{"id":"a-1972-34","name":"Standard Time and Summer Time Act 1972","slug":"standard-time-and-summer-time-act-1972","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"act","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"34 of 1972","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":24327,"registerId":"act-a-1972-34-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Standard Time and Summer Time Act 1972","content":"Australian Capital Territory\nStandard Time and Summer Time\nAct 1972\nA1972-34\nRepublication No 5\nEffective: 9 July 2008\nRepublication date: 9 July 2008\nLast amendment made by A2008-24\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel\n\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\nAbout this republication\nThe republished law\nThis is a republication of the Standard Time and Summer Time Act 1972 (including any\namendment made under the Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3 (Editorial changes)) as in force on\n9 July 2008. It also includes any amendment, repeal or expiry affecting the republished law to\n9 July 2008.\nThe legislation history and amendment history of the republished law are set out in endnotes 3\nand 4.\nKinds of republications\nThe Parliamentary Counsel’s Office prepares 2 kinds of republications of ACT laws (see the\nACT legislation register at www.legislation.act.gov.au):\n authorised republications to which the Legislation Act 2001 applies\n unauthorised republications.\nThe status of this republication appears on the bottom of each page.\nEditorial changes\nThe Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3 authorises the Parliamentary Counsel to make editorial\namendments and other changes of a formal nature when preparing a law for republication.\nEditorial changes do not change the effect of the law, but have effect as if they had been made\nby an Act commencing on the republication date (see Legislation Act 2001, s 115 and s 117).\nThe changes are made if the Parliamentary Counsel considers they are desirable to bring the law\ninto line, or more closely into line, with current legislative drafting practice.\nThis republication does not include amendments made under part 11.3 (see endnote 1).\nUncommenced provisions and amendments\nIf a provision of the republished law has not commenced or is affected by an uncommenced\namendment, the symbol U appears immediately before the provision heading. The text of the\nuncommenced provision or amendment appears only in the last endnote.\nModifications\nIf a provision of the republished law is affected by a current modification, the symbol M\nappears immediately before the provision heading. The text of the modifying provision appears\nin the endnotes. For the legal status of modifications, see Legislation Act 2001, section 95.\nPenalties\nThe value of a penalty unit for an offence against this republished law at the republication date\nis—\n(a) if the person charged is an individual—$100; or\n(b) if the person charged is a corporation—$500.\n\nR5\n09/07/08\nStandard Time and Summer Time Act 1972\nEffective: 09/07/08\ncontents 1\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\nAustralian Capital Territory\nStandard Time and Summer Time\nAct 1972\nContents\nPage\n1 Name of Act 2\n2 Dictionary 2\n3 Notes 2\n4 Standard time 2\n5 Summer time 2\n6 Declaration of summer time period 2\n7 Meaning of references to time etc 3\nDictionary 4\nEndnotes\n1 About the endnotes 5\n\nContents\nPage\ncontents 2 Standard Time and Summer Time Act 1972\nEffective: 09/07/08\nR5\n09/07/08\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\n2 Abbreviation key 5\n3 Legislation history 6\n4 Amendment history 7\n5 Earlier republications 8\n\nR5\n09/07/08\nStandard Time and Summer Time Act 1972\nEffective: 09/07/08\npage 1\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\nAustralian Capital Territory\nStandard Time and Summer Time\nAct 1972\nAn Act relating to standard time and summer time\n\nSection 1\npage 2 Standard Time and Summer Time Act 1972\nEffective: 09/07/08\nR5\n09/07/08\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\n1 Name of Act\nThis Act is the Standard Time and Summer Time Act 1972.\n2 Dictionary\nThe dictionary at the end of this Act is part of this Act.\nNote 1 The dictionary at the end of this Act defines certain terms used in this\nAct.\nNote 2 A definition in the dictionary applies to the entire Act unless the\ndefinition, or another provision of the Act, provides otherwise or the\ncontrary intention otherwise appears (see Legislation Act, s 155 and\ns 156 (1)).\n3 Notes\nA note included in this Act is explanatory and is not part of this Act.\nNote See the Legislation Act, s 127 (1), (4) and (5) for the legal status of\nnotes.