{"id":"st-catherines-hall-greenough-act-1981","name":"St. Catherine's Hall, Greenough, Act 1981","slug":"st-catherine-s-hall-greenough-act-1981","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":110280,"registerId":"wa-st-catherines-hall-greenough-act-1981-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"St. Catherine's Hall, Greenough, Act 1981","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nSt. Catherine’s Hall, Greenough, Act 1981\n\nWestern Australia\n\nSt. Catherine’s Hall, Greenough, Act 1981\n\nContents\n\n1. Short title 2\n\n2. Land vested in The Trust 2\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 3\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nSt. Catherine’s Hall, Greenough, Act 1981\n\nAn Act to vest portion of Victoria Location 848 containing 3 649 square metres and being the whole of the land comprised in Certificate of Title Volume 64, Folio 169 and the building situated thereon, known as St. Catherine’s Hall, Greenough, in The National Trust of Australia (W.A.) and for incidental purposes.\n\nPreamble\n\nWhereas:\n\n(a) by transfer registered at the Office of Titles 2, Western Australia on 5 January 1895 portion of Victoria Location 848, comprising 3 642 square metres, now being the whole of the land comprised in Certificate of Title Volume 64 Folio 169 (hereinafter referred to as “the land”) was transferred to ROBERT ELLIOTT, ARTHUR CLINCH, REUBEN BACKSHALL, DAVID DUNCAN and CHARLES DUNCAN (hereinafter referred to as “the proprietors”);\n\n(b) although the land is not subject to any express trust the land was acquired by the proprietors as trustees for the St. Catherine’s Hall Committee, (hereinafter referred to as “the Committee”) an unincorporated body formed for the purpose of managing and maintaining a building known as St. Catherine’s Hall which was erected on the land for the use and benefit of the community at Greenough;\n\n(c) the proprietors are currently the registered proprietors of the land;\n\n(d) Arthur Clinch died on 8 August 1933, Reuben Backshall died on 20 November 1935, Charles Duncan died on 9 September 1936 and David Duncan died on 9 September 1937;\n\n(e) no trace can be found of the death or present whereabouts of Robert Elliott, who was priest in charge of the Church of England parish of Greenough from 1892 to 1898;\n\n(f) although the Committee has continued to manage and maintain St.Catherine’s Hall, the record of its activities is incomplete and no new trustees have been appointed to replace the proprietors, who have either died or disappeared;\n\n(g) the Committee desires to donate the land, together with the building or buildings situated thereon, to The National Trust of Australia (W.A.) (hereinafter referred to as “The Trust”), a body established under the *National Trust of Australia (W.A.) Act 1964*, and The Trust has agreed to accept the gift, pursuant to and for the purposes of that Act;\n\n(h) to vest the land in The Trust it is expedient to enact this Act.\n\n##### 1. Short title\n\nThis Act may be cited as the *St. Catherine’s Hall, Greenough, Act 1981*.\n\n##### 2. Land vested in The Trust\n\nAll that land being portion of Victoria Location 848, containing 3 642 square metres, and being the whole of the land comprised in Certificate of Title Volume 64, Folio 169 is by force of this section vested in The Trust for the purposes of the *National Trust of Australia (W.A.) Act 1964*.\n\nNotes\n\n1 This is a compilation of the *St. Catherine’s Hall, Greenough Act 1981* and includes all amendments effected by the other Acts referred to in the following Table.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Short title** | **Number and year** | **Assent** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *St. Catherine’s Hall, Greenough Act 1981* | 98 of 1981 | 4 Dec 1981 | 4 Dec 1981 |\n\n\n2 Documents formerly registered at the Office of Titles are now held by the Western Australian Land Information Authority (see the *Land Information Authority Act 2006* s. 100).\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as the legislative text was not available for review. Only a website error page was returned in place of the Act's content."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative text was retrievable — the source URL returned a 'page not found' error message only","Cannot assess complexity without actual content","Minimum score of 1 assigned by default due to complete absence of analysable material"],"plain_english_summary":"## St. Catherine's Hall, Greenough, Act 1981\n\n**⚠️ Content Unavailable**\n\nThe actual text of this Western Australian law is **not available** — the page has been taken down as part of a website system upgrade. Only an error message and standard website notices were retrieved, not the legislation itself.