{"id":"C1928A00037","name":"Transport Workers Act 1928","slug":"transport-workers-act-1928","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"repealed","isInForce":false,"actNumber":"37 of 1928","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":3500,"registerId":"commonwealth-C1928A00037-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-30","status":"Repealed","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Transport Workers Act 1928","content":"TRANSPORT WORKERS.\n\nNo. 37 of 1928.\n\nAn Act relating to Employment in relation to Trade and Commerce with other Countries and among the States.\n\n\\[Assented to 24th September, 1928.\\]\n\nBE it enacted by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:—\n\nShort title and citation.\n\n1. This Act may be cited as the Transport Workers Act 1928.\n\nInterpretation.\n\n2. In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—\n\n“Transport Workers” means persons offering for or engaged in work in or in connexion with the provision of services in the transport of persons or goods in relation to trade or commerce by sea with other countries or among the States.\n\nPower to make regulations.\n\n3. The Governor-General may make regulations, which, notwithstanding anything in any other Act but subject to the Acts Interpretation Act 1901–1918 and the Acts Interpretation Act 1904–1916, shall have the force of law, with respect to the employment of transport workers, and in particular for regulating the engagement, service, and discharge of transport workers, and the licensing of persons as transport workers, and for regulating or prohibiting the employment of unlicensed persons as transport workers, and for the protection of transport workers.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The text provided sets out a limited, delegation‑focused regime: it defines the class of transport workers covered (section 2) and delegates to the Governor‑General power to make binding regulations about employment, licensing and protection (section 3). The document shows no amendments or alterations to that scope; the Act as written creates regulatory authority rather than prescribing detailed substantive rules."},"complexity_factors":["Very short primary statute with broad delegation to the executive (section 3).","Key substantive details (licence criteria, fees, penalties, protections) are not in the Act but in subordinate regulations (section 3).","Cross‑reference to historical Acts Interpretation Acts constrains interpretation but requires familiarity with those instruments (section 3).","Narrow substantive scope (sea transport in interstate and international trade) simplifies coverage but still covers multiple actor types (workers, employers, regulators) (section 2).","Potential for regulatory complexity exists in subordinate instruments and enforcement practice, not in the primary Act itself (section 3)."],"plain_english_summary":"### What this law does, in plain English\n\n- The Act defines who counts as a \"transport worker\": someone offering or doing work connected with moving people or goods by sea as part of trade or commerce with other countries or between Australian states (section 2).\n- The Act gives the Governor‑General power to make detailed regulations about the employment of those transport workers. Those regulations, once made, have the force of law (section 3). The list of matters the Governor‑General may regulate includes engagement, service, discharge, licensing of transport workers, prohibiting employment of unlicensed people, and protections for transport workers (section 3).\n\n### How it works mechanically\n\n- The Act itself is short and mostly delegates detailed rules to subordinate regulation. The primary statutory steps are:\n  - a statutory definition identifying the class of workers covered (section 2);\n  - a delegation of regulatory power to the Governor‑General to make binding regulations on employment and licensing matters for that class (section 3).\n- The regulations made under the Act are expressly stated to have \"the force of law\" (section 3). The delegation is framed as effective notwithstanding other Acts, but subject to the cited Acts Interpretation Acts (section 3).\n\n### Who is affected and who decides\n\n- Who is affected: persons offering for or engaged in work in or in connection with transporting people or goods by sea in relation to interstate or international trade and commerce (section 2).\n- Who decides: the Governor‑General (executive) has the power to make regulations that set substantive rules and obligations (section 3). Those regulations will determine licence criteria, employer obligations, and protections.\n\n### Main mechanisms, and the practical consequences to expect\n\n- Licensing: the Act allows regulations to require licences for transport workers and to prohibit employment of unlicensed persons (section 3). That means workers and employers will face whatever licensing criteria, costs, and paperwork the regulations impose.\n- Employer obligations and compliance: regulations may set standards for engagement, service, and discharge (section 3). Employers will need to follow the rules in those regulations (which are legally binding) or face penalties provided in the regulations.