A)–(1B)). Uniform by‑laws require the Governor's approval, and a statutory publication/laying requirement applies (s 6(2)).\n- Allows each registered society to make its own local by‑laws for domestic or local matters but requires those by‑laws (or amendments) to be submitted to the Royal Agricultural Society for approval; these local by‑laws are not subject to the same Governor/publication step (s 6(3)).\n- Gives the Governor power to make regulations, including cancellation of registration for breach of by‑laws or other sufficient cause, and to prescribe other necessary matters (s 7).\n- Provides a standard form of Certificate of Registration in the Schedule (Schedule).\n\n\n**Who is affected:**\n\n- Any society, club, association or other body (incorporated or unincorporated) that wants to hold or promote an agricultural show in Western Australia (see the definitions and s 3(1)).\n- The Royal Agricultural Society, which decides on registration, keeps the register, convenes conferences to make uniform by‑laws, and enforces the Act (ss 3, 4, 6, 5).\n- The State Administrative Tribunal, which can hear reviews of refusals to register (s 3(5)).\n- The Governor (executive) through the regulation‑making power and approval of uniform by‑laws (ss 6(2), 7).\n\n\n**Why it matters (purpose claimed and administrative effects):**\n\n- The Act is presented as an instrument for \"affiliation\" of agricultural societies with the Royal Agricultural Society (short title and opening text). Mechanically, it centralises control over who may call an event an \"agricultural show\" by making registration a legal precondition for holding such a show (s 3(1)).\n\n- Costs and compliance burdens: applicants must satisfy formal application requirements (common seal for corporates or signatures of at least 10 for unincorporated bodies) and pay a prescribed fee to be registered (s 3(2)–(3)). Registered societies must accept uniform by‑laws made at conferences and approved by the Governor (s 6(1)–(2)); they must also submit local by‑laws for Royal Agricultural Society approval (s 6(3)). Those requirements create administrative overhead for both applicants and the Royal Agricultural Society.\n\n- Who pays and who decides: applicants pay the prescribed fee (s 3(3)). The Royal Agricultural Society exercises primary decision‑making authority over registration and by‑law approval (ss 3, 6). The Governor (executive) has a role in approving uniform by‑laws and making regulations that can cancel registrations (ss 6(2), 7). A refusal to register is reviewable by the State Administrative Tribunal (s 3(5)), providing an external check on Royal Agricultural Society discretion.\n\n- Incentives and behavioural effects: because registration is required to lawfully hold a show (s 3(1)) and because the Royal Agricultural Society may seek injunctions to stop unregistered shows (s 5), organisers face a legal and financial incentive to obtain registration and comply with by‑laws. Some organisers might avoid the registration process by renaming events or holding activities that do not fall within the statutory definition of \"Agricultural Show,\" producing substitution effects.\n\n- Enforcement and implementation risks: the primary enforcement tool is civil injunctive relief sought by the Royal Agricultural Society (s 5), which involves legal costs and court process. The Act grants the Royal Agricultural Society discretion to refuse or cancel registration (s 7), which concentrates gatekeeping power in that body; that concentration is constrained by tribunal review (s 3(5)) but remains an operational risk if the Society exercises its powers selectively.\n\n- Potential concentrated benefits and diffuse costs: the Royal Agricultural Society acquires regulatory control (including collecting fees), which is a concentrated benefit. Costs—administrative compliance, possible legal fees to resist enforcement, and limits on who may promote events—are spread across many potential organisers.\n\n- Trade‑offs and opportunity costs: centralised control may standardise events, but it imposes compliance and approval steps that can reduce flexibility for local or new organisers. Cancellation powers in regulations (s 7) can remove registration and thus the ability to run shows, which is a high‑impact sanction for an organiser.\n\n\n**Key citations (examples):**\n- Registration requirement and application mechanics: s 3(1)–(3).\n- Exception for pre‑existing societies and review right: s 3(4)–(5).\n- Public register: s 4.\n- Injunction remedy for unregistered shows: s 5.\n- By‑laws process and Governor approval: s 6(1)–(3).\n- Regulation and cancellation powers: s 7.\n\n\n**Practical note:** If you are thinking of organising an agricultural show in WA, this Act makes obtaining registration the necessary legal step. That entails procedural requirements, an approval process governed by the Royal Agricultural Society (and in some instances by the Governor), and an exposure to enforcement by injunction if you operate without registration (see ss 3, 5, 6, 7)."},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"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 provisions is possible."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative text was retrievable — the source page returned a 'no longer available' error","Cannot assess provisions, definitions, schedules, or operative sections","Complexity rating defaults to minimum due to complete absence of analysable content"],"plain_english_summary":"The Royal Agricultural Society Act 1926 (WA) is a state law that—based on its title—establishes and regulates the Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia. It likely sets out the Society’s legal status, governance, and powers over land, finances and events (such as the Perth Royal Show). It affects the Society’s members, event organizers, landholders and the public by defining rights, duties and organisational authority."},"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"},"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 1926 purpose: creating a registration system for agricultural societies to affiliate with the Royal Agricultural Society. The amendments since 1926 have been technical (updating references to modern interpretation acts, adding State Administrative Tribunal review rights, standardising formatting) rather than expanding the scope beyond agricultural show registration and regulation."},"complexity_factors":["Only 7 operative sections plus a schedule","Just 3 defined terms in the interpretation section","Minimal cross-referencing—only references to section 42 of the Interpretation Act 1984","Straightforward conditional logic with clear exceptions (subsection 3(4) grandfather clause)","Simple procedural requirements (10 signatures or corporate seal)","No nested exceptions or complex deeming provisions","Amendments over time have been minor formatting and tribunal jurisdiction updates rather than substantive expansion"],"plain_english_summary":"This law sets up a registration system for agricultural shows in Western Australia. Here's what it does:\n\n**The big picture**\nThe Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia acts as the gatekeeper for agricultural shows. If you want to run a show featuring farm produce, livestock, or horse events, you generally need their permission first.\n\n**Who needs to register**\nAny group—whether a formal incorporated body or just a club—wanting to hold an agricultural show must register with the Royal Agricultural Society. The application needs either a corporate seal (for formal companies) or signatures from at least 10 people (for informal groups).\n\n**Key protections**\n- **Grandfather clause**: Groups already running shows before 1926 when this law started cannot be refused registration\n- **Appeal rights**: If the Royal Agricultural Society refuses your application, you can appeal to the State Administrative Tribunal (an independent body that reviews government decisions)\n- **Enforcement**: The Royal Agricultural Society can go to court to stop unregistered groups from running shows\n\n**Running the system**\n- The Royal Agricultural Society keeps a public register of all approved societies in Perth\n- Registered societies must follow uniform rules set at conferences where each society sends delegates\n- These uniform rules need the Governor's approval\n- Individual societies can also make their own local rules, but these need approval from the Royal Agricultural Society\n- The Governor can cancel registrations if societies break the rules\n\n**Why it matters**\nThis law prevents chaos in the agricultural show sector—imagine multiple competing shows on the same weekend, or fly-by-night operators taking farmers' entry fees and disappearing. It ensures shows meet basic standards while preserving the rights of long-established agricultural societies."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/royal-agricultural-society-act-1926","history":"/api/acts/royal-agricultural-society-act-1926/history","analysis":"/api/acts/royal-agricultural-society-act-1926/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/royal-agricultural-society-act-1926/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/royal-agricultural-society-act-1926/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/royal-agricultural-society-act-1926/documents"}}