{"id":"south-australian-timber-corporation-act-1979","name":"South Australian Timber Corporation Act 1979","slug":"south-australian-timber-corporation-act-1979","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"sa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":110137,"registerId":"sa-south-australian-timber-corporation-act-1979-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"South Australian Timber Corporation Act 1979","content":"South Australia\nSouth Australian Timber Corporation Act 1979\nAn Act to provide for the establishment of a Corporation with power to trade in timber and timber products and to engage in joint ventures involving trade in timber and timber products; and for other purposes.\n\nContents\nPart 1—Preliminary\n1\tShort title\n4\tInterpretation\nPart 2—The Corporation\n5\tCorporation\n6\tCorporation's corporate status and capacity\n7\tConstitution of Corporation\n8\tCorporation to hold its property for Crown\n9\tDissolution of Corporation\nPart 3—Powers and functions of the Corporation\n13\tPowers and functions of the Corporation\n14\tDelegation by the Corporation\nLegislative history\n\nThe Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows:\nPart 1—Preliminary\n1—Short title\nThis Act may be cited as the South Australian Timber Corporation Act 1979.\n4—Interpretation\nIn this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—\nthe Corporation means the South Australian Timber Corporation;\ntimber products means—\n\t(a)\twood pulp, wood chips, or any other products obtained wholly or partially from the processing of timber; or\n\t(b)\tcommodities made from wood; or\n\t(c)\tany prescribed products or commodities;\nrelated commodities includes any products or commodities that may conveniently be traded in association with timber or timber products.\nPart 2—The Corporation\n5—Corporation\nThe Corporation continues as the South Australian Timber Corporation.\n6—Corporation's corporate status and capacity\n\t(1)\tThe Corporation is a body corporate.\n\t(2)\tThe Corporation has the legal capacity of a natural person of full age and capacity.\n\t(3)\tThe Corporation has a common seal.\n\t(4)\tThe common seal may be affixed to a document on the Minister's authority.\n\t(5)\tA document apparently bearing the common seal of the Corporation will be presumed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, to have been duly executed by the Corporation.\n7—Constitution of Corporation\nThe Corporation is constituted of the Minister.\n8—Corporation to hold its property for Crown\nThe Corporation holds its property for and on behalf of the Crown.\n9—Dissolution of Corporation\n\t(1)\tThe Governor may, by proclamation—\n\t(a)\tdissolve the Corporation; and\n\t(b)\tvest any of its remaining assets and liabilities in an authority or person nominated in the same or a later proclamation.\n\t(2)\tAssets and liabilities remaining after dissolution of the Corporation, and disposition of its assets and liabilities under subsection (1), vest in the Crown.\n\t(3)\tAfter dissolution of the Corporation, any statutory powers that might have been exercised by the Corporation if it had continued in existence, are exercisable by the Minister.\nPart 3—Powers and functions of the Corporation\n13—Powers and functions of the Corporation\n\t(1)\tThe functions of the Corporation are—\n\t(a)\tto trade in wood chips, wood pulp, logs, seedlings and seeds; and\n\t(b)\tto participate outside the State in joint ventures involving trade in timber, timber products or related commodities; and\n\t(c)\tto participate in the State in joint ventures involving trade in timber or timber products; and\n\t(d)\tto hold shares in bodies corporate trading in timber, timber products or related commodities otherwise than in the State; and\n\t(e)\tto hold shares in bodies corporate trading in timber or timber products in the State; and\n\t(f)\tto establish undertakings, or acquire undertakings or interests in undertakings, carried on otherwise than in the State involving trade in timber, timber products or related commodities; and\n\t(g)\totherwise to promote trade in timber, timber products and related commodities.\n\t(2)\tThe Corporation shall carry out its functions under this Act in a manner consistent with the aims and objectives of the Woods and Forests Department.\n\t(3)\tFor the purposes of carrying out its functions the Corporation may—\n\t(a)\timport, export, buy, sell or otherwise deal with timber, timber products or related commodities; and\n\t(b)\tprocess timber, or manufacture or process timber products or related commodities, with a view to sale; and\n\t(c)\tacquire any interest in land, premises, plant or equipment; and\n\t(d)\tpurchase or otherwise acquire shares or other interests in bodies corporate trading, or proposing to trade, in timber, timber products or related commodities; and\n\t(e)\tenter into contracts and agreements; and\n\t(f)\tacquire any licence, authorisation or concession either in this State or elsewhere; and\n\t(g)\tprovide consultancy services either in this State or elsewhere in relation to the production, processing, manufacture or sale of timber, timber products or related products; and\n\t(h)\texercise any other power necessary or incidental to the carrying out of its functions.