{"id":"war-service-land-settlement-scheme-act-1954","name":"War Service Land Settlement Scheme Act 1954","slug":"war-service-land-settlement-scheme-act-1954","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":110987,"registerId":"wa-war-service-land-settlement-scheme-act-1954-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"War Service Land Settlement Scheme Act 1954","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nWar Service Land Settlement Scheme Act 1954\n\nWestern Australia\n\nWar Service Land Settlement Scheme Act 1954\n\nContents\n\n1. Short title 1\n\n2. Commencement 1\n\n3. Repeal 1\n\n4. Terms used 2\n\n5. Minister’s functions as to scheme 2\n\n6. Tenures, perpetual leases etc., granting etc. 3\n\n7. Perpetual leasehold, purchase of fee simple by lessee of 5\n\n8. Mineral rights revested in Crown in some cases 6\n\n9. Validation of things done under repealed Acts 8\n\n10. Regulations 9\n\n11. Delegation by Minister 9\n\n12. Protection from personal liability for torts 10\n\nSchedule — Form of Crown grant\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 13\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nWar Service Land Settlement Scheme Act 1954\n\nAn Act to enable the State to carry out and give effect to war service land settlement; and to accept appropriations mentioned in the *States Grants (War Service Land Settlement) Act 1952* of the Commonwealth Parliament for the purpose of financial assistance in connection with war service land settlement in such amounts and subject to such conditions as the Minister mentioned in that Act determines under that Act; and for other and incidental purposes.\n\n##### 1. Short title\n\nThis Act may be cited as the *War Service Land Settlement Scheme Act 1954* 1.\n\n##### 2. Commencement\n\nThis Act shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by proclamation 1.\n\n##### 3. Repeal\n\n(1) The *War Service Land Settlement Agreement Act 1951* is repealed.\n\n(2) The provisions of sections 15, 16 and 17 of the *Interpretation Act 1918* 2, apply in respect of the repeals effected by subsection (1) of this section, but this express inclusion of the application of those provisions is not intended to imply the exclusion of the application to this Act of any of the other provisions of that Act.\n\n##### 4. Terms used\n\nIn this Act unless the context requires otherwise —\n\n  Commonwealth Act means the *States Grants (War Service Land Settlement) Act 1952* of the Commonwealth Parliament;\n\n  Land Act means the *Land Administration Act 1997*;\n\n  repealed Acts means the *War Service Land Settlement Agreement Act 1951* and Acts repealed by that Act;\n\n  scheme means the war service land settlement scheme which prior to the coming into operation of this Act has been carried out and given effect, under the repealed Acts and which after the coming into operation of this Act is to continue to be carried out under this Act;\n\n  tenure means such estates or interests in land whether of perpetual leasehold or otherwise as the Governor is authorised and thinks fit to grant in order to carry out the scheme;\n\n  Transfer of Land Act means the *Transfer of Land Act 1893*.\n\n[Section 4 amended: No. 31 of 1997 s. 141.]\n\n##### 5. Minister’s functions as to scheme\n\n(1) The Minister on behalf of the State is authorised —\n\n(a) to carry out and give effect to the scheme; and\n\n(b) to accept from appropriations mentioned in the Commonwealth Act financial assistance in connection with war service land settlement in such amounts and subject to such conditions as the Minister mentioned in that Act determines under that Act; and\n\n(c) to comply with conditions if any so determined by the Commonwealth Act.\n\n(2) This Act without further appropriation is sufficient authority —\n\n(a) for the Minister to expend money accepted under subsection (1)(b) and, where conditions referred to in that paragraph are imposed, to expend that money in accordance with those conditions; and\n\n(b) for charging to the Consolidated Account of the State such other amounts as are necessary for carrying out and giving effect to, the scheme and complying with such conditions, referred to in that paragraph, as are imposed.\n\n(3) Where the Minister so accepts on behalf of the State financial assistance from those appropriations upon conditions determined under the Commonwealth Act by the Minister mentioned in that Act, the Minister so accepting on behalf of the State shall cause the conditions to be laid before each House of Parliament within 6 sitting days of the House next following his receipt of the conditions.