{"id":"wa:standard-time-act-2005","name":"Standard Time Act 2005","slug":"wa-standard-time-act-2005","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":349688,"registerId":"wa-standard-time-act-2005-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-09","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Standard Time Act 2005","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nStandard Time Act 2005\n\nWestern Australia\n\nStandard Time Act 2005\n\nContents\n\nPart 1 — Preliminary\n\n1. Short title 2\n\n2. Commencement 2\n\n3. Definitions 2\n\nPart 2 — Standard Time\n\n4. Standard time throughout Western Australia 3\n\n5. Construction of references to time in legal instruments 3\n\nPart 3 — Repeal and consequential amendments\n\n6. *Standard Time Act 1895* repealed 4\n\n7. *Western Australian Marine (Sea Dumping) Regulations 1982* amended 4\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 5\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nStandard Time Act 2005\n\nAn Act to —\n\n- provide for standard time to be determined by reference to Co‑ordinated Universal Time;\n- repeal the *Standard Time Act 1895*; and\n- consequentially amend the *Western Australian Marine (Sea Dumping) Regulations 1982*.\n\n\n## Part 1 — Preliminary\n\n##### 1. Short title\n\nThis is the *Standard Time Act 2005*.\n\n##### 2. Commencement\n\nThis Act comes into operation on the day after the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.\n\n##### 3. Definitions\n\nIn this Act —\n\n  Co‑ordinated Universal Time means Co‑ordinated Universal Time (UTC) as determined by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures and maintained under section 8AA of the *National Measurement Act 1960* of the Commonwealth;\n\n  legal instrument means —\n\n(a) an Act;\n\n(b) a regulation, rule, proclamation, local law, by‑law, order, notice or other instrument made under an Act;\n\n(c) a contract or agreement (whether oral or in writing or both); or\n\n(d) any deed or other instrument having legal effect.\n\n## Part 2 — Standard Time\n\n##### 4. Standard time throughout Western Australia\n\nStandard time throughout Western Australia is 8 hours in advance of Co‑ordinated Universal Time.\n\n##### 5. Construction of references to time in legal instruments\n\n(1) A reference (express or implied) in any legal instrument to any time or period of time is to be construed as a reference to —\n\n(a) standard time throughout Western Australia as declared by this Act; or\n\n(b) that period as determined by reference to standard time throughout Western Australia as declared by this Act.\n\n(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a reference to any time or period of time that is expressly required by a legal instrument to be construed in some other way.\n\n(3) This section applies to a legal instrument even though it was made before the commencement of this Act.\n\n## Part 3 — Repeal and consequential amendments\n\n##### 6. *Standard Time Act 1895* repealed\n\nThe *Standard Time Act 1895* is repealed.\n\n##### 7. *Western Australian Marine (Sea Dumping) Regulations 1982* amended\n\n(1) The amendments in this section are to the *Western Australian Marine (Sea Dumping) Regulations 1982**.\n\n(2) Regulation 4(b) is amended by deleting “Greenwich Mean Time,” and inserting instead —\n\n“\n\nCo‑ordinated Universal Time as defined in the *Standard Time Act 2005* section 3,\n\n”.\n\nNotes\n\n1 This is a compilation of the *Standard Time Act 2005*. The following table contains information about that Act.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Short title** | **Number and year** | **Assent** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *Standard Time Act 2005* | 21 of 2005 | 15 Nov 2005 | 16 Nov 2005 (see s. 2) |\n\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\nCo‑ordinated Universal Time 3\n\nlegal instrument 3\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act modernises and clarifies the existing legal standard for time in Western Australia by replacing the older 1895 Act and switching references from ‘Greenwich Mean Time’ to internationally maintained Co‑ordinated Universal Time (UTC). It does not expand the subject matter beyond setting and interpreting standard time; it primarily updates definitions and clarifies construction rules for legal instruments. The scope remains aligned with the original purpose of prescribing standard time and cleaning up consequential references (ss 3–7)."