{"id":"sa:corporations-administrative-actions-act-2001","name":"Corporations (Administrative Actions) Act 2001","slug":"sa-corporations-administrative-actions-act-2001","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"sa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":438035,"registerId":"sa:corporations-administrative-actions-act-2001-seed-1775954627459-xoak50","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Corporations (Administrative Actions) Act 2001","content":"South Australia\nCorporations (Administrative Actions) Act 2001\nAn Act relating to administrative actions taken by Commonwealth authorities or officers of the Commonwealth under certain State laws relating to corporations.\n\nContents\n1\tShort title\n2\tCommencement\n3\tDefinitions\n4\tApplication and operation of Act\n5\tLegal effect of invalid administrative actions\n6\tRights and liabilities declared in certain cases\n7\tRegistration or incorporation of companies\n8\tThis Act to apply to administrative actions as purportedly in force from time to time\n9\tCorresponding authorities or officers\n10\tAct not to give rise to liability against the State\nLegislative history\n\nThe Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows:\n1—Short title\nThis Act may be cited as the Corporations (Administrative Actions) Act 2001.\n2—Commencement\nThis Act comes into operation immediately before the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth, as originally enacted, comes into operation.\n3—Definitions\nIn this Act—\nadministrative action means an act or omission of an administrative or legislative nature, and includes any act or omission of an administrative nature that is done or omitted in the course of or ancillary to or preliminary to or subsequent to judicial proceedings (civil or criminal);\ncommencement time means the time when this Act commences under section 2;\nCommonwealth authority means an authority or body (whether incorporated or not) that is established or continued in existence by or under an Act of the Commonwealth, but does not include the Federal Court of Australia, the Family Court of Australia or the Federal Magistrates Court;\nconfer includes impose;\nfunction includes a duty;\ninvalid administrative action means an administrative action of a Commonwealth authority or an officer of the Commonwealth taken, or purportedly taken, at or before the commencement time—\n\t(a)\tpursuant to a function or power conferred, or purportedly conferred, by or under a relevant State Act (the relevant function or power); and\n\t(b)\tin circumstances where the relevant function or power could not have been conferred on the authority or officer by a law of the Commonwealth the operation of which in the relevant respect was based on the legislative powers of the Parliament of the Commonwealth (including, for example, circumstances where the authority or officer was, or purportedly was, under an express or implied duty to perform the function or exercise the power),\nthat was invalid because of the circumstances referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b), whether or not it was also invalid on any other ground;\nliability includes a duty or obligation;\nofficer of the Commonwealth has the same meaning as in section 75(v) of the Constitution of the Commonwealth;\nrelevant function or power means a function or power referred to in paragraph (a) of the definition of invalid administrative action;\nrelevant State Act means—\n\t(a)\tthe Corporations (South Australia) Act 1990; or\n\t(b)\tthe Companies (Application of Laws) Act 1987; or\n\t(c)\tthe Companies (Acquisition of Shares) (Application of Laws) Act 1981; or\n\t(d)\tthe Securities Industry (Application of Laws) Act 1981; or\n\t(e)\tthe Futures Industry (Application of Laws) Act 1986; or\n\t(f)\tthe Companies and Securities (Interpretation and Miscellaneous Provisions) (Application of Laws) Act 1981,\nand includes any law applying as a law of the State by force of any such Act;\nright includes an interest or status.\n4—Application and operation of Act\n\t(1)\tThis Act binds the Crown in right of South Australia and, in so far as the legislative power of the Parliament of the State permits, the Crown in all its other capacities.\n\t(2)\tThis Act has effect despite any provision of the Corporations (South Australia) Act 1990 or of the applicable provisions (as defined in that Act) of the State.\n\t(3)\tSubject to subsection (4), this Act extends to rights or liabilities arising between parties to proceedings initiated at or before the commencement time where an allegedly invalid administrative action is or was the subject of or relevant to the proceedings.\n\t(4)\tThis Act does not affect rights or liabilities arising between parties to proceedings heard and finally determined at or before the commencement time to the extent to which those rights or liabilities arise from, or are affected by, an invalid administrative action.\n5—Legal effect of invalid administrative actions\nEvery invalid administrative action has, and is deemed always to have had, the same force and effect for all purposes as it would have had if—\n\t(a)\tit had been taken by a State authority or officer of the State; and\n\t(b)\tthe relevant function or power had been duly conferred on that authority or officer.