{"id":"royal-perth-hospital-protection-act-2016","name":"Royal Perth Hospital Protection Act 2016","slug":"royal-perth-hospital-protection-act-2016","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":110056,"registerId":"wa-royal-perth-hospital-protection-act-2016-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Royal Perth Hospital Protection Act 2016","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nRoyal Perth Hospital Protection Act 2016\n\nWestern Australia\n\nRoyal Perth Hospital Protection Act 2016\n\nContents\n\n1. Short title 1\n\n2. Commencement 1\n\n3. Term used: Royal Perth Hospital 1\n\n4. Operation of Act 1\n\n5. Continuation of Royal Perth Hospital 1\n\n6. Services to be provided 2\n\n7. Development of Royal Perth Hospital 2\n\n8. Name of Royal Perth Hospital 2\n\n9. Regulations 2\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 3\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\n![]()Western Australia\n\nRoyal Perth Hospital Protection Act 2016\n\nAn Act to provide for the continued operation at Royal Perth Hospital.\n\nThe Parliament of Western Australia enacts as follows:\n\n##### 1. Short title\n\nThis is the *Royal Perth Hospital Protection Act 2016*.\n\n##### 2. Commencement\n\nThis Act comes into operation as follows —\n\n(a) sections 1 and 2 — on the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent;\n\n(b) the rest of the Act — on the day after that day.\n\n##### 3. Term used: Royal Perth Hospital\n\nIn this Act —\n\nRoyal Perth Hospital means that part of the public hospital of that name situated on the land being any of the following —\n\n(a) Lot 915 on Deposited Plan 183229, being a portion of the land the subject of Certificate of Title Volume 2726 Folio 337;\n\n(b) Lot 916 on Deposited Plan 183230, being a portion of the land the subject of Certificate of Title Volume 2726 Folio 337;\n\n(c) Lot 500 on Deposited Plan 58617, being a portion of the land the subject of Certificate of Title Volume 2726 Folio 339.\n\n##### 4. Operation of Act\n\nThis Act has effect despite any provision of the *Health Services Act 2016*.\n\n##### 5. Continuation of Royal Perth Hospital\n\nRoyal Perth Hospital is to continue to operate as a public hospital unless a resolution approving the closure of the hospital has been passed by each House of Parliament.\n\n##### 6. Services to be provided\n\nFor the purpose of maintaining Royal Perth Hospital as a tertiary hospital, the entity for the time being having management and control of Royal Perth Hospital under the *Health Services Act 2016* is to provide the prescribed medical and support services at the hospital.\n\n##### 7. Development of Royal Perth Hospital\n\n(1) To the extent that, because of development on the site of Royal Perth Hospital, it is not practicable for a part of the hospital to operate or to provide a service referred to in section 6, sections 5 and 6 have no effect while the development is carried out.\n\n(2) In this section —\n\ndevelopment means development within the meaning given in the *Planning and Development Act 2005* section 4.\n\n##### 8. Name of Royal Perth Hospital\n\nThe name of Royal Perth Hospital is not to be changed unless a resolution approving the change has been passed by each House of Parliament.\n\n##### 9. Regulations\n\nThe Governor may make regulations prescribing all matters that are required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed, or are necessary or convenient to be prescribed, for giving effect to the purposes of this Act.\n\n![dline]()\n\nNotes\n\n1 This is a compilation of the *Royal Perth Hospital Protection Act 2016* and includes the amendments made by the other written laws referred to in the following table.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Short title** | **Number and year** | **Assent** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *Royal Perth Hospital Protection Act 2016* | 37 of 2016 | 16 Nov 2016 | s. 1 and 2: 16 Nov 2016 (see s. 2(a));   Act other than s. 1 and 2: 17 Nov 2016 (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\ndevelopment 7(2)\n\nRoyal Perth Hospital 3\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"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":false,"description":"The Act is narrowly focused on preserving the continued operation and name of Royal Perth Hospital on specified land parcels and does not broaden into unrelated regulatory areas. Its provisions are consistent with an original protective purpose: to ensure the hospital remains a public tertiary facility unless each House of Parliament approves otherwise. There is no textual indication in this version that the Act has been extended materially beyond that purpose; it contains a limited development exception and delegates detail to regulations, but those features are consistent with the Act's core scope rather than representing a significant change of purpose."