{"id":"the-perth-diocesan-trustees-special-fund-act-1944","name":"The Perth Diocesan Trustees (Special Fund) Act 1944","slug":"the-perth-diocesan-trustees-special-fund-act-1944","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":110639,"registerId":"wa-the-perth-diocesan-trustees-special-fund-act-1944-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"The Perth Diocesan Trustees (Special Fund) Act 1944","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nPerth Diocesan Trustees (Special Fund) Act 1944\n\nWestern Australia\n\nPerth Diocesan Trustees (Special Fund) Act 1944\n\nContents\n\n1. Short title 2\n\n2. Terms used 3\n\n3. Capitalisation or payment of surplus income 3\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 4\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nPerth Diocesan Trustees (Special Fund) Act 1944\n\nAn Act relating to a certain trust fund vested in The Perth Diocesan Trustees and to the disposition of the income derived therefrom.\n\nPreamble 2, 3\n\nWhereas Samuel Evans Burges of Perth in the State of Western Australia, Esquire, died on 25 May 1885, having made and duly executed his last will and testament and a codicil thereto dated respectively 3 October 1883, and 14 July 1884; and probate of the said will and the said codicil was duly granted by the Supreme Court of Western Australia to the executors therein named; and whereas by his said will the said Samuel Evans Burges charged all his real property at York devised to his son Richard Goldsmith Burges with the payment by the said Richard Goldsmith Burges, his heirs and assigns, to the Standing Committee of the Synod of the West Australian Branch of the Church of England for or towards the support of the Church of England clergyman from time to time stationed at York in the said State, of an annual sum of £10 during the life of the said Richard Goldsmith Burges and after the decease of the said Richard Goldsmith Burges with the payment to such Committee for the like purpose, of an annual sum of £20 for ever; and whereas the said Richard Goldsmith Burges died on 25 September 1905 and by an Order of His Honour, Mr. Justice McMillan, made 19 April 1910, pursuant to the provisions of the *Redemption of Annuities Act 1909*, it was ordered (*inter alia*) that the cash surrender value of the perpetual charge of the annual sum of £20 aforesaid as created by the abovementioned will of the late Samuel Evans Burges, deceased, over the lands therein charged be fixed at £500 and that on payment of such sum to the Diocesan Trustees of the Church of England in Western Australia within the time fixed in the said Order the said perpetual charge should be discharged and the said lands should thereupon be freed and discharged from the said perpetual charge; and whereas by the said Order it was further ordered that the said Diocesan Trustees should invest the said sum of £500 in the securities mentioned in the said Order and that the income accruing therefrom to the extent of £20 per annum should be applied for the benefit of the Church of England clergyman for the time being stationed at York and that any surplus income over £20 per annum be capitalised with power for the Trustees from time to time to draw thereon to make good any deficiency; and whereas the said sum of £500 was duly paid as directed by the said Order and the said sum of £20 per annum has been regularly paid and the surplus income capitalised, with the result that the annual income from the capital sum is in excess of the amount required to pay the said sum of £20 per annum; and whereas by Act 52 Victoria No. 2 4 it was enacted that all land and other property vested in the Standing Committee of the Synod of the Western Australian Branch of the Church of England should be vested in the corporation to be known as “The Diocesan Trustees of the Church of England in Western Australia for the time being” and by the *Church of England Diocesan Trustees and Lands Act 1918* 5, it was enacted that the name and style of the corporation constituted by the said Act, 52 Victoria No. 2 4, should thenceforth be “The Perth Diocesan Trustees” and whereas the said The Perth Diocesan Trustees is desirous that it be empowered at its discretion to capitalise the surplus income arising from the said capital sum or to pay such surplus income to the Church of England clergyman for the time being stationed at York:\n\nBe it therefore enacted by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: —\n\n##### 1. Short title\n\nThis Act may be cited as the *Perth Diocesan Trustees (Special Fund) Act 1944* 1.\n\n[Section 1 amended: No. 74 of 2003 s. 145.]\n\n##### 2. Terms used\n\nIn this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —\n\n  Special Fund means the capital sum with accretions thereof vested in The Perth Diocesan Trustees for or towards the support of the Anglican Church of Australia clergyman from time to time stationed at York pursuant to the provision in that behalf created by the will of Samuel Evans Burges, deceased, mentioned in the Preamble.\n\n  Trustees means The Perth Diocesan Trustees.\n\n[Section 2 amended: No. 121 of 1976 s. 7.]\n\n##### 3. Capitalisation or payment of surplus income\n\nThe surplus income arising from the special fund remaining in the hands of the Trustees in any year after payment to the Anglican Church of Australia clergyman for the time being stationed at York of the sum of £20 may, at the discretion of the Trustees, be capitalised or paid to the Anglican Church of Australia clergyman for the time being stationed at York.