\n6—Rights and liabilities declared in certain cases\n\t(1)\tWithout affecting the generality of section 5, the rights and liabilities of all persons are, by force of this Act, declared to be, and always to have been, for all purposes the same as if—\n\t(a)\tevery invalid administrative action had been taken, or purportedly taken, by a State authority or officer of the State; and\n\t(b)\tthe relevant function or power had been duly conferred on that authority or officer.\n\t(2)\tA right or liability conferred or affected by subsection (1)—\n\t(a)\tis exercisable or enforceable; and\n\t(b)\tis to be regarded as always having been exercisable or enforceable,\nas if it were a right or liability conferred or affected by (or arising from) an administrative action of a State authority or officer of the State on which or whom the relevant function or power had been duly conferred.\n\t(3)\tAny act or thing done or omitted to be done at or before the commencement time under or in relation to a right or liability conferred or affected by subsection (1)—\n\t(a)\thas the same effect, and gives rise to the same consequences, for the purposes of any written or other law; and\n\t(b)\tis to be regarded as always having had the same effect, and given rise to the same consequences, for the purposes of any written or other law,\nas if it were done, or omitted to be done, to give effect to, or under the authority of, or in reliance on, an administrative action of a State authority or officer of the State on which or whom the relevant function or power had been duly conferred.\n7—Registration or incorporation of companies\nWithout affecting the generality of sections 5 and 6, it is declared that those sections extend to the registration or incorporation, or purported registration or incorporation, of companies by, or consequent on administrative action taken or purportedly taken by, Commonwealth authorities or officers of the Commonwealth at or before the commencement time.\n8—This Act to apply to administrative actions as purportedly in force from time to time\n\t(1)\tThe purpose of this section is to ensure that this Act operates to give to an invalid administrative action that has subsequently been affected by another action or process no greater effect than it would have had if the administrative action, or any other relevant administrative action, had not been invalid on constitutional grounds (arising from the circumstances referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of the definition of invalid administrative action in section 3).\n\t(2)\tIf administrative action taken by a Commonwealth authority or an officer of the Commonwealth was affected (whether by way of revocation, modification or otherwise) at or before the commencement time by any later administrative action or by any judicial process or by any administrative review process, this Act applies to the administrative action as so affected from time to time.\n\t(3)\tIn this section, a reference to administrative action taken includes a reference to administrative action purportedly taken, and a reference to administrative action affected in any way includes a reference to administrative action purportedly affected in that way.\n9—Corresponding authorities or officers\nIt is immaterial, for the purposes of this Act, that a Commonwealth authority or an officer of the Commonwealth does not have a counterpart in the State, or that the powers and functions of a counterpart State authority or a counterpart officer of the State do not correspond exactly or substantially with those of the Commonwealth authority or the officer of the Commonwealth.\n10—Act not to give rise to liability against the State\n\t(1)\tThe State is not liable to any action, liability, claim or demand arising from the enactment, commencement or operation of this Act.\n\t(2)\tWithout limiting subsection (1), no proceedings lie against the State in respect of an administrative action affected by this Act, except to the extent that the proceedings would lie had this Act not been enacted.\n\t(3)\tIn this section—\nproceedings includes proceedings for an order in the nature of prohibition, certiorari or mandamus or for a declaration or injunction or for any other relief;\nthe State includes any State authority or officer of the State, and also includes—\n\t(a)\tthe Crown in right of the State; and\n\t(b)\tthe Government of the State; and\n\t(c)\ta Minister of the Crown in right of the State; and\n\t(d)\ta statutory corporation, or other body, representing the Crown in right of the State.\nLegislative history\nNotes\n\t•\tFor further information relating to the Act and subordinate legislation made under the Act see the Index of South Australian Statutes or www.legislation.sa.gov.au.