\n\n**What we do know:**\n- This is a Western Australian Act passed in **1981**\n- It relates to **St. Catherine's Hall** in **Greenough**, Western Australia\n- Greenough is a historic district near Geraldton in the Mid West region of WA\n- Acts of this type typically deal with the management, ownership, vesting (legal transfer of ownership/control), or preservation of a specific heritage building or hall\n\n**No meaningful legal analysis can be provided** without access to the actual legislative text. To find this Act, visit the [Western Australian legislation website](https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au) directly and search for the Act by name."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act is narrowly targeted to achieve a single purpose: vest a specified parcel of land and the building known as St. Catherine’s Hall in The National Trust of Australia (W.A.). The text and compilation show no substantive amendments expanding or altering that purpose. The instrument therefore does not appear to have grown beyond its original, limited scope."},"complexity_factors":["Very short Act: preamble plus 2 substantive items (short title and single operative section).","Single vesting provision (section 2) with no conditions, exceptions, or sunset clauses.","One cross-reference: National Trust of Australia (W.A.) Act 1964 (defines purposes and powers post-vesting).","Limited factual background in preamble with named historical proprietors and committee — factual history does not create legal complexity but provides context.","Minor drafting inconsistency in stated parcel area (3,649 vs 3,642 square metres) increases review time but not legal complexity.","No definitions section, no delegated rule‑making, no penalties, and no multiple affected regulatory regimes."],"plain_english_summary":"**What the law does (mechanically)\n\n- This Act (St. Catherine’s Hall, Greenough, Act 1981) transfers legal ownership of a single parcel of land and the building on it — the property known as St. Catherine’s Hall, described as portion of Victoria Location 848 and recorded in Certificate of Title Vol. 64, Folio 169 — to The National Trust of Australia (W.A.).  (See section 2.)\n\n- The transfer is effected by statutory vesting: the Act itself declares the land to be vested in The Trust for the purposes of the National Trust of Australia (W.A.) Act 1964. That is the mechanism that changes title; no separate conveyance is required. (See s.2 and the preamble.)\n\nWho is affected\n\n- The National Trust of Australia (W.A.): becomes the registered owner and assumes the rights, responsibilities and powers that flow from ownership and from the National Trust Act (for example, management, maintenance, and use according to The Trust's statutory purposes).\n\n- The St. Catherine’s Hall Committee (an unincorporated local committee) and the historical trustees/proprietors: the committee’s intention to give the property to The Trust is implemented and any outstanding proprietary interests held by the named historical proprietors are overridden by the statutory vesting.\n\n- The local community: the property’s stewardship is moved from an informal/unincorporated local committee to a statutory heritage body; this changes who makes decisions about the land’s use and upkeep.\n\nWhy the Act was enacted (official rationale) and how that stacks against practical trade-offs\n\n- Official rationale (from the preamble): the original proprietors named on title either died or cannot be located, the Committee has continued management but has incomplete records and no new trustees were appointed, and the Committee wanted to donate the land to The Trust which agreed to accept it. The Act was framed as the expedient (practical) means to vest the land in The Trust. (See preamble paragraphs (a)–(h).)\n\n- Practical effect and trade-offs:\n  - Clears title and avoids the need to locate missing heirs or to litigate to perfect a trust. This reduces transaction and litigation costs for the Committee and The Trust (implementation risk lowered).\n  - Transfers ongoing costs (maintenance, insurance, conservation) from the community committee to The Trust; The Trust will bear those expenses unless it chooses otherwise. That is an explicit reallocation of the recurring cost of stewardship.\n  - Removes any residual private claims by the named historical proprietors (or their successors) because Parliament has vested the land by statute. That creates legal certainty but extinguishes other private property options.\n  - Administrative and compliance burden is minimal: the Act itself effects title change and cross‑references the National Trust Act to define permissible uses.