\n\n[Section 5 amended: No. 6 of 1993 s. 11; No. 49 of 1996 s. 64; No. 77 of 2006 s. 4.]\n\n##### 6. Tenures, perpetual leases etc., granting etc.\n\n(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of the Land Act the Governor is authorised to grant tenures on such terms and conditions as are not inconsistent with the conditions as determined by the Minister under the Commonwealth Act, for the purpose of carrying out the scheme.\n\n(2) To the extent to which the provisions of the Land Act and the regulations made under that Act are capable of being applied with or without adaptation in respect of tenures and grants of tenures those provisions with or without adaptation apply in respect of those matters.\n\n(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2) the Governor may make such regulations as he thinks necessary or convenient for carrying out and giving effect to the scheme and where there is inconsistency between regulations so made and regulations made under the Land Act the provisions of the former prevail.\n\n(3A) Subject to section 5 nothing contained in this Act or in any regulations made pursuant to authority granted by this Act shall in any way alter, prejudice or affect or permit the alteration of the terms or conditions of any perpetual lease heretofore granted or the terms or conditions upon which the Minister has heretofore approved of the granting of any perpetual lease or has otherwise agreed to grant leasehold rights to any applicant within the meaning of the repealed Acts or render any such applicant liable to pay rental or purchase money for land and/or non‑structural improvements in excess of that rental or purchase money which he would have been liable to pay if this Act or any such regulation had not been passed or made.\n\n(4) Notwithstanding anything contained —\n\n(a) in the proviso to subsection (3) of this section; or\n\n(b) in any perpetual lease issued under the scheme; or\n\n(c) in any regulation made under any Act,\n\nthe Governor may, under that subsection make regulations authorising the lessee of a tenure of perpetual leasehold of land demised by instrument of lease under the scheme that is mortgaged or otherwise encumbered to further mortgage or otherwise encumber the lease, if the approval of the Minister to do so is first obtained and regulations empowering the Minister at his discretion to approve of any contract of sale of land the subject of a perpetual lease granted under the scheme, without requiring that all amounts owing by the lessee in respect of that land to the Minister or other Crown instrumentality, authority or agent be first paid.\n\n(5) On and after the date of coming into operation of this subsection, notwithstanding any other provision in or under this Act, any other Act, or any Act repealed by this Act —\n\n(a) there shall not be in any perpetual lease issued under this Act any reservation to the Crown of a right to take marketable timber on land the subject of the lease; and\n\n(b) any such reservation in any perpetual lease issued before that date under this Act or any Act repealed by this Act shall be no effect; and\n\n(c) no permit shall be granted, and no licence shall be issued under the *Forests Act 1919* 3, in respect of marketable timber on land the subject of a perpetual lease issued at any time under this Act or any Act repealed by this Act; and\n\n(d) any permit granted, or any licence issued, before that date under the *Forests Act 1919* 3, in respect of marketable timber on land the subject of a perpetual lease issued under this Act or any Act repealed by this Act shall be of no effect.\n\n[Section 6 amended: No. 9 of 1960 s. 2; No. 6 of 1962 s. 2; No. 52 of 1972 s. 2; No. 11 of 1974 s. 2; No. 6 of 1994 s. 13; No. 14 of 1995 s. 44; No. 8 of 2010 s. 34; No. 19 of 2010 s. 51.]