\n14—Delegation by the Corporation\n\t(1)\tThe Corporation may delegate to any person any of its powers or functions under this Act.\n\t(2)\tAny delegation by the Corporation shall be revocable at will and shall not derogate from the power of the Corporation to act itself in any matter.\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 and amendments\nNew entries appear in bold.\nYear\nNo\nTitle\nAssent\nCommencement\n1979\n15\nSouth Australian Timber Corporation Act 1979\n8.3.1979\n8.3.1979 (Gazette 8.3.1979 p605)\n1996\n17\nSouth Australian Timber Corporation (Sale of Assets) Act 1996\n24.4.1996\nSch 2 (cl 1)—1.7.1996 (Gazette 30.5.1996 p2635)\nProvisions amended\nNew entries appear in bold.\nEntries that relate to provisions that have been deleted appear in italics.\nProvision\nHow varied\nCommencement\nPt 1\n\n\ns 2\nomitted under Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002\n\ns 3\ndeleted by 17/1996 Sch 2 cl 1(a)\n1.7.1996\ns 4\n\n\nappointed member\ndeleted by 17/1996 Sch 2 cl 1(b)\n1.7.1996\nthe Director\ndeleted by 17/1996 Sch 2 cl 1(b)\n1.7.1996\nPt 2\nsubstituted by 17/1996 Sch 2 cl 1(c)\n1.7.1996\nPt 3\n\n\ns 14\n\n\ns 14(1)\namended by 17/1996 Sch 2 cl 1(d)\n1.7.1996\nPt 4\ndeleted by 17/1996 Sch 2 cl 1(e)\n1.7.1996\nPt 5\ndeleted by 17/1996 Sch 2 cl 1(e)\n1.7.1996\nPt 6\ndeleted by 17/1996 Sch 2 cl 1(e)\n1.7.1996\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as no legislative text was available for analysis. The content provided consists entirely of a website error page from the South Australian legislation website."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative text was retrievable — the source URL returned a 404 Page Not Found error","Complexity cannot be assessed without access to the actual Act","The Act dates from 1979 and its current status (active, amended, or repealed) is unknown from the provided content"],"plain_english_summary":"**No legislation could be analysed.**\n\nThe link provided for the *South Australian Timber Corporation Act 1979* returned a **'Page Not Found'** error from the South Australian legislation website. The actual text of the Act was not available in the content provided — only a website error message was returned.\n\n**What this means for you:** No analysis of the law's content, effect, or relevance can be provided without access to the actual legislative text. If you need to find this Act, try:\n- Searching directly at [www.legislation.sa.gov.au](https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au)\n- Contacting the South Australian Office of Parliamentary Counsel at OPCWeb@sa.gov.au\n- Checking whether the Act has been **repealed** (cancelled), as it dates from 1979 and may no longer be in force"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The legislative history indicates substantive amendments in 1996 under the South Australian Timber Corporation (Sale of Assets) Act 1996. Part 2 was substituted and multiple provisions and parts (including sections and parts referenced as deleted in the history) were removed or altered (Legislative history entries: 1996 No 17; notes showing Pt 2 substituted by 17/1996 Sch 2 cl 1(c); deletion of s3, appointed member and Director references via Sch 2 cl 1(b); deletions of Parts 4–6 via Sch 2 cl 1(e); and amendment of s14(1) via Sch 2 cl 1(d)). These changes altered governance and asset-related provisions of the original Act as reflected in the excerpted history, meaning the current scope departs from the Act's original text as enacted in 1979."},"complexity_factors":["Concentrated executive governance: the Corporation is constituted of the Minister (s7) with Ministerial control over the common seal (s6(4)).","Broad commercial powers spanning domestic and international activity (s13(1)–(3)).","Wide delegation power allowing the Corporation to delegate any power to any person, revocable at will (s14(1)–(2)).","Property and liability vesting and dissolution mechanics that connect corporate liabilities to the Crown (s8; s9(1)–(3)).","Requirement to act consistently with departmental aims (Woods and Forests Department) which creates an operational alignment that must be interpreted in practice (s13(2)).","Legislative history shows amendments and deletions (1996) affecting structure and scope, increasing interpretive complexity (Legislative history entries)."],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does (mechanics first)**\n\n- The Act establishes the South Australian Timber Corporation as a body corporate with the legal capacity of a natural person (s5; s6(1)–(2)).