{"id":"tas:sr-2018-024","name":"State Service (Agencies and Heads of Agencies) Order 2018","slug":"state-service-agencies-and-heads-of-agencies-order-2018","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"tas","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"24 of 2018","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":184953,"registerId":"tas-tas:sr-2018-024-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Short title","content":"### 1 Short title\n\n> This order may be cited as the [State Service (Agencies and Heads of Agencies) Order 2018](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/sr-2018-024) .","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"### 2 Commencement\n\n> This order takes effect on 1 July 2018.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Principal Act","content":"### 3 Principal Act\n\n> In this order, the [State Service Act 2000](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-2000-085) is referred to as the Principal Act.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"4.","sectionType":"section","heading":null,"content":"### 4.\n\n> The amendment effected by this clause has been incorporated into the authorised version of the [State Service Act 2000](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-2000-085) .\n\nDisplayed and numbered in accordance with the *[Rules Publication Act 1953](/view/html/inforce/current/act-1953-050)*.\n\nNotified in the *Gazette* on 27 June 2018","sortOrder":3}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Based on the available information, the order appears to serve its original and straightforward administrative purpose of listing State Service agencies and their heads as at 1 July 2018. There is no indication of scope creep or expansion beyond this intent, though amendments may have updated the specific agencies listed over time."},"complexity_factors":["Primarily administrative and structural in nature — low interpretive complexity","Relies on understanding the parent Act (State Service Act 2000) for full context","Subject to ongoing amendment, meaning the current list of agencies may differ from the original — readers must check the Table of Amendments","Limited legislative text provided in the extract, making full assessment difficult","Cross-references to Administrative Arrangement Orders add a layer of external dependency"],"plain_english_summary":"## State Service (Agencies and Heads of Agencies) Order 2018\n\nThis is a Tasmanian government administrative order that officially lists and names the agencies (government departments and bodies) that make up Tasmania's State Service, and identifies who is in charge of each one (the 'Head of Agency').\n\n**Who does this affect?**\n- **Tasmanian public servants** — it determines which agency employs them and who their ultimate boss is within the State Service structure\n- **Government departments and statutory bodies** — their legal existence within the State Service framework depends on orders like this\n- **The public** — it clarifies which minister or department head is responsible for which area of government, which matters when dealing with government services\n\n**Why does it matter?**\nUnder Tasmania's *State Service Act 2000*, the Governor can make orders setting out which bodies are 'agencies' and who leads them. This order formally establishes that structure as of 1 July 2018. It essentially acts as the official organisational chart of the Tasmanian public service in legal form, determining accountability, employment responsibility, and administrative authority across government.\n\n**Note:** The full text of the schedules listing specific agencies and heads is not included in the provided extract, so the specific agencies covered cannot be individually assessed here."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"retroactive_impossibility","section":"Status Information / Currency of version","severity":"medium","reasoning":"If the instrument was last modified on 21 June 2018 but only becomes current from 1 July 2018, the authorisation timestamp predates the commencement date. While this is not legally impossible (instruments are often prepared before commencement), the document presents both facts side-by-side without reconciliation, creating a logical tension: the 'authorised' version of a current instrument reflects a state of the document that existed before the instrument had any legal force. Any amendment made between 21 June and 1 July 2018 would not be captured, undermining the reliability of the currency claim.","confidence":0.62,"description":"The legislation claims to be 'current from 1 July 2018 to date' while simultaneously stating the file was 'last modified 21 June 2018' — a date before it purports to have come into force."},{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"Status Information — update notice","severity":"low","reasoning":"The currency disclaimer creates a pseudo-guarantee of timeliness ('usually within 3 working days') while simultaneously being incapable of self-verification. A user accessing the document cannot determine from the document itself whether a recent amendment has been made but not yet reflected. The statement is therefore self-undermining: it asserts currency while acknowledging potential latency, with no indicator of which state applies at the time of access.","confidence":0.55,"description":"The site guarantees legislation is 'usually updated within 3 working days after a change' but provides no mechanism for users to know whether they are viewing a version that is within or outside that 3-day lag window at any given access point."