\n4 Standard time\nStandard time in the ACT is 10 hours in advance of coordinated\nuniversal time.\n5 Summer time\nDuring a summer time period, summer time in the ACT is 1 hour in\nadvance of ACT standard time.\n6 Declaration of summer time period\n(1) The Minister may, in writing, declare a period to be a summer time\nperiod for this Act.\n(2) A declaration is a notifiable instrument.\nNote A notifiable instrument must be notified under the Legislation Act.\n\nSection 7\nR5\n09/07/08\nStandard Time and Summer Time Act 1972\nEffective: 09/07/08\npage 3\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\n7 Meaning of references to time etc\n(1) This section applies if—\n(a) a legal instrument refers (expressly or impliedly) to a time; or\n(b) the doing or failure to do anything at, before or after a time has\nan effect in law.\n(2) The time must be worked out using—\n(a) ACT standard time; or\n(b) if the time is in relation to a summer time period—ACT\nsummer time.\n(3) However, subsection (2) does not apply to a reference in a legal\ninstrument if the legal instrument or another legal instrument\nexpressly, or by a manifest contrary intention, provides for the\nreference to have another meaning.\n(4) Also, subsection (2) (b) does not affect—\n(a) the use of ACT standard time for the purposes of astronomy,\nmeteorology or navigation, or\n(b) the meaning of a reference in a document to a time in relation\nto any of those purposes.\n(5) To remove any doubt, a reference in this section to a time includes a\nreference to a period of time.\n(6) This section applies to a legal instrument even though the\ninstrument was made before the commencement of this section.\n\nDictionary\npage 4 Standard Time and Summer Time Act 1972\nEffective: 09/07/08\nR5\n09/07/08\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\nDictionary\n(see s 2)\nNote 1 The Legislation Act contains definitions and other provisions relevant to\nthis Act.\nNote 2 For example, the Legislation Act, dict, pt 1, defines the following terms:\n Act\n ACT\n instrument\n statutory instrument\n writing.\nACT standard time means standard time as fixed by section 4.\nACT summer time means summer time as fixed by section 5.\ncoordinated universal time means Co-ordinated Universal Time\n(UTC) as determined by the International Bureau of Weights and\nMeasures and maintained under the National Measurement Act 1960\n(Cwlth), section 8AA.\nlegal instrument means—\n(a) an Act or statutory instrument; or\n(b) a contract or agreement (whether oral or in writing or both); or\n(c) a deed or other instrument having legal effect.\nsummer time period means—\n(a) a period starting at 2 am on the first Sunday in October in a\nyear and ending at 2 am on the first Sunday in the following\nApril; or\n(b) if the Minister declares a different period under section 6—that\nperiod.\n\nEndnotes\nAbout the endnotes 1\nR5\n09/07/08\nStandard Time and Summer Time Act 1972\nEffective: 09/07/08\npage 5\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\nEndnotes\n1 About the endnotes\nAmending and modifying laws are annotated in the legislation history and the\namendment history. Current modifications are not included in the republished\nlaw but are set out in the endnotes.\nNot all editorial amendments made under the Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3 are\nannotated in the amendment history. Full details of any amendments can be\nobtained from the Parliamentary Counsel’s Office.\nUncommenced amending laws and expiries are listed in the legislation history and\nthe amendment history. These details are underlined. Uncommenced provisions\nand amendments are not included in the republished law but are set out in the last\nendnote.\nIf all the provisions of the law have been renumbered, a table of renumbered\nprovisions gives details of previous and current numbering.\nThe endnotes also include a table of earlier republications.\n2 Abbreviation key\nam = amended ord = ordinance\namdt = amendment orig = original\nch = chapter par = paragraph/subparagraph\ndef = definition pres = present\ndict = dictionary prev = previous\ndisallowed = disallowed by the Legislative (prev...) = previously\nAssembly pt = part\ndiv = division r = rule/subrule\nexp = expires/expired renum = renumbered\nGaz = gazette reloc = relocated\nhdg = heading R[X] = Republication No\nIA = Interpretation Act 1967 RI = reissue\nins = inserted/added s = section/subsection\nLA = Legislation Act 2001 sch = schedule\nLR = legislation register sdiv = subdivision\nLRA = Legislation (Republication) Act 1996 sub = substituted\nmod = modified/modification SL = Subordinate Law\no = order underlining = whole or part not commenced\nom = omitted/repealed or to be expired\n\nEndnotes\n3 Legislation history\npage 6 Standard Time and Summer Time Act 1972\nEffective: 09/07/08\nR5\n09/07/08\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\n3 Legislation history\nThis Act was originally a Commonwealth ordinance—the Standard Time and\nSummer Time Ordinance 1972 A1972-34 (Cwlth).