},"complexity_factors":["Short Act (few sections: 7 sections across 3 Parts)","2 defined terms in the interpretation section (Co‑ordinated Universal Time; legal instrument) (s 3)","Single substantive provision setting offset (UTC+8) (s 4)","One interpretive provision with a single exception applying to all legal instruments, including pre‑existing ones (s 5(1)–(3))","Repeal of an older Act and one minor consequential amendment to an existing regulation (ss 6–7)","Cross‑reference to external statute for UTC definition (National Measurement Act 1960 s 8AA) — minor external linkage"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does (mechanics)**\n\n- Declares the legal standard time for Western Australia as 8 hours ahead of Co‑ordinated Universal Time (UTC+8). (s 4)\n- Defines “Co‑ordinated Universal Time” by reference to the international authority (the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) and to the Commonwealth National Measurement Act (s 3).\n- Provides a default rule for reading any reference to a time or period of time in any “legal instrument” as a reference to Western Australian standard time (UTC+8). This rule covers existing and future Acts, regulations, contracts, deeds and similar instruments, unless the instrument expressly requires a different construction. (s 5)\n- Repeals the old Standard Time Act 1895 and updates a cross‑reference in the Western Australian Marine (Sea Dumping) Regulations 1982 to use the new UTC definition rather than “Greenwich Mean Time”. (ss 6–7)\n\n**Who is affected**\n\n- Everyone and every organisation that uses or relies on time references governed by Western Australian law: courts, government agencies, private parties to contracts, businesses scheduling services, regulators, and operators of activities governed by WA regulations (for example, sea‑dumping rules now using UTC). (ss 3, 4, 5, 7)\n\n**Why it matters (practical effect)**\n\n- It fixes the legal clock for WA as UTC+8, removing any ambiguity about which global time standard is intended. (s 4)\n- It standardises how time expressions in legislation, contracts and other legal instruments are to be read — including instruments made before this Act — unless they explicitly say otherwise. That reduces interpretive disputes but may change how some older instruments are read. (s 5(3))\n- It modernises references by replacing “Greenwich Mean Time” with the internationally maintained Co‑ordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is the atomic‑time standard used in international practice and maintained under the Commonwealth measurement law. (s 3; s 7)\n\n**Implementation, costs and incentives**\n\n- Implementation is mechanical and low‑cost: government agencies need to update drafting precedents and guidance; private parties may choose to revise contracts or administrative forms to specify UTC explicitly. There is no new administrative agency or licensing requirement created by the Act. (ss 3–5)\n- The Act gives courts and contract parties a clear legal rule to resolve timing disputes, which may reduce litigation on trivial timing ambiguity but could produce litigation where an older contract used the term “Greenwich Mean Time” and parties dispute whether that should be read as UTC or some other historical standard. Section 5(2) preserves any instrument that expressly requires a different construction.\n- The change from “Greenwich Mean Time” to UTC is primarily a technical clarification. For most daily purposes UTC and GMT operate equivalently as offsets (UTC+8), but in precise technical contexts they differ in how leap seconds are handled. That creates a narrow edge case where legal certainty about whether to count leap seconds may matter. (s 3)\n\n**Trade‑offs and risks**\n\n- Benefits: clearer, internationally aligned legal reference for time; simpler interpretation of existing instruments; reduced ambiguity in regulation and cross‑jurisdictional arrangements.\n- Costs: minimal administrative updating; potential for discrete legal disputes where historical documents relied on an older definition or used GMT in a way that parties intended to mean something other than UTC.\n- Implementation risk: low. The Act mostly codifies a single numeric offset and an interpretive rule; there is little delegated discretion and no ongoing regulatory burden. (ss 3–5)\n\n**Who pays and who decides**\n\n- No new fees or taxes are introduced. Parties that have time‑sensitive contracts bear the cost (time and possibly legal fees) of confirming or revising wording if they want to avoid ambiguity. Courts remain the arbiters if parties dispute time construction. Government agencies pay minor administrative costs to update forms and guidance.\n\n**Concrete changes to private behaviour likely**\n\n- Drafters of contracts and regulations will increasingly specify “UTC” and the UTC offset explicitly to avoid doubt.