\n\n[Section 3 amended: No. 121 of 1976 s. 7.]\n\n![dline]()\n\nNotes\n\n1 This reprint is a compilation as at 7 August 2015 of the *Perth Diocesan Trustees (Special Fund) Act 1944* and includes the amendments made by the other written laws referred to in the following table. The table also contains information about any reprint.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Short title** | **Number and year** | **Assent** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *The Perth Diocesan Trustees (Special Fund) Act 1944* 6 | 25 of 1944 (8 and 9 Geo. VI No. 25) | 23 Dec 1944 | 23 Dec 1944 |\n| *Anglican Church of Australia Act 1976* s. 7 | 121 of 1976 | 1 Dec 1976 | 24 Aug 1981 (see s. 2(2) and *Gazette* 30 Jan 1981 p. 441) |\n| **Reprint of *The Perth Diocesan Trustees (Special Fund) Act 1944* as at 3 May 2002** (includes amendments listed above) | | | |\n| *Statutes (Repeals and Minor Amendments) Act 2003* s. 145 | 74 of 2003 | 15 Dec 2003 | 15 Dec 2003 (see s. 2) |\n| **Reprint 2: The *Perth Diocesan Trustees (Special Fund) Act 1944* as at 7 Aug 2015** (includes amendments listed above) | | | |\n\n\n2 The name of the “Church of England” was changed to “Anglican Church of Australia” by the  A*nglican Church of Australia Act 1976* s. 7. References in the Preamble to “Church of England” have not been changed due to the context*.*\n\n3 References in this Act to the old currency are of historical interest only and so have not been amended under the *Decimal Currency Act 1965.*\n\n4 Now known as the *Anglican Church of Australia (Diocesan Trustees) Act 1888*.\n\n5 Now known as the *Anglican Church of Australia (Diocesan Trustees and Lands) Act 1918*.\n\n6 Now known as the *Perth Diocesan Trustees (Special Fund) Act 1944*; short title changed (see note under s. 1).\n\nDefined terms\n\n*[This is a list of terms defined and the provisions where they are defined. The list is not part of the law.]*\n\n**Defined term Provision(s)**\n\nSpecial Fund 2\n\nTrustees 2\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act remains narrowly focused on the management of the specific fund created under Samuel Evans Burges’s will and the court order: authorising the Perth Diocesan Trustees to capitalise or pay surplus income to the Anglican clergyman at York (s. 3). Later textual updates (for example, changing terminology to “Anglican Church of Australia”) and reprints have modernised wording but have not materially expanded the scope beyond that original, narrow purpose."},"complexity_factors":["Short Act with 3 operative sections (1 short title, 2 definitions, 3 substantive provision).","Only 2 defined terms in the interpretation section (Special Fund; Trustees).","Single operative discretionary rule (s.3) with no nested exceptions or conditions.","Preamble contains historical cross-references (Redemption of Annuities Act 1909; earlier diocesan trustee Acts) but those are background rather than operative cross-references.","Amendment and reprint history present in notes increases archival complexity but not operational complexity."],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does (mechanically)**\n\n- The Act recognises a small capital fund (the “Special Fund”) that was created from money paid in lieu of a perpetual charge on land under the will of Samuel Evans Burges and a later court order (see the Preamble).\n- It gives The Perth Diocesan Trustees (the corporate trustee) the power to deal with any *surplus income* from that fund each year in one of two ways: either **capitalise** the surplus (add it to the capital of the fund) or **pay** the surplus to the Anglican clergyman who is stationed at York (s. 3).\n- The Act defines the Special Fund and who the Trustees are for the purposes of the Act (s. 2). The rest of the Act is historical context about how the fund arose.\n\n**Who it affects**\n\n- The Perth Diocesan Trustees — they make the decision each year whether to capitalise or pay out surplus income (s. 3).\n- The Anglican Church clergyman stationed at York — he or she is the beneficiary of the fixed annual payment (£20 historically) and may receive any surplus if the Trustees choose to pay it out (Preamble; s. 3).\n- No other parties are given rights or duties by the Act.\n\n**Why it matters (purpose claimed and practical effect)**\n\n- The stated purpose in the Preamble is to authorise the Trustees to either capitalise surplus income from the fund or pay it to the local clergyman. Mechanically, the law converts a historical court-ordered arrangement into a continuing statutory power for the Trustees to manage the fund’s surplus (Preamble; s. 3).\n\n**Trade-offs, incentives and implementation features**\n\n- Decision-maker and incentive: The Trustees alone decide, each year, whether to keep surplus income in the fund (capitalisation) or distribute it to the York clergyman (s. 3). Capitalising increases the fund’s future income; paying out benefits the current clergyman now. That creates a simple intertemporal trade-off between current beneficiary income and future fund size.\n\n- Who pays and who benefits: No new levy or tax is imposed. The source of funds is investment returns on the capital sum already vested in the Trustees. The direct beneficiary is the single clergyman at York (s. 3 and Preamble).