{"id":"sa:federal-courts-state-jurisdiction-act-1999","name":"Federal Courts (State Jurisdiction) Act 1999","slug":"sa-federal-courts-state-jurisdiction-act-1999","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"sa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":438038,"registerId":"sa:federal-courts-state-jurisdiction-act-1999-seed-1775954627875-t72egc","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Federal Courts (State Jurisdiction) Act 1999","content":"South Australia\nFederal Courts (State Jurisdiction) Act 1999\nAn Act to provide that certain decisions of the Federal Court of Australia or the Family Court of Australia have effect as decisions of the Supreme Court and to make other provision relating to certain matters relating to the jurisdiction of those courts; and for other purposes.\n\nContents\nPart 1—Preliminary\n1\tShort title\n3\tInterpretation\n4\tMeaning of ineffective judgment\n5\tAct to bind Crown\nPart 2—Rights and liabilities\n6\tRights and liabilities declared in certain cases\n7\tEffect of declared rights and liabilities\n8\tEffect of things done or omitted to be done under or in relation to rights and liabilities\n9\tSection 6 regarded as having ceased to have effect in certain cases\n10\tPowers of Supreme Court in relation to declared rights and liabilities\n11\tCertain proceedings may be treated as proceedings in Supreme Court\n12\tProceedings for contempt\n13\tEvidentiary\n14\tAct not to apply to certain judgments\nPart 3—General\n15\tRegulations\nLegislative history\n\nThe Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows:\nPart 1—Preliminary\n1—Short title\nThis Act may be cited as the Federal Courts (State Jurisdiction) Act 1999.\n3—Interpretation\nIn this Act—\napplied administrative law means a law of the State applying a Commonwealth administrative law as a law of the State;\nCommonwealth administrative law means—\n\t(a)\tany of the following Acts of the Commonwealth:\n\t(i)\tAdministrative Review Tribunal Act 2024;\n\t(ii)\tAdministrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977;\n\t(iii)\tFreedom of Information Act 1982;\n\t(iv)\tOmbudsman Act 1976;\n\t(v)\tPrivacy Act 1988; or\n\t(b)\tany of the regulations in force under any of those Acts;\nfederal court means the Federal Court of Australia or the Family Court of Australia;\nineffective judgment has the meaning given by section 4;\njudgment means a judgment, decree or order, whether final or interlocutory, or a sentence;\nliability includes a duty or obligation;\nproceeding includes an initiating application;\nrelevant State Act means any of the following Acts:\n\t(a)\tAgricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (South Australia) Act 1994;\n\t(b)\tCivil Aviation (Carriers' Liability) Act 1962;\n\t(c)\tCompetition Policy Reform (South Australia) Act 1996;\n\t(d)\tCorporations (South Australia) Act 1990;\n\t(e)\tGas Pipelines Access (South Australia) Act 1997;\n\t(f)\tJurisdiction of Courts (Cross-vesting) Act 1987;\n\t(g)\tNational Crime Authority (State Provisions) Act 1984;\n\t(h)\ta prescribed Act;\nright includes an interest or status;\nState matter means a matter—\n\t(a)\tin which the Supreme Court has jurisdiction otherwise than by reason of a law of the Commonwealth or of another State or a Territory; or\n\t(b)\twhich has been removed to the Supreme Court under section 8 of the Jurisdiction of Courts (Cross-vesting) Act 1987; or\n\t(c)\tin respect of which a relevant State Act purports or purported to confer jurisdiction on a federal court; or\n\t(d)\tarising under or in respect of an applied administrative law.\n4—Meaning of ineffective judgment\n\t(1)\tA reference in this Act to an ineffective judgment is a reference to a judgment of a federal court in a State matter given or recorded, before the commencement of this section, in the purported exercise of jurisdiction purporting to have been conferred on the federal court by a relevant State Act.\n\t(2)\tIf—\n\t(a)\ta Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia in its appellate jurisdiction has purported to affirm, reverse or vary an ineffective judgment; or\n\t(b)\tthe Full Court of the Family Court of Australia has purported to affirm, reverse or vary an ineffective judgment,\na reference in this Act to the ineffective judgment is a reference to the ineffective judgment in the form in which, and to the extent to which, it purports or purported to have effect from time to time.\n5—Act to bind Crown\nThis Act binds the Crown in right of the State of South Australia and, to the extent to which the power of the Parliament permits, the Crown in all its other capacities.