\nThe Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 (Cwlth), s 34 (4)\nconverted most former Commonwealth ordinances in force in the ACT into ACT\nenactments. This allowed the ACT Legislative Assembly to amend and repeal the\nlaws. This Act was converted into an ACT enactment on 11 May 1989 (self-\ngovernment day).\nAs with most ordinances in force in the ACT, the name was changed from\nOrdinance to Act by the Self-Government (Citation of Laws) Act 1989 A1989-21,\ns 5 on 11 May 1989 (self-government day).\nBefore 11 May 1989, ordinances commenced on their notification day unless\notherwise stated (see Seat of Government (Administration) Act 1910 (Cwlth),\ns 12).\nAfter 11 May 1989 and before 10 November 1999, Acts commenced on their\nnotification day unless otherwise stated (see Australian Capital Territory (Self-\nGovernment) Act 1988 (Cwlth) s 25).\nLegislation before becoming Territory enactment\nStandard Time and Summer Time Act 1972 A1972-34\nnotified 23 October 1972 (Cwlth Gaz 1972 No 99)\ncommenced 23 October 1972\nas amended by\nStandard Time and Summer Time (Amendment) Ordinance 1982\nOrd1982-4\nnotified 4 March 1982 (Cwlth Gaz 1982 No S38)\ncommenced 4 March 1982\nStandard Time and Summer Time (Amendment) Ordinance 1986\nOrd1986-1\nnotified 27 February 1986 (Cwlth Gaz 1986 No S72)\ncommenced 27 February 1986\nStandard Time and Summer Time (Amendment) Ordinance (No 2)\n1986 Ord1986-59\nnotified 10 October 1986 (Cwlth Gaz 1986 No S512)\ncommenced 10 October 1986\n\nEndnotes\nAmendment history 4\nR5\n09/07/08\nStandard Time and Summer Time Act 1972\nEffective: 09/07/08\npage 7\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\nLegislation after becoming Territory enactment\nStatute Law Revision (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1993 A1993-1\nsch 1\nnotified 1 March 1993 (Gaz 1993 No S23)\ncommenced 1 March 1993\nLegislation (Consequential Amendments) Act 2001 A2001-44 pt 368\nnotified 26 July 2001 (Gaz 2001 No 30)\ns 1, s 2 commenced 26 July 2001 (IA s 10B)\npt 368 commenced 12 September 2001 (s 2 and see Gaz 2001\nNo S65)\nJustice and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Act 2005\n(No 3) A2005-43 sch 1 pt 1.12\nnotified LR 30 August 2005\ns 1, s 2 commenced 30 August 2005 (LA s 75 (1))\nsch 1 pt 1.12 commenced 1 September 2005 (s 2 (2))\nStandard Time and Summer Time Amendment Act 2008 A2008-24\nnotified LR 8 July 2008\ns 1, s 2 commenced 8 July 2008 (LA s 75 (1))\nremainder commenced 9 July 2008 (s 2)\n4 Amendment history\nDictionary\ns 2 om A2001-44 amdt 1.3915\nins A2005-43 amdt 1.33\nNotes\ns 3 sub A2005-43 amdt 1.33\ndef daylight saving period am Ord1986-1 s 3\nsub Ord1986-59 s 3\nom A2005-43 amdt 1.33\ndef summer time period am A2008-24 s 4\ndef the Territory om A1993-1 sch 1\ndef year om Ord1986-1 s 3\nStandard time\ns 4 sub A2005-43 amdt 1.33\nSummer time\ns 5 sub A2005-43 amdt 1.33\n\nEndnotes\n5 Earlier republications\npage 8 Standard Time and Summer Time Act 1972\nEffective: 09/07/08\nR5\n09/07/08\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\nDeclaration of daylight saving period\ns 5A ins Ord1986-59 s 4\nsub A2001-44 amdt 1.3916\nom A2005-43 amdt 1.33\nDeclaration of summer time period\ns 6 am A2001-44 amdt 1.3917, amdt 1.3918\nsub A2005-43 amdt 1.33\nMeaning of references to time etc\ns 7 ins Ord1982-4 s 2\nsub Ord1986-1 s 4\nom Ord1986-59 s 5\nins A2005-43 amdt 1.33\nDictionary\ndict ins A2005-43 amdt 1.34\ndef ACT standard time ins A2005-43 amdt 1.34\ndef ACT summer time ins A2005-43 amdt 1.34\ndef coordinated universal time ins A2005-43 amdt 1.34\ndef legal instrument ins A2005-43 amdt 1.34\ndef summer time period ins A2005-43 amdt 1.34\nam A2008-24 s 4\n5 Earlier republications\nSome earlier republications were not numbered. The number in column 1 refers to\nthe publication order.\nSince 12 September 2001 every authorised republication has been published in\nelectronic pdf format on the ACT legislation register. A selection of authorised\nrepublications have also been published in printed format. These republications\nare marked with an asterisk (*) in column 1. Electronic and printed versions of an\nauthorised republication are identical.