{"id":"C1914A00033","name":"Treasury Bills Act 1914","slug":"treasury-bills-act-1914","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"33 of 1914","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":258,"registerId":"C2011C00217","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2011-04-19","status":"InForce","reasons":[{"affect":"Amend","markdown":"sch 7 (item 141) of the [Statute Law Revision Act 2011](/C2011A00005)","dateChanged":null,"amendedByTitle":null,"affectedByTitle":{"name":"Statute Law Revision Act 2011","year":2011,"number":5,"titleId":"C2011A00005","provisions":"sch 7 (item 141)","seriesType":"Act","optionalSeriesNumber":null}}],"registeredAt":"2011-04-21T11:57:51.043Z"},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Short title [see Note 1]","content":"#### 1 Short title \\[see Note 1\\]\n\n  This Act may be cited as the Treasury Bills Act 1914.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Definition","content":"#### 2 Definition\n\n  In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:\n\n> Treasury Bill means a Treasury Bill under this Act and includes any coupon in connexion therewith.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Power to make out and issue Treasury Bills","content":"#### 3 Power to make out and issue Treasury Bills\n\n  The Governor‑General may authorize the Treasurer from time to time to make out and issue Treasury Bills for:\n    (a) raising by way of loan any money, authority to borrow which is granted by any Act; and\n    (b) paying any expenses of carrying this Act into effect which the Governor‑General considers are properly payable out of capital.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Conditions of issue","content":"#### 4 Conditions of issue\n\n  Each Treasury Bill shall:\n    (a) be numbered consecutively, beginning with the number one and progressing arithmetically by units;\n    (b) be signed by the Treasurer or some other person in that behalf appointed by the Governor‑General;\n    (c) be registered in the office of the Auditor‑General;\n    (d) bear date as the Governor‑General directs;\n    (e) bear interest payable at such intervals as are prescribed at a rate not exceeding five per centum per annum in respect of the principal money secured hereby; and\n    (f) be redeemable at par on a date fixed by the Governor‑General before the issue of the Treasury Bill reserving to the Treasurer the right after a date fixed by the Governor‑General before the issue of the Treasury Bill to redeem the Treasury Bill at par upon such notice given in such time and manner as are prescribed.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"5","sectionType":"section","heading":"Transferable by delivery","content":"#### 5 Transferable by delivery\n\n  Treasury Bills shall be transferable by delivery.","sortOrder":4},{"sectionNumber":"6","sectionType":"section","heading":"Payment","content":"#### 6 Payment\n\n  The principal money secured by a Treasury Bill and the interest thereon:\n    (a) shall be payable to bearer; and\n    (b) shall be payable out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, which is hereby appropriated for the purpose.","sortOrder":5},{"sectionNumber":"7","sectionType":"section","heading":"Sale of Treasury Bills","content":"#### 7 Sale of Treasury Bills\n\n  Treasury Bills may be issued and sold in such amounts and manner and at such prices and on such terms and conditions as the Governor‑General directs.","sortOrder":6},{"sectionNumber":"8","sectionType":"section","heading":"Interest to cease","content":"#### 8 Interest to cease\n\n  Interest on Treasury Bills shall cease on the date or dates fixed by the Governor‑General as the dates on which the Treasury Bills are redeemable.","sortOrder":7},{"sectionNumber":"9","sectionType":"section","heading":"Defaced Bills may be exchanged","content":"#### 9 Defaced Bills may be exchanged\n\n  (1) Where a Treasury Bill has been defaced by accident the Treasurer may permit it to be cancelled and a new Bill to be made out and issued in lieu thereof.\n  (2) Such new Bill shall have the like currency, and be in all respects subject to the same rules, methods, and continuance, and bear the same number, date, and principal sum and rate of interest, as the cancelled Bill.","sortOrder":8},{"sectionNumber":"10","sectionType":"section","heading":"Lost or destroyed Treasury Bills","content":"#### 10 Lost or destroyed Treasury Bills\n\n  (1) Where a Treasury Bill has been accidentally lost or destroyed before it has been paid off, the owner may make application to the Federal Court of Australia for a certificate under this section.\n  (2) If on the application the Court is satisfied by evidence that the Treasury Bill has been accidentally lost or destroyed and that the applicant is the owner thereof, it may give to the applicant a certificate that it is so satisfied.\n  (3) Upon such certificate and upon the applicant giving security to the satisfaction of the Treasurer to indemnify the Commonwealth against double payment of the Treasury Bill, the Treasurer may, if he thinks fit, cause a new Bill to be made out and issued in lieu thereof.