\nPart 2—Rights and liabilities\n6—Rights and liabilities declared in certain cases\nThe rights and liabilities of all persons are, by force of this Act, declared to be, and always to have been, the same as if—\n\t(a)\teach ineffective judgment of—\n\t(i)\tthe Federal Court of Australia, otherwise than as a Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia; or\n\t(ii)\tthe General Division of the Family Court of Australia,\nhad been a valid judgment of the Supreme Court constituted of a single Judge; and\n\t(b)\teach ineffective judgment of—\n\t(i)\ta Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia; or\n\t(ii)\tthe Full Court of the Family Court of Australia,\nhad been a valid judgment of the Court of Appeal.\n7—Effect of declared rights and liabilities\n\t(1)\tA right or liability conferred, imposed or affected by section 6—\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, imposed or affected by a judgment of the Supreme Court.\n\t(2)\tWithout limiting section 6 or subsection (1) of this section, the rights and liabilities conferred, imposed or affected by section 6 include the right of a person who was a party to the proceeding or purported proceeding in which the ineffective judgment was given or recorded to appeal against that judgment.\n\t(3)\tFor the purposes of subsection (2), each ineffective judgment of—\n\t(a)\tthe Federal Court of Australia, otherwise than as a Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia; or\n\t(b)\tthe Family Court of Australia, otherwise than as a Full Court of the Family Court of Australia,\nis taken to be a judgment of the Supreme Court constituted of a single Judge.\n8—Effect of things done or omitted to be done under or in relation to rights and liabilities\n\t(1)\tAny act or thing done or omitted to be done before or after the commencement of this section under or in relation to a right or liability conferred, imposed or affected by section 6—\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, a judgment of the Supreme Court.\n\t(2)\tFor the purposes of an enforcement law, any act or thing done or omitted to be done before or after the commencement of this section gives rise to the same consequences, and is to be regarded as always having given rise to the same consequences, as if each ineffective judgment were a valid judgment of the Supreme Court given in or in relation to the proceeding in or in relation to which the ineffective judgment was given or recorded.\n\t(3)\tIn this section—\nenforcement law means a provision of a law (other than a law relating to contempt of court) that sets out a consequence for a person if the person—\n\t(a)\tcontravenes; or\n\t(b)\tacts in a specified way while there is in force,\na judgment, or a particular kind of judgment, given by a court.\n9—Section 6 regarded as having ceased to have effect in certain cases\n\t(1)\tIf—\n\t(a)\tbefore the commencement of this section, a court gave or recorded an ineffective judgment (the new judgment) on the basis that an earlier ineffective judgment (the earlier judgment) was or might be of no effect; and\n\t(b)\tthe new judgment replaced the earlier judgment,\nsection 6 has no effect in respect of the earlier judgment.\n\t(2)\tFor the purposes of subsection (1)(b), the new judgment replaced the earlier judgment if the new judgment—\n\t(a)\tpurportedly conferred or imposed rights or liabilities similar to or different from those purportedly conferred or imposed by the earlier judgment; or\n\t(b)\tpurportedly affected rights or liabilities in a way similar to or different from the way in which they were purportedly affected by the earlier judgment.\n10—Powers of Supreme Court in relation to declared rights and liabilities\n\t(1)\tThe Supreme Court may vary, revoke, set aside, revive or suspend a right or liability conferred, imposed or affected by section 6 as if it were a right or liability conferred, imposed or affected by the Supreme Court in or in relation to proceedings of the kind in or in relation to which the ineffective judgment was given or recorded.\n\t(2)\tIn addition to its powers under subsection (1), the Supreme Court also has power to give a judgment achieving any other result that could have been achieved if—\n\t(a)\tthe ineffective judgment had been a valid judgment of the Supreme Court given in or in relation to proceedings of the kind in or in relation to which the ineffective judgment was given or recorded; and\n\t(b)\tthe Supreme Court had been considering whether—\n\t(i)\tto vary, revoke, set aside, revive or suspend that judgment; or\n\t(ii)\tto extend the time for the doing of any thing; or\n\t(iii)\tto grant a stay of proceedings.