\n- Parties with legacy instruments that used GMT may review those documents where precise timing matters (eg financial contracts, transport timetables, technical service levels).\n\n(References: Standard Time Act 2005, ss 3–7.)"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: establishing standard time for Western Australia and modernising the statutory reference from Greenwich Mean Time to Co‑ordinated Universal Time. The scope has not expanded beyond this core function."},"complexity_factors":["Only 2 defined terms in the interpretation section (section 3)","No nested exceptions or complex conditional logic — just one simple carve-out in section 5(2) for instruments that expressly require different time construction","Minimal cross-referencing — only references to the repealed 1895 Act, the Commonwealth National Measurement Act 1960, and one set of regulations","Short length — 7 substantive sections across 3 Parts","Straightforward operative provisions — section 4 is a single sentence declaring the UTC offset"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis law sets the official time for Western Australia. It establishes that Western Australia runs **8 hours ahead of Co‑ordinated Universal Time (UTC)** — the global scientific standard for timekeeping maintained by international authorities.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n*   **Everyone in Western Australia** — businesses, schools, government offices, and individuals all operate under this standard time.\n*   **Anyone making legal agreements** — contracts, court documents, regulations, and other legal instruments in WA must use this time unless they explicitly specify otherwise.\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\n*   **Modernises the law:** It replaces the old *Standard Time Act 1895*, which used \"Greenwich Mean Time\" — an outdated term. The new law uses the modern international standard (UTC).\n*   **Clarifies legal documents:** If a contract or law mentions \"time\" without specifying which time zone, this Act says it means Western Australian standard time (UTC+8).\n*   **Applies retrospectively:** Even documents signed before this law started must now be read as using WA standard time, unless they clearly say otherwise.\n\n**Key points:**\n\n*   WA does **not** observe daylight saving time under this Act — it stays on UTC+8 year-round.\n*   The law also fixes a minor reference in marine pollution regulations to use the new time standard."},"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":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be meaningfully assessed as the legislative text was inaccessible. Based on the title alone, there is no indication the Act expanded beyond its apparent core purpose of establishing standard time for Western Australia. This assessment should be treated as provisional only."},"complexity_factors":["Legislation content was entirely unavailable — analysis based only on title inference","Standard time legislation is typically straightforward and narrow in scope","No amendments, schedules, or provisions were accessible for review","Cannot assess actual drafting complexity, cross-references, or exceptions"],"plain_english_summary":"## Standard Time Act 2005 (WA)\n\n**The content of this legislation could not be retrieved.** The source page is no longer available due to a system migration on the Western Australian legislation website.\n\n**What we can reasonably infer:**\nBased on its title, the *Standard Time Act 2005* (Western Australia) almost certainly governs **what time zone Western Australia officially observes** — specifically UTC+8 (Australian Western Standard Time). This type of legislation typically sets the legal clock time for the state, which affects:\n\n- **Businesses** — contract deadlines, trading hours, and timestamps on legal documents\n- **Workers** — shift times and entitlements\n- **Government agencies** — official record-keeping and court proceedings\n- **Everyone** — the legally recognised time used in daily life\n\n⚠️ *A full analysis is not possible without access to the actual legislative text. Please visit the Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office website directly and search for the Act by name.*"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/wa-standard-time-act-2005","history":"/api/acts/wa-standard-time-act-2005/history","analysis":"/api/acts/wa-standard-time-act-2005/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/wa-standard-time-act-2005/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/wa-standard-time-act-2005/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/wa-standard-time-act-2005/documents"}}