\n- The Corporation is formally constituted of the Minister (s7). The Minister also authorises the use of the Corporation's common seal (s6(3)–(4)).\n- The Corporation holds its property for and on behalf of the Crown (s8). If the Corporation is dissolved the Governor may vest remaining assets and liabilities in a nominated authority or person and any leftover assets and liabilities then vest in the Crown; after dissolution the Minister may exercise statutory powers that the Corporation would have exercised (s9(1)–(3)).\n- The Act gives the Corporation a set of commercial powers and functions targeted to timber markets: to trade in wood chips, wood pulp, logs, seedlings and seeds; to enter joint ventures inside and outside the State; to hold shares in corporate trading bodies; to acquire undertakings; and generally to promote trade in timber and related commodities (s13(1)(a)–(g)).\n- To carry out those functions the Corporation may import, export, buy, sell, process timber, acquire land and plant, purchase shares, enter contracts, acquire licences and provide consultancy services in or outside the State (s13(3)(a)–(h)).\n- The Corporation must carry out its functions in a way consistent with the aims and objectives of the Woods and Forests Department (s13(2)).\n- The Corporation may delegate any of its powers or functions to any person; delegations are revocable at will and do not prevent the Corporation from acting itself (s14(1)–(2)).\n\n**The official purpose claimed in the Act**\n\n- The long title describes the Act's purpose as providing for a Corporation that can trade in timber and timber products and engage in joint ventures involving trade in timber and timber products.\n\n**How the Act changes incentives, who pays, who decides, and what behaviour is likely to change**\n\n- Who decides: the Minister is central to governance (the Corporation is \"constituted of the Minister\" (s7)), the Minister authorises the common seal (s6(4)), and the Governor can dissolve the Corporation and vest assets/liabilities (s9(1)). This concentrates formal decision authority in executive offices named in the Act.\n- Who pays / bears residual liabilities: the Corporation is able to enter contracts and incur liabilities as a body corporate (s6(2); s13(3)(e)). If dissolved, remaining assets and liabilities vest in the Crown (s9(1)–(2)), meaning the Crown ultimately bears residual assets and liabilities after dissolution.\n- Incentives and alignment: the Corporation must act consistently with the Woods and Forests Department's aims (s13(2)), which creates an explicit alignment between the Department's objectives and the Corporation's commercial activity.\n- Behaviour changes enabled by the law: the Corporation can enter timber markets directly (buying, selling, importing, exporting, processing) and can form or join joint ventures, acquire shares in trading bodies, purchase land and equipment, and offer consultancy services (s13(1) and s13(3)). These powers allow the Crown-owned entity to operate commercially and to partner with private or foreign entities.\n\n**Costs, trade-offs and opportunity costs (mechanisms, not conclusions)**\n\n- Public asset use and public liability exposure: the Act expressly places the Corporation's property on behalf of the Crown (s8) and provides that assets/liabilities ultimately vest in the Crown on dissolution (s9(2)). Mechanically, therefore, public resources can be used in commercial activity and public balance sheets may be exposed to the Corporation's liabilities.\n- Market interaction and effects on private firms: by empowering a Crown entity to trade, hold shares, and enter joint ventures (s13(1)(b)–(f)), the Act creates a mechanism for a public actor to participate alongside or in competition with private firms. The Act does not, in the sections provided, set limits on market participation or on how commercial decisions are to be taken relative to private competitors (s13 generally).\n- Transaction and operational scope: the Corporation may acquire land, plant and equipment, licences and authorisations, and provide consultancy services domestically and overseas (s13(3)(c), (f)–(g)). Those powers permit use of capital and assets for commercial purposes rather than leaving those assets idle or used solely for non-commercial public administration.\n\n**Implementation risk, compliance burden and administrative discretion**\n\n- Delegation and discretion: the Corporation may delegate any of its powers to any person and such delegations are revocable at will (s14(1)–(2)). Mechanically, this grants wide discretion to allocate functions outside the Corporation itself, which affects how decisions are implemented and who acts on the Corporation's behalf.\n- Oversight and reporting requirements: the supplied sections do not set out detailed reporting, auditing or external accountability processes for the Corporation's transactions. The absence of such provisions in the text before you is a factual gap in the excerpted material and creates a reliance on other instruments or administrative practice for oversight.