\n11—Certain proceedings may be treated as proceedings in Supreme Court\n\t(1)\tIn this section—\nlimitation law means—\n\t(a)\tthe Limitation of Actions Act 1936;\n\t(b)\tany other law that provides for the limitation of liability or the barring of a right of action in respect of a claim by reference to the time when a proceeding on, or the arbitration of, the claim is commenced;\nrelevant order means—\n\t(a)\tan order of a federal court, whether made before or after the commencement of this section, dismissing, striking out or staying a proceeding relating to a State matter for want of jurisdiction; or\n\t(b)\ta declaration by a federal court, whether made before or after the commencement of this section, that it has no jurisdiction to hear and determine a proceeding relating to a State matter; or\n\t(c)\tany other decision or determination by a federal court, whether made before or after the commencement of this section, that it has no jurisdiction to hear and determine a proceeding relating to a State matter.\n\t(2)\tA person who was a party to a proceeding in which a relevant order is made may apply to the Supreme Court for an order that the proceeding be treated as a proceeding in the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court may make such an order.\n\t(3)\tIf the Supreme Court makes an order under subsection (2), the proceeding, despite the relevant order—\n\t(a)\tbecomes, and must be recorded by the Supreme Court as, a proceeding in the Supreme Court; and\n\t(b)\tfor the purposes of any limitation law and for all other purposes, is taken to have been brought in the Supreme Court on the day on which the proceeding was first recorded as a proceeding in the federal court.\n\t(4)\tThe Supreme Court may make such ancillary orders in relation to an order under subsection (2) as it considers necessary for the purposes of the proceeding being treated as, becoming and being recorded as, a proceeding in the Supreme Court.\n12—Proceedings for contempt\nIf, before or after the commencement of this section, a person has—\n\t(a)\tinterfered with a right conferred or affected by section 6; or\n\t(b)\tfailed to satisfy or comply with a liability imposed or affected by section 6,\nthe interference or failure is, and is taken always to have been, a matter that can be dealt with in the same manner as if the interference or failure had been in relation to a right conferred or affected, or a liability imposed or affected, by an order of the Supreme Court.\n13—Evidentiary\nA federal court record, or a copy of a federal court record, of an ineffective judgment may be adduced in evidence to show the existence, nature and extent of each right or liability conferred, imposed or affected by section 6.\n14—Act not to apply to certain judgments\nNothing in this Act applies to—\n\t(a)\ta judgment given or recorded by the Federal Court of Australia that has been declared to be invalid, or has been quashed or overruled, by a Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia before the commencement of this section (otherwise than on the ground that the Court had no jurisdiction); or\n\t(b)\ta judgment given or recorded by the Family Court of Australia that has been declared to be invalid, or has been quashed or overruled, by the Full Court of the Family Court of Australia before the commencement of this section (otherwise than on the ground that the Court had no jurisdiction).\nPart 3—General\n15—Regulations\nThe Governor may make such regulations as are contemplated by, or necessary or expedient for the purposes of, this Act.\nLegislative history\nNotes\n\t•\tPlease note—References in the legislation to other legislation or instruments or to titles of bodies or offices are not automatically updated as part of the program for the revision and publication of legislation and therefore may be obsolete.\n\t•\tEarlier versions of this Act (historical versions) are listed at the end of the legislative history.\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.\nLegislation amended by principal Act\nThe Federal Courts (State Jurisdiction) Act 1999 amended the following:\nCompetition Policy Reform (South Australia) Act 1996\nPrincipal Act and amendments\nNew entries appear in bold.\nYear\nNo\nTitle\nAssent\nCommencement\n1999\n48\n Federal Courts (State Jurisdiction) Act 1999\n12.8.1999\n19.8.1999 (Gazette 19.8.1999 p882)\n2019\n45\n Supreme Court (Court of Appeal) Amendment Act 2019\n19.12.2019\nSch 1 (cl 47)—1.1.2021 (Gazette 10.12.2020 p5638)\n2025\n54\nStatutes Amendment (Administrative Review Tribunal) Act 2025\n20.11.2025\nPt 7 (s 12)—20.11.2025: s 2\nProvisions amended\nNew entries appear in bold.