\n\n- Compliance, administration and risk: The statutory task is narrow. There is no reporting or approval requirement in this Act for the Trustees’ choice, and no required formula for deciding how much to capitalise beyond treating only the surplus after paying the fixed amount. Ordinary trust law and the Trustees’ internal governance will govern how the discretion is exercised. That implies modest administrative burden but some concentration of discretion in the Trustees.\n\n- Effects on markets and third parties: The Act does not regulate businesses, competition, prices, property ownership or contracts. Its effects are confined to internal trust management and the income of the named beneficiary.\n\n**Practical notes**\n\n- Historical amounts are embedded in the origins: the court fixed a cash surrender of £500 and an annual payment of £20 under older legislation. Those figures remain the historical basis for the fund as described in the Preamble; the operative rule now is the Trustees’ discretion over surplus income (Preamble; s. 3).\n- The statutory language has been updated to refer to the “Anglican Church of Australia” in definitions (see compilation notes and s. 2 amendment history), but the beneficiary remains the clergyman stationed at York.\n\n**Section references**\n\n- Definitions: Special Fund and Trustees (s. 2).\n- Trustee discretion over surplus income: (s. 3)."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: managing the surplus income from Samuel Evans Burges' 1883 bequest for the York clergy. The 1976 and 2003 amendments were purely technical updates (name changes and statute maintenance) that did not expand the substantive scope beyond the original trust fund."},"complexity_factors":["Only 3 operative sections (short title, definitions, and the substantive provision)","Only 2 defined terms ('Special Fund' and 'Trustees')","No cross-references to other legislation except historical references in the preamble","Single conditional provision (discretionary choice between two options)","Extremely narrow scope applying to one specific trust fund and one specific parish (York)","Preamble is lengthy but purely historical narrative rather than operative law"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a very short Western Australian law from 1944 that deals with a specific charitable trust fund set up by a will from 1883.\n\n**What it does:**\nIn 1883, a man named Samuel Evans Burges left money in his will to support the Anglican clergyman (priest) at York, Western Australia. Originally, this was set up as a charge on land—meaning the landowner had to pay £20 per year to the church. In 1910, a court converted this into a lump sum of £500 invested in securities, with the income used to pay the £20 annual stipend.\n\nBy 1944, the invested money was generating more than £20 per year. This Act gives the Perth Diocesan Trustees (the church body managing the fund) a choice: they can either add the extra income to the capital (capitalise it) to grow the fund, or they can pay the surplus directly to the current priest at York as a bonus.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- The Perth Diocesan Trustees (the Anglican church body in Perth)\n- The Anglican priest stationed at York, Western Australia\n\n**Why it matters:**\nIt's a narrow, technical amendment to a very specific 19th-century charitable bequest. It gives the church trustees flexibility to either grow the endowment or provide immediate extra income to the priest at York. The law has been updated twice: in 1976 to reflect the name change from \"Church of England\" to \"Anglican Church of Australia,\" and in 2003 for minor statute maintenance."},"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"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Impossible to assess whether scope changed from original intent without access to the legislative text or any amendments. No content was available for analysis."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative text was retrievable — only a website error page was provided","Cannot assess complexity without access to the actual provisions","Title alone suggests narrow, specific subject matter typical of older administrative/trustee Acts, which may indicate low complexity, but this is speculative"],"plain_english_summary":"**No analysable content available.**\n\nThe page for *The Perth Diocesan Trustees (Special Fund) Act 1944* (WA) could not be retrieved — the source URL returned only a system error message indicating the page has been moved or removed during a website upgrade.\n\n**What we can infer from the title alone:**\n- This is a Western Australian Act from 1944\n- It relates to the **Perth Diocesan Trustees** — likely the body that manages property and finances for the Anglican Diocese of Perth\n- It concerns a **'Special Fund'** — suggesting it creates or regulates a specific pool of money held or managed by those trustees\n- Such Acts typically govern how religious/charitable bodies can hold, invest, or distribute funds under specific legal authority\n\n⚠️ *A full plain English summary cannot be provided without access to the actual legislative text.*"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/the-perth-diocesan-trustees-special-fund-act-1944","history":"/api/acts/the-perth-diocesan-trustees-special-fund-act-1944/history","analysis":"/api/acts/the-perth-diocesan-trustees-special-fund-act-1944/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/the-perth-diocesan-trustees-special-fund-act-1944/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/the-perth-diocesan-trustees-special-fund-act-1944/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/the-perth-diocesan-trustees-special-fund-act-1944/documents"}}