\n\n**Concentrated benefits and diffuse costs (mechanism-based observation)**\n\n- The Act creates opportunities for private parties to contract with, form joint ventures with, or sell to a Crown-owned trading corporation (s13(1)(b)–(f)). Those arrangements generate benefits to counterparties and to any shareholders the Corporation acquires or establishes. The residual costs of losses or unsold liabilities can vest in the Crown (s9(2)), spreading those costs across the Crown rather than limiting them solely to the corporate counterparty.\n\n**Other practical points drawn from the text**\n\n- The corporate form: the Corporation has legal capacity like a natural person (s6(2)), a common seal (s6(3)) and presumed validity of documents bearing the seal in the absence of contrary evidence (s6(5)).\n- Dissolution mechanics: the Governor controls dissolution and vesting of assets/liabilities (s9(1)–(2)), and after dissolution the Minister may exercise powers that the Corporation would have exercised (s9(3)).\n\n(References are to the sections of the South Australian Timber Corporation Act 1979 quoted above.)"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The legislation has narrowed significantly from its original scope. The 1996 amendments deleted Parts 4, 5 and 6, removed the 'appointed member' and 'Director' definitions, and substituted Part 2 to eliminate what appears to have been a board-based governance structure. The Corporation was simplified from a more complex entity with multiple office-holders to one 'constituted of the Minister' alone. This represents a contraction toward a simpler, ministerially-controlled model rather than expansion."},"complexity_factors":["Short statute with only 14 substantive sections across 3 Parts","Minimal defined terms (only 3: 'the Corporation', 'timber products', 'related commodities')","Simple corporate structure with no board — the Minister alone constitutes the Corporation","No complex conditional logic or nested exceptions","Straightforward delegation power in single section (s 14)","Some cross-referencing to Woods and Forests Department objectives (s 13(2)) but no intricate statutory interdependencies","Legislative history shows significant simplification occurred in 1996 (Parts 4-6 deleted, board structure removed)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis Act creates a government-owned business called the **South Australian Timber Corporation** — essentially a state-run company that buys, sells, and trades timber and timber-related products.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n- **The Corporation itself** — it operates as a legal entity with powers similar to a private company (can own property, sign contracts, sue and be sued)\n- **The Minister** — who effectively *is* the Corporation (the Act says the Corporation \"is constituted of the Minister\")\n- **Business partners** — companies that might enter joint ventures with the Corporation, buy its products, or sell to it\n- **The Crown (State Government)** — the Corporation holds all its property on behalf of the state, and if dissolved, remaining assets go back to the government\n\n**What powers the Corporation has:**\n\n- Trade in wood chips, pulp, logs, seedlings and seeds\n- Run joint ventures (both in SA and interstate/overseas)\n- Own shares in other timber companies\n- Import, export, process and manufacture timber products\n- Buy land, equipment and businesses\n- Provide consultancy services\n- Delegate powers to staff or agents\n\n**Key features:**\n\n- The Corporation has a **common seal** (official stamp) for signing documents, used with Minister approval\n- It must operate consistently with the aims of the **Woods and Forests Department** (the government forestry agency)\n- The **Governor can dissolve the Corporation** by proclamation (official announcement), transferring any remaining assets and debts to another entity or back to the Crown\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nThis Act allows the South Australian government to run a commercial timber trading operation without needing to create a standard private company. It gives the government flexibility to participate in the timber industry through direct trading, joint ventures, and investments — while keeping ultimate control and ownership with the Crown."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/south-australian-timber-corporation-act-1979","history":"/api/acts/south-australian-timber-corporation-act-1979/history","analysis":"/api/acts/south-australian-timber-corporation-act-1979/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/south-australian-timber-corporation-act-1979/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/south-australian-timber-corporation-act-1979/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/south-australian-timber-corporation-act-1979/documents"}}