\nEntries that relate to provisions that have been deleted appear in italics.\nProvision\nHow varied\nCommencement\nLong title\namended under Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002\n\nPt 1\n\n\ns 3\n\n\nCommonwealth administrative law\namended by 54/2025 s 12\n20.11.2025\ns 2\nomitted under Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002\n\nPt 2\n\n\ns 6\namended by 45/2019 Sch 1 cl 47\n1.1.2021\nSch\nomitted under Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002\n\nHistorical versions\n1.1.2021\n\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"_metrics":{"source":"grok-batch-everything"},"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":7,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation's scope has not materially expanded beyond its original purpose of addressing pre-commencement ineffective judgments of federal courts in State matters by deeming equivalent Supreme Court rights and liabilities and granting the Supreme Court curative powers. Amendments since 1999 have been technical only – updating court nomenclature after the 2019 Court of Appeal reforms and refreshing the list of Commonwealth administrative laws in 2025."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple interlocking defined terms (e.g. 'ineffective judgment' in s 4, 'State matter' in s 3, 'relevant State Act' listing 7 specific statutes plus a prescribed Act)","Retrospective operation throughout Part 2 combined with 'always having been' language that creates layered temporal fictions","Conditional exceptions and carve-outs (ss 9, 14) that require tracing sequences of judgments and distinguishing grounds of invalidity","Cross-references to at least 8 other Acts (including amendments up to 2025 updating Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024 and Supreme Court (Court of Appeal) changes)","Nested provisions on enforcement, contempt, evidence and limitation laws (ss 8, 11–13) that interact with both state and Commonwealth rules"],"plain_english_summary":"**This South Australian law fixes problems from past decisions made by federal courts (such as the Federal Court of Australia or Family Court of Australia) in matters that properly belong in state courts.**\n\nBefore this Act, some state laws tried to let federal courts hear 'state matters' (cases based on state law rather than federal law). After a constitutional issue arose, those federal decisions became 'ineffective judgments' – meaning they might not have been legally valid. This Act declares that the **rights and liabilities** (legal rights, duties, obligations, interests or status) from those old decisions are now treated as if they had always been valid decisions of the South Australian Supreme Court.\n\n- For single-judge federal decisions, they are treated as Supreme Court decisions by one judge.\n- For full court (appeal) decisions, they are treated as decisions of the Court of Appeal.\n\nThe law also lets the Supreme Court vary, revoke or enforce these rights, allows old proceedings to be transferred to the Supreme Court without time-limit problems, and protects actions people took relying on the original decisions. It applies retrospectively (to past events) to create certainty.\n\nIt affects anyone involved in such cases before 1999 – individuals, businesses, government bodies – plus lawyers and courts managing related disputes today. It matters because it prevents chaos: without it, thousands of past rulings on business, family, competition and other issues could unravel, undermining trust in the legal system."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":7,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Act’s coverage has been changed by later amendments recorded in its legislative history. The rights-and-liabilities provision (section 6) was amended by the Supreme Court (Court of Appeal) Amendment Act 2019 (Sch 1 cl 47), commencing 1.1.2021, and the definition of \"Commonwealth administrative law\" in section 3 was amended by the Statutes Amendment (Administrative Review Tribunal) Act 2025 (s 12), commencing 20.11.2025. Those amendments altered which federal judgments and which applied administrative laws fall within the Act’s scope (see legislative history entries and the footnoted amendment references)."