\n\n##### 7. Perpetual leasehold, purchase of fee simple by lessee of\n\nUnless the conditions imposed under the Commonwealth Act require otherwise, the lessee of a tenure of perpetual leasehold of land demised by instrument of lease under the scheme, notwithstanding the provisions of the instrument of lease or the provisions of this or another Act, may —\n\n(a) after the expiration of a period of 10 years from the commencement of the term of the perpetual lease or such shorter period as the Commonwealth and the State have determined or may determine where special circumstances exist and on payment of such purchase price for the fee simple as is fixed under the scheme by the Minister, but subject to —\n\n(i) the conditions, if any, imposed under the Commonwealth Act; and\n\n(ii) the provisions, if applicable to the land, of section 8(5) relating to mineral rights; and\n\n(iii) mortgages and other encumbrances, if any, affecting the land; and\n\n(iv) the provisions of the regulations where applicable; and\n\n(v) compliance with the provisions of the lease instrument,\n\npurchase the fee simple in the land; and on completion of the purchase is entitled to obtain in place of the lease a transfer of the fee simple in the land; and\n\n(b) may, but subject to the conditions, if any, imposed under the Commonwealth Act, at any time and from time to time during the period of 10 years from the commencement of the term of the lease, pay such amount or amounts, not exceeding in the aggregate 90% of the purchase price for the fee simple, as he thinks fit on account of that purchase price; and on his making payment of an amount on account of the purchase price, interest on the amount so paid by him ceases to accrue.\n\n[Section 7 amended: No. 9 of 1960 s. 3; No. 31 of 1997 s. 136(1); No. 19 of 2010 s. 51.]\n\n##### 8. Mineral rights revested in Crown in some cases\n\n(1) In this section, unless the context requires of otherwise —\n\n  Company means the Midland Railway Company of Western Australia Limited;\n\n  mineral rights means, in relation to land, any grant, transfer or reservation to —\n\n(a) the Company; or\n\n(b) a person who derives his title to the mineral rights from the Company and is registered pursuant to the provisions of the Transfer of Land Act as the proprietor of the mineral rights,\n\nof all mines of copper, tin, lead, coal, ironstone, phosphatic rock and other metals, ores or minerals whatsoever, except gold, silver and precious metals, and all substances containing minerals or phosphates, except substances containing gold, silver, or precious metals, and all gems and precious stones and, subject to the *Petroleum Act 1936* 4, mineral oil in, upon and under the land, with full liberty at all times to search, dig, mine, bore for and carry them away, and for that purpose to enter upon the land or any part of it without paying compensation therefor;\n\n  registration authority means the Registrar of Titles, the Registrar of Deeds and Transfers, the Under Secretary for Mines, and any other person authorised by Act to record and give effect to the registration of documents relating to transactions affecting estates and interests in land.\n\n(2) Where private land was, at any time prior to, or is, at any time after, the coming into operation of this Act —\n\n(aa) acquired by the State by agreement for the purposes of the Scheme; and\n\n(ab) under the operation of the Transfer of Land Act; and\n\n(ac) the subject of mineral rights,\n\non registration of the transfer to Her Majesty from the registered proprietor of every estate and interest therein, other than the mineral rights, the mineral rights, by virtue of, and subject to, the provisions of this subsection, revest in Her Majesty as of Her former estate, for the purposes of —\n\n(a) removing the land from the operation of the Transfer of Land Act; and\n\n(b) bringing the land under the operation of the Land Act; and\n\n(c) enabling the Governor to —\n\n(i) grant tenures of the land pursuant to the provisions of this Act; and\n\n(ii) make and issue instruments evidencing the revesting, referred to in subsection (3) of this section, of the mineral rights in the land.\n\n(3) Where mineral rights are revested in Her Majesty by operation of the provisions of subsection (2),\n\n(a) the mineral rights, are by virtue of the provisions of this subsection, immediately thereupon revested in such person, and for such estate or interest as, but for the operation of that subsection, they would have continued to be vested;\n\n(b) the Governor shall make and issue an instrument of grant in the form of the Schedule to this Act evidencing that revesting free of cost to that person.\n\n(4) Nothing contained in, or done in pursuance of, the provisions of this section —\n\n(a) affects any proprietory interest in the mineral rights;\n\n(b) entitles any person to compensation or damages from the Crown.