\nRepublication No Amendments to Republication date\n1 Ord1986-59 30 June 1991\n2 A1993-1 31 August 1993\n3 (RI) A2001-44 29 July 2002\n4 A2005-43 1 September 2005\n\n© Australian Capital Territory 2008","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"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose of establishing time zones and daylight saving periods for the ACT. While it has been modernised (converted from a Commonwealth ordinance to an ACT Act, and updated with contemporary drafting conventions like the dictionary format), it has not expanded beyond regulating standard time and summer time. The 2005 rewrite simplified the structure but did not broaden the substantive scope."},"complexity_factors":["Only 7 operative sections (ss 1-7) plus a short dictionary","Minimal cross-referencing — primarily internal references to defined terms","Simple conditional logic limited to one exception clause (s 7(3)) and one carve-out for scientific purposes (s 7(4))","Only 6 defined terms in the dictionary (ACT standard time, ACT summer time, coordinated universal time, legal instrument, summer time period, plus implicit definitions via the Legislation Act)","No nested exceptions or complex temporal calculations beyond the basic daylight saving formula","Straightforward administrative mechanism (Ministerial declaration by notifiable instrument)"],"plain_english_summary":"This Act fixes time in the Australian Capital Territory: standard time is UTC+10, with daylight saving adding one hour (UTC+11) by default from 2am on the first Sunday in October to 2am on the first Sunday in April. The Minister may declare a different summer period by public instrument.\n\nIt governs clocks for everyone in the ACT and for legal times and deadlines, but scientific navigation uses standard time year‑round and an agreement or law specifying another zone overrides this Act."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act retains its original, narrow purpose: to fix the Territory’s legal time and to provide rules for summer time/daylight saving and how time references are read in legal instruments. Subsequent amendments have modernised drafting, added the interpretive section (s 7) and clarified definitions (including a broad definition of “legal instrument”) and ministerial notification mechanics, but these are incremental changes that clarify and slightly broaden administrative flexibility rather than a substantial change of scope beyond the original purpose."},"complexity_factors":["Short Act: 7 operative sections plus a dictionary","Only about 5 bespoke defined terms in the dictionary (ACT standard time, ACT summer time, coordinated universal time, legal instrument, summer time period)","Single discretionary power: Minister may declare a different summer time period (s 6)","One moderately detailed interpretive provision with exceptions (s 7) — applies to pre-existing instruments and excludes astronomy/meteorology/navigation (s 7(4))","Cross-references to external Acts for definitions and procedures (Legislation Act for notifiable instruments and interpretation provisions; National Measurement Act for UTC definition)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does (mechanics first)**\n\n- **Fixes the Territory’s official time.** Section 4 says ACT standard time is 10 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC+10). Section 5 says that during a summer time period the ACT is one hour ahead of ACT standard time (i.e. UTC+11 while summer time applies).\n\n- **Defines when summer time applies by default, and lets the Minister change it.** The dictionary defines a default summer time period as starting at 2:00 am on the first Sunday in October and ending at 2:00 am on the first Sunday in the following April. Section 6 (and the dictionary) also gives the Minister the power to declare, in writing, a different period; that declaration is a notifiable instrument (so it must be published). (See s 6 and the dictionary.)\n\n- **Tells you how to read time references in laws, contracts and other legal instruments.** Section 7 says that, unless a legal instrument expressly or clearly intends otherwise, any reference to a time (or a period of time) in a legal instrument is to be calculated using ACT standard time, or ACT summer time when the matter relates to a summer time period. Section 7 expressly preserves the use of ACT standard time in astronomy, meteorology and navigation and applies to instruments made before the section commenced.\n\n- **Defines key terms used in the Act.** The dictionary defines ACT standard time, ACT summer time, coordinated universal time (linked to the national measurement system), legal instrument (broadly, including Acts, statutory instruments, contracts and deeds), and summer time period.\n\n**Who this affects**\n\n- Everyone in the ACT (residents, businesses, government agencies) is brought under the same legal time standard for statutory purposes (s 4, s 5).