},"complexity_factors":["Retroactive validation of past federal-court decisions (sections 6–8) which requires recharacterising historical facts and actions.","Interplay between multiple courts and levels (single Judge of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Federal Court general division and Full Court, Family Court divisions) (sections 3, 4, 6).","Detailed definitions that determine scope (definition of State matter and relevant State Acts in section 3).","Procedural mechanism to convert federal proceedings into Supreme Court proceedings and its consequences for limitation and timing law (section 11).","Wide powers granted to the Supreme Court to vary, revoke or otherwise alter declared rights and liabilities (section 10) introducing discretionary remedial processes.","Evidentiary treatment of federal-court records as proof of the declared rights (section 13), which raises practical proof and record-retention issues.","Specific exclusions where federal Full Courts had already quashed judgments (section 14), requiring case-by-case screening of covered judgments.","Cross-cutting application to enforcement laws and limitation laws, creating interaction across different statutory regimes (sections 8 and 11).","Potential regulatory detail to be added later by the Governor (section 15), leaving some operational aspects deferred.","Binding of the Crown in various capacities (section 5), creating public law and fiscal implications to be navigated."],"plain_english_summary":"What this law does (mechanically)\n\n- This South Australian Act treats certain past decisions of federal courts as if they had been decisions of the South Australian Supreme Court. It does so by declaring the rights and liabilities created or affected by those federal-court decisions to be the same as if the Supreme Court had made them (see section 6 and section 7).\n\n- Which federal-court decisions are covered: the Act applies to federal-court judgments that were given or recorded before the relevant commencement in relation to a “State matter” and that were made under a State law that purported to give jurisdiction to the federal court (these are called “ineffective judgments”) (see section 4 and the definition of State matter in section 3).\n\n- How the declaration works in practice:\n  - Rights and liabilities created by those ineffective judgments are declared to be exercisable and enforceable as if they were Supreme Court judgments (sections 6 and 7).\n  - Acts done or omitted in reliance on those ineffective judgments are to be treated, for the purposes of other laws (including enforcement laws), as if they had been done under the authority of a Supreme Court judgment (section 8).\n  - Federal-court records of those ineffective judgments may be put in evidence to show the nature and extent of the declared rights or liabilities (section 13).\n\n- Powers and procedural consequences:\n  - The South Australian Supreme Court may vary, revoke, set aside, revive or suspend any right or liability declared by the Act, and may give any relief that it could have given if the ineffective judgment had originally been a Supreme Court judgment (section 10).\n  - A person who was a party to a federal proceeding that was dismissed or stayed for want of jurisdiction may apply to the Supreme Court for an order treating that federal proceeding as a proceeding in the Supreme Court; if the Court makes that order, the proceeding is taken to have been brought in the Supreme Court on the date it was first recorded in the federal court for limitation and other purposes (section 11).\n  - Interference with or non‑compliance with rights or liabilities that the Act declares can be dealt with as contempt in the same way as if they had involved a Supreme Court order (section 12).\n\n- Limits and exclusions:\n  - The Act does not apply to federal-court judgments that had already been quashed or declared invalid by the Full Court of the relevant federal court before the commencement, except where the quashing was on jurisdictional grounds (section 14).\n  - The Act binds the Crown in right of the State and, as far as Parliament’s power allows, in other capacities (section 5).\n\nWho is affected and who decides\n\n- Affected parties: any person whose rights or liabilities were created, imposed or affected by an ineffective federal-court judgment in a State matter. That includes parties to the original federal proceedings (sections 6 and 7).\n\n- Decision-makers and discretion:\n  - The South Australian Supreme Court has broad discretion to treat, vary or undo the declared rights and liabilities and to make ancillary orders necessary to give effect to treating a proceeding as a Supreme Court proceeding (sections 10 and 11).