\n- Protection measures: the regulations may include measures described as protecting transport workers (section 3). The Act does not specify what protections; those will be in subordinate regulations.\n\n### Costs, incentives, trade‑offs and implementation issues (grounded in the Act's mechanics)\n\n- Who pays: the Act itself does not set fees, fines, or administrative budgets, but a licensing regime and enforceable rules typically result in direct costs for workers (to obtain licences) and for employers (to verify licences, change hiring practices, and comply with employment rules). Those costs will be determined by the regulations that the Governor‑General makes (section 3).\n- Incentives and behaviour change: because employment can be limited to licensed persons (section 3), labour‑market behaviour may change — workers may seek licences, employers may alter hiring and rostering, and firms may incur administrative compliance tasks. The legal force of regulations means these are not voluntary changes (section 3).\n- Trade‑offs and opportunity costs: delegating detail to regulations concentrates rule‑making power in the executive; it reduces parliamentary detail in the primary Act and shifts specification, oversight and resource demands to the regulation‑making and enforcement processes (section 3).\n- Implementation risk and administrative discretion: broad delegation (section 3) permits wide regulatory scope. That gives administrators discretion to set substantive standards, which can produce variability over time depending on how regulations are made, amended, or enforced.\n- Risk of concentrated influence: the licensing and prohibition mechanism (section 3) grants the power to restrict who can legally work in the covered activities. That structure creates an incentive for parties with a stake in the rules (workers, employers, unions, service providers) to try to influence the content of regulations; the Act itself does not set procedural constraints on how regulations must be developed beyond the normal statutory framework (section 3).\n\n### What the Act does not do (as written)\n\n- It does not set the content of licences, fees, enforcement powers, penalties, or detailed employment standards — those are left to regulations (section 3).\n- It does not define administrative processes for making regulations beyond authorising the Governor‑General to make them (section 3).\n\n### Net effect (procedural summary)\n\n- The Act creates a legal foundation for a binding regulatory regime for sea transport workers engaged in interstate or international trade by: defining the covered class (section 2) and delegating detailed regulatory power to the Governor‑General to make enforceable rules on engagement, licensing, and protection (section 3)."},"kimi_summary":{"_metrics":{"model":"kimi-k2.5","source":"moonshot-batch","completionTokens":2299},"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This appears to be the original 1928 enactment. The scope remains limited to the regulation of employment in maritime transport connected with interstate and international trade, consistent with the original intent."},"complexity_factors":["Only 3 sections total","Single defined term (Transport Workers)","Simple delegation of power without conditional exceptions or nested logic","Minimal cross-referencing (only standard Acts Interpretation Acts)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does**\n\nThis Act gives the Australian Government power to create rules about employment in the maritime transport industry—specifically for jobs involving the movement of goods or people between Australian states or between Australia and other countries.\n\n**Key points:**\n\n* **Who it covers**: Transport workers—people working in or offering to work in sea transport connected with interstate or international trade.\n* **What it allows**: The Governor-General can make regulations (subordinate laws) controlling how these workers are hired, managed, and dismissed.\n* **Licensing system**: The regulations can introduce a licensing scheme (work permits) and make it illegal to employ unlicensed workers in these roles.\n* **Worker protection**: The regulations can also include measures to protect the welfare of these workers.\n\n**Why it matters**\n\nThis is an enabling Act—it does not set detailed rules itself, but creates the legal foundation for the government to intervene heavily in the waterfront and maritime transport labour market. It allows the executive to determine who may work in these industries through a permit system, effectively giving the government a veto over employment in this sector."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/transport-workers-act-1928","history":"/api/acts/transport-workers-act-1928/history","analysis":"/api/acts/transport-workers-act-1928/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/transport-workers-act-1928/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/transport-workers-act-1928/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/transport-workers-act-1928/documents"}}