},{"type":"other","section":"Document structure — all headings and metadata","severity":"high","reasoning":"An Order that purports to establish agencies and their heads but contains no operative provisions establishing any agency or appointing any head is logically incapable of fulfilling its stated purpose. The complete absence of substantive content — replaced entirely by duplicated administrative metadata — means the instrument as presented cannot be complied with, interpreted, or applied. Whether this is a rendering/extraction error or a genuine drafting omission, the result is an instrument that names itself but does nothing.","confidence":0.91,"description":"Every heading and metadata block in the document is duplicated verbatim (e.g., 'State Service (Agencies and Heads of Agencies) Order 2018' appears four times as a heading; 'Status Information', 'Currency of version', 'Table of Amending Instruments', 'Responsible Minister and Department', and 'Authorisation' each appear twice). The substantive operative provisions of the Order appear to be entirely absent from the provided text."},{"type":"circular_definition","section":"Responsible Minister and Department","severity":"low","reasoning":"An administrative Order whose own ministerial responsibility is defined entirely by reference to a separate, changeable instrument means the Order's administrative home can shift without any amendment to the Order itself. While this is standard Tasmanian drafting practice, it creates a logical situation where the Order is never self-contained and its responsible authority is, at any given moment, whatever another instrument says it is — which may itself be under amendment.","confidence":0.7,"description":"The Order directs readers to 'see the latest Administrative Arrangement Order' to identify the responsible Minister and Department, meaning the Order itself contains no fixed identification of its own responsible Minister — creating a circular dependency where accountability is perpetually deferred to another instrument."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"low","section_a":"Currency of version: 'Version current from 1 July 2018 to date'","section_b":"Authorisation: 'File last modified 21 June 2018'","confidence":0.65,"description":"The instrument asserts currency commencing 1 July 2018, but the authorised file underpinning that currency was last modified 10 days earlier on 21 June 2018, before the commencement date."},{"severity":"low","section_a":"Status Information: 'Legislation on this site is usually updated within 3 working days after a change'","section_b":"Currency of version: 'Version current from 1 July 2018 to date (accessed 5 April 2026 at 17:12)'","confidence":0.58,"description":"The currency statement presents the version as current 'to date' (i.e., as at 5 April 2026), yet the 3-working-day update lag caveat means the version accessed on that date may not actually reflect the law as it stood on that date. The instrument simultaneously claims to be current and disclaims the reliability of that currency claim."}]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument appears to serve its original limited purpose: naming, commencing, and linking to the Principal Act. The reference to an amendment being 'incorporated' suggests it may have originally contained substantive content that has since been merged into the main Act, but the instrument itself has not expanded beyond its procedural role."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short — only 4 substantive clauses","No defined terms within the instrument itself (relies entirely on the Principal Act)","No conditional logic or nested exceptions","Single cross-reference to the State Service Act 2000","Procedural/administrative nature — essentially a naming and commencement instrument with an amendment note"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a short, technical piece of legislation that officially names and activates a set of rules called the **State Service (Agencies and Heads of Agencies) Order 2018**.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Names the law**: It gives the official title to this set of rules so people can find and reference it properly.\n- **Sets the start date**: The rules began operating on **1 July 2018**.\n- **Links to the main law**: It confirms these rules work alongside the **State Service Act 2000** (referred to as the \"Principal Act\"), which is the main law governing Tasmania's public service.\n- **Notes an amendment**: It mentions that changes made by this order have already been added to the official version of the State Service Act 2000.\n\n**Who it affects:**\nThis primarily affects **Tasmanian public servants** and **government agencies**. It helps define which organisations count as \"agencies\" under the State Service Act and who their heads are — important for working out who has authority to make decisions and who is accountable for what.\n\n**Why it matters:**\nWithout this order, there would be confusion about which government bodies are officially part of the state service system and who is in charge of them. It ensures the organisational structure of the Tasmanian Government is clear and legally recognised."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/state-service-agencies-and-heads-of-agencies-order-2018","history":"/api/acts/state-service-agencies-and-heads-of-agencies-order-2018/history","analysis":"/api/acts/state-service-agencies-and-heads-of-agencies-order-2018/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/state-service-agencies-and-heads-of-agencies-order-2018/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/state-service-agencies-and-heads-of-agencies-order-2018/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/state-service-agencies-and-heads-of-agencies-order-2018/documents"}}