\n  - The Governor may make regulations needed to operate the Act (section 15).\n\nWhy the Act matters (claim and mechanical consequences)\n\n- The text presents the Act as providing legal effect to certain federal-court decisions by equating them with Supreme Court decisions (long title; sections 6–8). Mechanically, that means existing legal consequences flowing from those federal decisions—enforcement steps, limitation-timing, evidence, and contempt powers—are preserved or converted into the State Supreme Court context.\n\nCosts, incentives and trade-offs (mechanisms, not judgments)\n\n- Certainty for some private parties: persons who relied on the federal-court decisions receive a statutory validation of the rights or liabilities that resulted from those decisions (section 6 and section 7). That reduces the risk that those parties will lose legal effect simply because the federal court lacked jurisdiction.\n\n- Redistribution of legal risk: by statutory validation, other persons (including respondents, third parties, or creditors) may face enforced obligations or past enforcement steps that are now treated as if ordered by the Supreme Court (sections 7 and 8). The Act therefore shifts the legal status of past acts or omissions onto a different procedural footing.\n\n- Enforcement and timing consequences: enforcement laws and limitation laws are engaged as if the Supreme Court had given the judgment (sections 8 and 11). That can revive or extend enforcement rights or preserve limitation positions based on the federal-court record.\n\n- Compliance and administrative burden: affected parties may need to take steps in the Supreme Court—e.g., apply under section 11 to have a proceeding treated as a Supreme Court proceeding, or seek variation/setting aside under section 10. Those are procedural and likely to involve legal costs and court resources.\n\n- Judicial and executive discretion: the Supreme Court’s power to vary or set aside declared rights (section 10) introduces judicial discretion to adjust outcomes created by the statutory declaration. The Governor’s power to make regulations (section 15) allows executive detail to be set later.\n\n- Concentrated benefits, diffuse costs and incentives to litigate: parties who obtain favourable federal-court orders gain clarity and enforceability (concentrated benefit). Others facing obligations created by those orders absorb the legal consequence (diffuse cost). Those who expect validation may be incentivised to seek enforcement or to rely on the validation when negotiating or contracting.\n\nImplementation risks and limits\n\n- Retroactivity and evidentiary reliance: the Act operates retrospectively for the class of ineffective judgments it covers, and federal-court records become the evidence of declared rights (section 13). That raises implementation risks in establishing the exact content of rights where records are incomplete.\n\n- Interaction with appellate rulings: the Act does not apply where the Full Court had already quashed a federal-court judgment before the commencement (section 14), and the Act accounts for appellate alterations by defining what counts as the ineffective judgment after appeals (section 4(2)).\n\n- Scope depends on definitions and specified State Acts: the scope depends on the definition of State matter and the list of relevant State Acts in section 3; Part of the Act’s reach is therefore determined by those definitions (section 3).\n\nKey sections to consult for implementation\n\n- Definitions and scope: section 3; definition of ineffective judgment: section 4.\n- Core declaration and legal effect: sections 6–8.\n- Procedural conversion and limitation treatment: section 11.\n- Court powers to vary or set aside declared rights: section 10.\n- Evidentiary use of federal-court records: section 13.\n- Exclusions where federal Full Court already quashed: section 14.\n- Binding of the Crown: section 5.\n- Regulation-making power: section 15."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/sa-federal-courts-state-jurisdiction-act-1999","history":"/api/acts/sa-federal-courts-state-jurisdiction-act-1999/history","analysis":"/api/acts/sa-federal-courts-state-jurisdiction-act-1999/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/sa-federal-courts-state-jurisdiction-act-1999/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/sa-federal-courts-state-jurisdiction-act-1999/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/sa-federal-courts-state-jurisdiction-act-1999/documents"}}