\n  - Bureaucratic discretion is limited in this instrument: Parliament exercises a direct power to vest the specific parcel in The Trust. Future decisions about the property will be made under the ordinary powers of The Trust and relevant land law.\n\nConcrete legal links and limits\n\n- The Act vests the land \"for the purposes of the National Trust of Australia (W.A.) Act 1964,\" so The Trust's use, disposal, or management of the land will be governed by that Act and by general property law.\n\n- The Act is narrowly focused: it affects a single, specifically described parcel and does not create a general rule or ongoing regulatory regime.\n\nPractical consequences for stakeholders (who pays, who decides, how behaviour changes)\n\n- Who pays: The National Trust (W.A.) will be responsible for costs associated with the property after vesting (maintenance, conservation, rates if applicable), unless it contracts otherwise.\n- Who decides: The Trust gains the authority to make management and disposition decisions consistent with its statutory powers; the local committee no longer holds title-based decision power.\n- Behaviour changes: the community’s route to influence the property shifts from informal local stewardship to engagement with The Trust as the statutory owner.\n\nMinor drafting note\n\n- The Act text and the compilation show a small inconsistency in the parcel area: the heading at one point states 3,649 square metres while the body and preamble refer to 3,642 square metres. That is a drafting/detail discrepancy confined to the descriptive metadata of the instrument.\n\nKey provisions to read: the preamble (background and stated purpose) and section 2 (operative vesting provision)."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly scoped to its original purpose: transferring a specific parcel of land (Victoria Location 848, 3,642 square metres) to the National Trust. The Act has not been amended or expanded since its 1981 enactment, as confirmed by the compilation table showing no subsequent amendments."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short: only 2 operative sections (short title and vesting provision)","No defined terms section — all key terms defined in the preamble narrative","Single, unconditional operative provision with no exceptions or conditions","No cross-references to other legislation except a single citation to the National Trust of Australia (W.A.) Act 1964","Preamble is narrative/historical rather than legal machinery","No delegated powers, regulations, or administrative procedures"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis Act transfers ownership of a specific piece of land and a building called St. Catherine's Hall in Greenough, Western Australia, to **The National Trust of Australia (W.A.)** — a heritage conservation organisation.\n\n**Why it was needed:**\n\nThe land was originally bought in 1895 by five men who held it \"in trust\" (meaning they legally owned it but were supposed to manage it for the benefit of the local community). Over the decades, four of these men died and the fifth — a priest named Robert Elliott — vanished without trace. The community committee that had been running the hall couldn't appoint new trustees because of this mess, and they wanted to give the property to the National Trust instead.\n\nRather than going through complicated court processes to sort out the dead and missing owners, the Western Australian Parliament passed this specific law to simply **vest** (transfer legal ownership) the land directly in the National Trust.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n- The National Trust of Australia (W.A.) — which now owns the land\n- The local Greenough community — which continues to use the hall\n- The descendants or estates of the original five owners — who are effectively removed from the title by this Act\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nThis is an example of a **\"private Act\"** — legislation passed to solve a specific property problem for a particular group of people, rather than a general law applying to everyone. It cuts through what would otherwise be years of legal wrangling about missing owners and dead trustees, ensuring a historic community building stays preserved and properly managed."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/st-catherine-s-hall-greenough-act-1981","history":"/api/acts/st-catherine-s-hall-greenough-act-1981/history","analysis":"/api/acts/st-catherine-s-hall-greenough-act-1981/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/st-catherine-s-hall-greenough-act-1981/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/st-catherine-s-hall-greenough-act-1981/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/st-catherine-s-hall-greenough-act-1981/documents"}}