},"complexity_factors":["Short statute: 9 sections (including commencement and short title)","2 defined terms (Royal Perth Hospital; development)","Cross-references to 2 external Acts: Health Services Act 2016 (s 4, s 6) and Planning and Development Act 2005 (s 7(2))","Delegation to regulations for key details (\"prescribed\" services) (s 9) creates reliance on secondary instruments","Single conditional exception (development) with an undefined factual test (\"impracticable\") (s 7)","Bicameral parliamentary-resolution requirement for closure and name change (ss 5, 8) — procedural constraint rather than complex legal logic","Geographically specific scope via cadastral lot references (s 3)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does (mechanics)\n\n- Keeps Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) operating as a public hospital unless both Houses of the Western Australian Parliament pass a resolution approving its closure (s 5).\n- Requires the body that manages RPH under the Health Services Act 2016 to provide the \"prescribed medical and support services\" necessary to maintain RPH as a tertiary hospital (s 6). The exact services are to be prescribed (see s 9 for regulation power).\n- Allows temporary suspension of the obligation to operate parts of the hospital and to provide services if on-site development makes it impracticable for that part to operate while the development is carried out (s 7).\n- Prevents changing the hospital's name unless each House of Parliament passes a resolution approving the change (s 8).\n- States that this Act operates despite any provision of the Health Services Act 2016 (s 4), i.e. it takes priority over conflicting provisions in that Act.\n- Gives the Governor power to make regulations needed to implement the Act (s 9).\n- Defines \"Royal Perth Hospital\" by specific land parcels (s 3).\n\nWho this affects\n\n- The public (patients) who use services at the geographic site defined as Royal Perth Hospital (s 3).\n- The entity that has management and control of RPH under the Health Services Act 2016 (typically a health service provider or health board) — it must continue to operate the hospital and provide prescribed services (s 6).\n- The State Government and Parliament — closure or renaming requires affirmative resolutions in each House (ss 5, 8).\n- Developers and planners — on-site development can temporarily suspend operation requirements where operation is impracticable (s 7), and the definition cross-refers to the Planning and Development Act 2005 for what counts as \"development\" (s 7(2)).\n\nWhy it matters (stated purpose then testing of effects and trade-offs)\n\n- The Act’s stated purpose is protective: to ensure RPH continues to operate as a tertiary public hospital and that its name is preserved unless Parliament decides otherwise (ss 5, 6, 8).\n\n- Who pays / who bears costs: continuing to operate the hospital as a tertiary public facility is an obligation on the managing public health entity and ultimately funded from public health budgets. If maintaining services is more expensive than alternatives (consolidation, relocation, or private delivery), those additional costs fall on the health budget and taxpayers (s 6).\n\n- Who decides: day-to-day operational decisions remain with the managing entity under the Health Services Act 2016, but strategic decisions to close or rename the hospital require a resolution of each House of Parliament (ss 5, 8). This creates a high political threshold for closure or renaming.\n\n- Behavioural and market effects: the Act constrains options available to health planners and the Executive for service reconfiguration, site disposal, redevelopment, or outsourcing unless Parliament approves. This reduces administrative flexibility but increases parliamentary control (ss 4–8). Developers or private investors interested in repurposing the site would need parliamentary approval to remove its public-hospital status.\n\n- Trade-offs and opportunity costs: locking the hospital’s operation and name behind parliamentary resolutions preserves continuity of services and local identity but can foreclose other uses of the land or organisational restructures that might yield efficiency gains or capital receipts. The Act allows a limited exception for development where continued operation is impracticable, but that exception is conditional and temporary (s 7).\n\n- Implementation risk and discretion: key details are left to regulation (s 9) — e.g. what services are \"prescribed\" under s 6 — which creates administrative discretion and uncertainty until regulations are made. The Act’s practical effect will depend on how those regulations define the required services and on how courts interpret the \"impracticable\" test in s 7.\n\n- Compliance burden: the managing entity must continue to provide prescribed tertiary services at the defined site; if the prescription is broad this may increase operational obligations and reporting/regulatory requirements (s 6, s 9).\n\n- Concentrated benefits and diffuse costs: benefits are concentrated on the local community, hospital staff, and patients who rely on on-site tertiary services. Costs (reduced planning flexibility and potentially higher ongoing health-system expenditure) are dispersed across the broader health budget and taxpayers.