\n- Parties to contracts and other legal instruments that refer to times or deadlines are affected because timing is legally calculated by reference to ACT standard/summer time unless the instrument says otherwise (s 7; dictionary definition of legal instrument).\n- The Minister (executive) has the power to alter the summer time period by declaration (s 6); agencies that must publish notifiable instruments handle the administrative task of notification.\n\n**Why it matters (official purpose and practical effects)**\n\n- The Act’s stated function is to establish the Territory’s legal time standard and the legal framework for summer time (i.e. daylight saving) so that statutory deadlines, time-stamps and time-sensitive rights and duties are uniformly interpreted. That is expressed through the operative sections above (ss 4–7 and the dictionary).\n\n- Testing that purpose against costs and trade-offs:\n  - Implementation and compliance costs are low in statutory terms (the law simply declares the time and how to compute it), but there are practical costs to private actors when clocks move (synchronising IT systems, transport timetables, legal deadlines and business hours). Those are ordinary transition costs whenever clocks change.\n  - The Minister’s power to declare a different summer time period (s 6) creates some administrative discretion and a small degree of regulatory uncertainty: affected parties must monitor notifiable instruments to know whether the summer time period has been varied. That uncertainty is manageable (the declaration must be published) but does impose an information-checking duty on businesses that schedule across time boundaries.\n  - Section 7 reduces ambiguity in legal interpretation by prescribing which clock to use when computing times for legal instruments. That lowers litigation risk over time disputes except where a legal instrument expressly provides another meaning (s 7(3)).\n  - The Act preserves the technical uses of standard time for astronomy, meteorology and navigation (s 7(4)), so it does not override specialised timing conventions used in those fields.\n\n**Who pays and who decides**\n\n- The Territory (government) administers the declaration process and notification obligations; any administrative cost is borne by government agencies publishing the notifiable instrument (s 6).\n- The public and private users of time (businesses, contract parties, courts) bear the practical costs of clock changes: updating systems, rescheduling, and ensuring time-sensitive legal obligations are met (s 7). The Minister decides the summer time period when exercising the power in s 6.\n\n**Market and private-choice effects (light-market lens)**\n\n- The law is a framework rule that coordinates behaviour rather than prescribing commercial policy. By standardising time, it reduces transaction costs that arise from ambiguous time references in contracts and statutory deadlines.\n- The ministerial discretion to vary the period can create small frictions for businesses that coordinate with interstate partners if the ACT’s period differs unexpectedly from neighbouring jurisdictions. That friction is informational and timing-related rather than a restriction on trade or ownership.\n\n**Implementation risks and unintended consequences**\n\n- The main practical risk is confusion at moments of clock change (e.g. missing deadlines, scheduling errors across jurisdictions). Section 7 mitigates legal uncertainty but cannot prevent operational slip-ups.\n- Because the statute makes a broad definition of “legal instrument” (including contracts), parties who assume a private meaning of “time” without expressly saying so may find courts use ACT standard/summer time to compute obligations unless they state otherwise (s 7; dictionary). This increases the importance of explicit drafting in commercial agreements.\n\n**Concrete statutory references**: standard time (s 4); summer time (s 5); Minister’s declaration (s 6); interpretation of time references (s 7); definitions in the dictionary (ACT standard time, ACT summer time, coordinated universal time, legal instrument, summer time period)."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/standard-time-and-summer-time-act-1972","history":"/api/acts/standard-time-and-summer-time-act-1972/history","analysis":"/api/acts/standard-time-and-summer-time-act-1972/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/standard-time-and-summer-time-act-1972/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/standard-time-and-summer-time-act-1972/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/standard-time-and-summer-time-act-1972/documents"}}