\n  (4) Such new Bill shall have the like currency, and be in all respects subject to the same rules, methods, and continuance, and bear the same number, date, and principal sum and rate of interest, as the cancelled Bill.","sortOrder":9},{"sectionNumber":"11","sectionType":"section","heading":"Trustees may invest","content":"#### 11 Trustees may invest\n\n  A trustee, executor, or administrator may invest any trust moneys in his hands in the purchase of Treasury Bills.","sortOrder":10},{"sectionNumber":"12","sectionType":"section","heading":"Destruction of discharged and defaced Bills","content":"#### 12 Destruction of discharged and defaced Bills\n\n  Treasury Bills and coupons which are paid off and discharged and defaced Bills as aforesaid shall be burnt or otherwise destroyed in the presence of the Secretary of the Treasury and the Auditor‑General, who shall forthwith sign a certificate showing that the Bills and coupons have been destroyed.","sortOrder":11},{"sectionNumber":"15","sectionType":"section","heading":"Regulations","content":"#### 15 Regulations\n\n  The Governor‑General may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, prescribing all matters and forms which by this Act are required or permitted to be prescribed, or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed, for carrying out this Act or for the conduct of any business relating to the issue, sale, transfer and dealing with Treasury Bills.","sortOrder":12}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act remains tightly focused on its original 1914 purpose: providing a statutory framework for issuing short-term government debt instruments. There is no evidence of scope creep; the legislation has not accumulated unrelated functions or been repurposed for broader financial regulation."},"complexity_factors":["Only 1 defined term ('Treasury Bill') in the interpretation section","Straightforward sequential structure with minimal cross-referencing","No nested exceptions or conditional logic chains","Short length — 12 substantive sections plus short title and regulation-making power","Simple, declaratory language ('shall be numbered', 'shall be transferable') with minimal qualification","Missing sections 13-14 suggest some historical tidying but no structural complexity"],"plain_english_summary":"This law gives the Australian Government the power to borrow money by issuing **Treasury Bills** — essentially short-term IOUs that promise to pay back the loan amount plus interest.\n\n**What it does:**\n- Allows the Governor-General to authorise the Treasurer to create and sell Treasury Bills to raise loans approved by Parliament\n- Sets the rules for how these bills work: they must be numbered, signed, registered, and can earn up to 5% interest per year\n- Makes the bills transferable — meaning whoever holds the physical bill owns it (\"bearer\" instruments)\n- Guarantees repayment from the government's main bank account (the Consolidated Revenue Fund)\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- **Investors** — people, companies, or trustees who buy Treasury Bills as a safe place to park money\n- **Trustees** — specifically allowed to invest trust money in these bills (section 11)\n- **The government** — gives it a tool to manage short-term cash flow and borrowing needs\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis is one of Australia's oldest financial laws, created in 1914 to give the new Commonwealth a simple, flexible way to borrow money. Before modern bond markets, Treasury Bills were a crucial way for the government to raise funds quickly. Today, while the financial world has evolved, this Act remains the legal foundation for certain types of government short-term borrowing."},"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"},"summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act remains tightly focused on its original 1914 purpose: establishing the legal framework for issuing, managing, and redeeming Commonwealth Treasury Bills as short-term borrowing instruments. There is no evidence of scope creep — no new subject matter, regulated entities, or enforcement regimes have been added. The only notable external update visible in the text is the reference to the 'Federal Court of Australia' in section 10 (for lost Bills), which replaced an earlier court reference as part of broader court restructuring, but this is an administrative update rather than a substantive expansion of purpose."},"complexity_factors":["Only 1 defined term ('Treasury Bill') in the definitions section — minimal interpretive burden","Short Act with 13 operative sections (sections 13 and 14 appear to have been repealed, creating minor numbering gaps)","Straightforward linear structure with no nested conditional logic or exceptions to exceptions","Some cross-referencing to external Acts (e.g. borrowing authority granted by 'any Act') but these are non-technical references","A few procedural conditions in section 4 (conditions of issue) but these are listed clearly and are not interdependent","Delegation of detail to regulations (section 15) means some operational rules are not visible in the Act itself, adding minor uncertainty","Historical drafting style uses archaic language ('connexion', 'therewith', 'hereof') which adds minor readability friction"],"plain_english_summary":"## Treasury Bills Act 1914\n\n**What is this law about?**\n\nThis is one of Australia's oldest Commonwealth financial laws, and it sets up the rules for **Treasury Bills** — a type of short-term government borrowing instrument (essentially an IOU issued by the government to raise money from investors).\n\n---\n\n**How does it work?**\n\n- The **Governor-General** (acting on government advice) can authorise the **Treasurer** to issue Treasury Bills to raise borrowed money that Parliament has already approved, or to cover the costs of running this Act itself.\n- Each Treasury Bill is essentially a **bearer instrument** — meaning whoever physically holds it is entitled to be paid. It works a bit like a banknote in that it can be handed from one person to another simply by physical delivery, with no paperwork required to transfer ownership.