\n\n- Capture and lobbying risk: because closure or renaming requires parliamentary resolutions, developers and other interested parties may focus lobbying efforts at Parliament to obtain an exception. The Act does not eliminate that path but shifts the decision point from the Executive/health authority to Parliament (ss 5, 8).\n\nKey practical limits and specifics\n\n- The Act applies only to the precise land parcels listed in s 3, so its protection is geographically narrow.\n- The Act expressly prevails over the Health Services Act 2016 where there is conflict (s 4).\n- \"Development\" for the purposes of the temporary suspension rule is defined by reference to the Planning and Development Act 2005 (s 7(2)), so planning law concepts and tests will be relevant.\n\nBottom line (mechanical summary): The law makes RPH a statutory protected public tertiary hospital on three specified land parcels, prevents closure or renaming without each House’s approval, obliges the managing public entity to provide prescribed tertiary services, allows temporary suspension only where development makes operation impracticable, and leaves detailed implementation to regulation (ss 3–9)."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: protecting Royal Perth Hospital from closure or renaming. It has not expanded beyond this narrow protective function since enactment."},"complexity_factors":["Only 9 sections total, with minimal text","Just 2 defined terms: 'Royal Perth Hospital' (with specific land title references) and 'development'","Single cross-reference to Planning and Development Act 2005 for definition of development","Simple conditional logic: only one exception (section 7 regarding development works)","No nested exceptions or complex procedural requirements","Straightforward parliamentary veto mechanism requiring only resolution passage"],"plain_english_summary":"This law protects Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) from being closed or renamed without Parliament's approval.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Keeps the hospital open**: RPH must continue operating as a public hospital unless *both* houses of the Western Australian Parliament pass a resolution approving its closure.\n- **Protects the name**: The hospital cannot be renamed without approval from both houses of Parliament.\n- **Maintains services**: The hospital must continue providing prescribed medical services as a **tertiary hospital** (a major hospital providing specialised care).\n- **Overrides other laws**: The Act operates despite anything in the *Health Services Act 2016*, meaning it takes priority over general health administration rules.\n- **Allows temporary disruption**: If building works (\"development\") make parts of the hospital unusable, the protection rules are temporarily suspended during construction.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Patients who rely on RPH for specialised medical care\n- Hospital staff and administrators\n- The WA Government and health department\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis law acts as a \"padlock\" on the hospital. It prevents the government of the day from closing or rebranding RPH through simple administrative decisions. Any attempt to shut it down or change its name must go through a full parliamentary debate and vote in both the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council, making it politically difficult to do."},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as no legislative content was retrievable from the provided source."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative text was available for analysis — only a webpage error message was provided","Cannot assess complexity without access to the actual Act"],"plain_english_summary":"**No legislation content could be retrieved.**\n\nThe link provided for the *Royal Perth Hospital Protection Act 2016* (WA) is broken — the page no longer exists on the Western Australian legislation website. Only a system error message and an Acknowledgement of Country were returned, with no actual legislative text.\n\n**What this means for you:** It is not possible to analyse this Act based on the content provided. If you need to read this legislation, try:\n- Visiting [legislation.wa.gov.au](https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au) directly and searching for the Act by name\n- Contacting the Parliamentary Counsel's Office Helpdesk (details are referenced in the error message)\n- Searching via the Australasian Legal Information Institute at [austlii.edu.au](https://www.austlii.edu.au)"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/royal-perth-hospital-protection-act-2016","history":"/api/acts/royal-perth-hospital-protection-act-2016/history","analysis":"/api/acts/royal-perth-hospital-protection-act-2016/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/royal-perth-hospital-protection-act-2016/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/royal-perth-hospital-protection-act-2016/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/royal-perth-hospital-protection-act-2016/documents"}}