\nPrincipal Act\nYear\nNo\nTitle\nAssent\nCommencement\n2001\n19\nCorporations (Administrative Actions) Act 2001\n14.6.2001\n15.7.2001 immediately before the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth came into operation: Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No. S 285, 13 July 2001: s 2\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"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"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: validating pre-2001 administrative actions taken by Commonwealth authorities under State corporations laws. The scope has not expanded beyond this transitional, technical constitutional fix."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple nested definitions in section 3, including a complex 4-paragraph definition of 'invalid administrative action' with internal cross-references","Retrospective operation creating temporal complexity (actions 'always to have been' valid)","Conditional logic in section 4(3)-(4) distinguishing between proceedings 'initiated' versus 'heard and finally determined'","Section 8 contains purposive provision with technical limitation ('no greater effect than it would have had') requiring hypothetical counterfactual analysis","Cross-references to 6 separate State Acts listed in section 3 definition of 'relevant State Act'","Constitutional law concepts embedded throughout (section 75(v) of Constitution, 'legislative powers of the Parliament of the Commonwealth') requiring external legal knowledge","Section 9 contains a non-correspondence provision that negates a logical assumption (that Commonwealth and State authorities must match)"],"plain_english_summary":"This Act retrospectively validates administrative actions taken by Commonwealth authorities under South Australian corporations laws before the national Corporations Act 2001, treating them as if done by State officers. It preserves company registrations, licences and transactions from constitutional challenge, securing legal certainty for businesses, investors and regulators (notably from about 1981–2001) and limits suits against the State arising from the validation."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":7,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This Act changes the pre‑existing legal consequences by retrospectively treating certain Commonwealth administrative acts under specified State corporations laws as if taken by State authorities (ss 5–7). That expands the legal force of those acts despite constitutional invalidity as defined in s 3, while protecting the State from new liability arising from the enactment or operation of the Act (s 10). It preserves rights and liabilities in proceedings begun before commencement (s 4(3)) but excludes matters finally determined before commencement (s 4(4)). Section 8 requires the Act to follow administrative actions as they were subsequently affected, adding complexity in reconstructing legal effect over time."},"complexity_factors":["Retroactive deeming of legal effect for past administrative actions (ss 5–7) creates temporal legal adjustments and evidentiary questions.","Broad, technical definition of 'invalid administrative action' tying invalidity to constitutional limits on Commonwealth power (s 3).","Interaction with existing litigation: preserves rights in proceedings begun before commencement but excepts those finally determined (s 4(3)–(4)), producing line‑drawing issues.","Application to administrative actions subsequently modified, revoked or reviewed (s 8) requires tracing chains of administrative and judicial events.","Crown‑binding and liability carve‑out: Act binds the Crown but expressly denies new causes of action against the State (s 4(1), s 10), shifting litigation incentives.","Provision extending to company registration or incorporation consequences (s 7) affects company status and corporate records.","Immateriality of exact correspondence between Commonwealth and State offices (s 9) broadens who may be treated as the relevant decision‑maker."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act treats certain Commonwealth administrative acts done under South Australian corporations-related laws before the Commonwealth Corporations Act 2001 as if they had been done by State authorities, so those acts count as legally effective even if they were constitutionally invalid. It operates retroactively to preserve rights, liabilities and company registrations linked to those acts, while excluding cases finally resolved before the Act began.\n\nIt matters to companies and people whose status or rights depended on those administrative decisions, and to the State and Commonwealth because it changes who is treated as having made the decisions and limits new State liability."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/sa-corporations-administrative-actions-act-2001","history":"/api/acts/sa-corporations-administrative-actions-act-2001/history","analysis":"/api/acts/sa-corporations-administrative-actions-act-2001/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/sa-corporations-administrative-actions-act-2001/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/sa-corporations-administrative-actions-act-2001/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/sa-corporations-administrative-actions-act-2001/documents"}}