\n\n---\n\n**Key features of a Treasury Bill under this Act:**\n\n- **Numbered and registered** — each Bill gets a unique number and must be registered with the Auditor-General (the independent government watchdog for public money)\n- **Interest-bearing** — pays interest at a rate set by the government, capped at **5% per year**\n- **Redeemable at \"par\"** — meaning the government pays back the face value (the original amount) on a fixed date, with the option to redeem early if proper notice is given\n- **Payable to the bearer** — whoever holds the Bill gets paid, funded from the **Consolidated Revenue Fund** (the main government bank account)\n- **Tradeable by hand-to-hand delivery** — no formal transfer documents needed\n\n---\n\n**What if something goes wrong with a Bill?**\n\n- **Damaged (defaced) Bills** — the Treasurer can cancel the damaged Bill and issue a replacement\n- **Lost or destroyed Bills** — the owner can apply to the **Federal Court of Australia** for a certificate confirming the loss, then provide security (a financial guarantee) against the risk of double payment, after which the Treasurer may issue a replacement\n- **Used-up Bills** — once paid off or cancelled, Bills must be physically destroyed (burnt or otherwise) in front of the Secretary of the Treasury and the Auditor-General, who must sign a certificate confirming this\n\n---\n\n**Who can use Treasury Bills?**\n\nAnyone, including **trustees, executors, and administrators** (people legally managing money on behalf of others, such as deceased estates or trusts) — the Act explicitly allows them to invest trust money in Treasury Bills, giving these instruments a stamp of official safety.\n\n---\n\n**Why does it matter?**\n\nThis Act established one of the foundational mechanisms for **Commonwealth government short-term borrowing**. It gives the government a formal, regulated way to raise funds between tax receipts and spending needs, with built-in safeguards like registration, destruction of old bills, and court oversight for lost instruments. It reflects an era when government securities were physical paper documents rather than digital ledger entries."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"circular_definition","section":"2","severity":"medium","reasoning":"A definition must provide meaning independent of the term being defined. Section 2 says 'Treasury Bill means a Treasury Bill under this Act' — this tells the reader nothing about what a Treasury Bill actually is. The phrase 'under this Act' adds no content; it merely restricts scope without defining substance. A reader encountering the term for the first time gains zero understanding from this definition. This is a textbook circular definition.","confidence":0.97,"description":"The definition of 'Treasury Bill' is purely circular: a Treasury Bill is defined as 'a Treasury Bill under this Act'. The only additional content (that it includes coupons) is supplementary, not definitional. The core term is defined entirely by reference to itself."},{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"4(a)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Section 4(a) mandates strict consecutive numbering starting at 1, progressing by units. Sections 9(2) and 10(4) mandate that replacement bills bear the same number as the cancelled bill. These two obligations are in direct tension: the numbering system is premised on uniqueness and sequence, but the replacement provisions require number reuse. You cannot simultaneously maintain a unique consecutive sequence and reissue previously used numbers on new instruments.","confidence":0.88,"description":"The requirement that Treasury Bills be numbered consecutively beginning at number one creates an impossible compliance problem in the context of section 9(2) and section 10(4), which require replacement bills to bear the same number as the cancelled bill. If a replacement bill bears the same number as the cancelled bill, it disrupts the consecutive numbering sequence, as two bills will have shared that number across time. More critically, if bill number one is lost and replaced, a new 'number one' bill exists — the sequence never truly progressed from one."},{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"5 and 10(1)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Bearer instruments transferable by delivery carry ownership through physical possession by design. There is no register of owners, no endorsement chain, and no title document trail. The moment the bill is 'lost or destroyed', the applicant has no instrument in hand and no documentary record of ownership. The court must be 'satisfied by evidence' of ownership of an instrument whose entire legal architecture is premised on anonymous possession. This creates a near-impossible evidentiary burden that is structurally incompatible with the bearer/delivery framework of the Act.","confidence":0.91,"description":"Section 5 declares Treasury Bills transferable by delivery, and section 6 makes them payable to bearer. This makes ownership effectively anonymous and unregistrable. Yet section 10(1) requires a lost bill's 'owner' to apply to the Federal Court and prove ownership. An instrument deliberately designed to be anonymous and transfer by mere physical delivery makes proof of ownership — the very thing the court must be satisfied of — practically impossible to establish legally."},{"type":"other","section":"9(1)","severity":"low","reasoning":"Section 12 explicitly covers 'defaced Bills as aforesaid', which is a direct reference back to section 9's defaced bills. This means the destruction ceremony is required. However, section 9 is silent on this requirement, and a Treasurer acting under section 9 alone would not know a formal two-officer destruction ceremony is a precondition. The procedural obligation is fragmented across two sections with no cross-reference, creating a compliance gap rather than an outright contradiction but one that could lead to defaced bills being cancelled without formal destruction.","confidence":0.78,"description":"Section 9 allows a defaced bill to be cancelled and replaced, but section 12 requires all defaced bills to be burnt or destroyed in the presence of the Secretary of the Treasury and the Auditor-General. Section 9 makes no reference to this destruction ceremony, creating an operational gap as to whether the defaced-but-cancelled bill under section 9 must also go through the formal destruction process under section 12."},{"type":"other","section":"8","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Interest ceases absolutely on the redemption date under section 8 with no savings provision for accrued but unpaid interest. If a bill matures mid-interval, the holder loses the accrued interest for the partial period. This is not merely a policy choice — it creates an internal inconsistency between the promise of interest in section 4(e) and its abrupt termination in section 8 without any mechanism to settle partial period entitlements.","confidence":0.75,"description":"Section 8 provides that interest 'shall cease on the date or dates fixed by the Governor-General as the dates on which the Treasury Bills are redeemable.' Section 4(e) provides that interest is 'payable at such intervals as are prescribed.' If the prescribed interest payment interval does not align exactly with the redemption date, accrued but unpaid interest for the final partial period is neither governed by section 4(e) (which contemplates regular intervals) nor saved by section 8 (which terminates interest on redemption). The holder could lose their final period's accrued interest."},{"type":"other","section":"4 (numbering gap)","severity":"low","reasoning":"This is a low-severity structural observation. The missing sections 13 and 14 likely reflect repealed provisions, which is common in older Commonwealth legislation. However, the irony that an Act requiring strict consecutive numerical sequencing of its own instruments fails to maintain consecutive section numbering is a genuine (if minor) internal inconsistency of presentation. It may also indicate substantive obligations existed in the repealed sections that are no longer operative, potentially leaving gaps in the operative scheme.","confidence":0.65,"description":"The Act proceeds from section 12 directly to section 15 with no sections 13 or 14 present. For an Act that mandates Treasury Bills be numbered 'consecutively, beginning with the number one and progressing arithmetically by units' (section 4(a)), it is mildly ironic that the Act itself skips section numbers 13 and 14 without explanation."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"medium","section_a":"4(a)","section_b":"9(2)","confidence":0.87,"description":"Section 4(a) requires Treasury Bills to be numbered consecutively beginning at 1 and progressing by units, implying each number is unique and sequential. Section 9(2) requires a replacement bill (issued in lieu of a defaced cancelled bill) to 'bear the same number' as the cancelled bill. Number reuse directly violates the consecutive unique numbering mandate."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"4(a)","section_b":"10(4)","confidence":0.87,"description":"The same contradiction as with section 9(2) applies here: section 10(4) requires replacement bills issued for lost or destroyed bills to bear the same number as the bill they replace. This again requires number reuse, contradicting the consecutive-from-one uniqueness requirement of section 4(a)."},{"severity":"high","section_a":"5","section_b":"10(1)","confidence":0.9,"description":"Section 5 makes Treasury Bills transferable by delivery (i.e., bearer instruments with anonymous ownership), while section 10(1)-(2) requires a court to be 'satisfied by evidence' that the applicant is the 'owner' of a lost or destroyed bill. The bearer/delivery framework is structurally incompatible with the ownership-proof requirement: the Act simultaneously defines ownership as mere possession and then demands proof of ownership when possession is lost."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"4(e)","section_b":"8","confidence":0.73,"description":"Section 4(e) promises interest payable at prescribed intervals, implying a contractual entitlement to regular interest payments. Section 8 absolutely terminates all interest on the redemption date with no savings clause for accrued but unpaid interest in the final partial interval. These two provisions create conflicting expectations about the holder's interest entitlement near maturity."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"9(1)","section_b":"12","confidence":0.8,"description":"Section 9(1) grants the Treasurer discretion to permit a defaced bill to be cancelled and replaced, with no procedural conditions stated. Section 12 mandates that defaced bills 'as aforesaid' must be burnt or destroyed in the formal presence of both the Secretary of the Treasury and the Auditor-General, who must sign a certificate. Section 9 imposes no such requirement and does not cross-reference section 12, meaning the Treasurer acting solely under section 9 has no statutory signal that a two-officer destruction ceremony and certification are legally required before replacement."}]}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/treasury-bills-act-1914","history":"/api/acts/treasury-bills-act-1914/history","analysis":"/api/acts/treasury-bills-act-1914/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/treasury-bills-act-1914/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/treasury-bills-act-1914/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/treasury-bills-act-1914/documents"}}