\n\n(5) The Governor shall not grant or demise, pursuant to the provisions of this Act, any tenure of land referred to in this section, unless the instrument evidencing the grant or demise is expressed to be and is subject to the mineral rights.\n\n(6) The appropriate registration authorities are authorised to record in the appropriate manner the effect of the operation of the provisions of this section in relation to land.\n\n[Section 8 amended: No. 31 of 1997 s. 136(2); No. 19 of 2010 s. 51; No. 47 of 2011 s. 16.]\n\n##### 9. Validation of things done under repealed Acts\n\n(1) Things done, including rights, titles and interests revested, conferred, granted, demised, and acquired, in pursuance or purported pursuance of the provisions of the repealed Acts are, subject to subsection (2), ratified as lawful and validated.\n\n(2) Notwithstanding the repeal, or any of the provisions, of the repealed Acts, the interpretation of the expression, mineral rights in section 8, and the form of Crown Grant in the Schedule, are deemed to have been in operation on and from 15 January 1946, being the day on which the repealed *War Service Land Settlement Agreement Act 1945* came into operation.\n\n##### 10. Regulations\n\nThe Governor may make regulations prescribing forms, fees, matters and things necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out the scheme and for giving effect to this Act and may by a regulation so made prescribe penalties recoverable on summary conviction and not exceeding $100 for breach of a regulation so made.\n\n[Section 10 amended: No. 113 of 1965 s. 8(1).]\n\n##### 11. Delegation by Minister\n\n(1) The Minister may delegate to a public service officer of the Department, as defined in the *Land Administration Act 1997* section 3(1), any power or duty of the Minister under another provision of this Act.\n\n(2) The delegation must be in writing signed by the Minister.\n\n(3) A person to whom a power or duty is delegated under this section cannot delegate that power or duty.\n\n(4) A person exercising or performing a power or duty that has been delegated to the person under this section is to be taken to do so in accordance with the terms of the delegation unless the contrary is shown.\n\n(5) Nothing in this section limits the ability of the Minister to perform a function through an officer or agent.\n\n[Section 11 inserted: No. 8 of 2010 s. 35.]\n\n##### 12. Protection from personal liability for torts\n\n(1) An action in tort does not lie against a person for anything that the person has done, in good faith, in the performance or purported performance of a function under this Act.\n\n(2) The protection given by this section applies even though the thing done as described in subsection (1) may have been capable of being done whether or not this Act had been enacted.\n\n(3) Despite subsection (1), neither the Minister nor the State is relieved of any liability that it might have for another person having done anything as described in that subsection.\n\n(4) In this section, a reference to the doing of anything includes a reference to an omission to do anything.\n\n[Section 12 inserted: No. 8 of 2010 s. 35.]\n\nSchedule — Form of Crown grant\n\n[s. 8(3)(b) and 9(2)]\n\n[Heading inserted: No. 19 of 2010 s. 39.]\n\nWestern Australia\n\nCROWN GRANT\n\nELIZABETH THE SECOND, by the Grace of God Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, To all to whom these presents shall come, GREETING: Know Ye that We, of our especial Grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion and by virtue of the provisions of the *War Service Land Settlement Scheme Act 1954*, have given and granted, and We do by these presents for Us, our heirs and successors, Give and Grant unto ................... all mines of copper, tin, lead, coal, ironstone, phosphatic rock and other metals, ores or minerals whatsoever, except gold, silver, and precious metals, and all substances containing minerals or phosphates, except substances containing gold, silver, and precious metals, and all gems and precious stones and, subject to the *Petroleum Act 1936* 4, mineral oil in, upon and under all that tract or parcel of land situate and being in the District of ................. in Our said State containing .............more or less and marked and distinguished in the maps and books of the Department of Lands and Surveys 5 of Our said State as ........................ and as the same is delineated and coloured in, ....................... in the plan drawn hereon with full liberty at all times to search, dig, mine, bore for and carry away the same, and for that purpose to enter upon the said land or any part thereof without paying compensation therefor: TO HAVE AND TO HOLD all and singular the premises hereby granted together with all appurtenances whatsoever thereunto belonging or in anywise appertaining for an estate in fee simple: YIELDING and paying for the same to Us, Our heirs and successors, one peppercorn of yearly rent on the twenty‑fifth day of March in each year, or so soon thereafter as the same shall be lawfully demanded.\n\nIN WITNESS whereof, We have caused ............................................................. Governor in and over the State of Western Australia in the Commonwealth of Australia, to affix to these presents the Public Seal of the said State.\n\nSEALED this ............ day of .................... two thousand and ......................\n\n..................................... Governor.\n\n...........................................\n\nMinister for Lands.\n\n[Schedule amended: No. 38 of 1947 6 s. 3; No. 19 of 2010 s. 39.]\n\n![dline]()\n\nNotes\n\n1 This is a compilation of the *War Service Land Settlement Scheme Act 1954* 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| *War Service Land Settlement Scheme Act 1954* | | 29 of 1954 (3 Eliz. II No. 29) | | 5 Nov 1954 | | 28 Jan 1955 (see s. 2 and *Gazette* 28 Jan 1955 p. 171) | |\n| *Royal Style and Titles Act 1947* s. 3 6 | | 38 of 1947 (11 and 12 Geo. VI No. 38) | | 11 Dec 1947 | | 19 Mar 1948 (see s. 2 and *Gazette* 19 Mar 1948 p. 627-8) | |\n| *War Service Land Settlement Scheme Act Amendment Act 1960* | | 9 of 1960 (9 Eliz. II No. 9) | | 6 Oct 1960 | | 6 Oct 1960 | |\n| *War Service Land Settlement Scheme Act Amendment Act 1962* | | 6 of 1962 (11 Eliz. II No. 6) | | 27 Sep 1962 | | 27 Sep 1962 | |\n| *Decimal Currency Act 1965* | | 113 of 1965 | | 21 Dec 1965 | | Act other than s. 4-9: 21 Dec 1965 (see s. 2(1));   s. 4-9: 14 Feb 1966 (see s. 2(2)) | |\n| *War Service Land Settlement Scheme Act Amendment Act 1972* | | 52 of 1972 | | 2 Oct 1972 | | 2 Oct 1972 | |\n| *War Service Land Settlement Scheme Act Amendment Act 1974* | | 11 of 1974 | | 27 Sep 1974 | | 27 Sep 1974 | |\n| *Financial Administration Legislation Amendment Act 1993* s. 11 | | 6 of 1993 | | 27 Aug 1993 | | 1 Jul 1993 (see s. 2(1)) | |\n| *R & I Bank Amendment Act 1994* s. 13 | | 6 of 1994 | | 11 Apr 1994 | | 26 Apr 1994 (see s. 2(2) and *Gazette* 26 Apr 1994 p. 1743) | |\n| *Bank of Western Australia Act 1995* s. 44 | | 14 of 1995 | | 4 Jul 1995 | | 1 Dec 1995 (see s. 2(3) and *Gazette* 29 Nov 1995 p. 5529) | |\n| *Financial Legislation Amendment Act 1996* s. 64 | | 49 of 1996 | | 25 Oct 1996 | | 25 Oct 1996 (see s. 2(1)) | |\n| *Acts Amendment (Land Administration) Act 1997* Pt. 63 and s. 141 | | 31 of 1997 | | 3 Oct 1997 | | 30 Mar 1998 (see s. 2 and *Gazette* 27 Mar 1998 p. 1765) | |\n| **Reprint of the *War Service Land Settlement Scheme Act 1954* as at 16 Jul 1999** (includes amendments listed above) | | | | | | | |\n| *Financial Legislation Amendment and Repeal Act 2006* s. 4 | | 77 of 2006 | | 21 Dec 2006 | | 1 Feb 2007 (see s. 2(1) and *Gazette* 19 Jan 2007 p. 137) | |\n| *Approvals and Related Reforms (No. 3) (Crown Land) Act 2010* Pt. 10 | | 8 of 2010 | | 3 Jun 2010 | | 18 Sep 2010 (see s. 2(b) and *Gazette* 17 Sep 2010 p. 4757) | |\n| *Standardisation of Formatting Act 2010* s. 39 and 51 | | 19 of 2010 | | 28 Jun 2010 | | 11 Sep 2010 (see s. 2(b) and *Gazette* 10 Sep 2010 p. 4341) | |\n| *Statutes (Repeals and Minor Amendments) Act 2011* s. 16 | | 47 of 2011 | | 25 Oct 2011 | | 26 Oct 2011 (see s. 2(b)) | |\n| **Reprint 2: The *War Service Land Settlement Scheme Act 1954* as at 19 Oct 2012** (includes amendments listed above) | | | | | | | |\n\n\n2 Repealed by the *Interpretation Act 1984*.\n\n3 Repealed by the *Conservation and Land Management Act 1984*.\n\n4 Repealed by the *Petroleum Act 1967*, now called the *Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Act 1967.*\n\n5 The Department formerly known as the Department of Lands and Surveys was replaced by the Western Australian Land Information Authority. Maps and books formerly held by the Department are now held by the Authority (see the *Land Information Authority Act 2006* s. 100).\n\n6 The Style and Titles pertaining to the Crown was changed by Proclamation under the *Royal Style and Titles Act 1947* (see *Gazette* 7 December 1974 p. 4479).\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\nCommonwealth Act 4\n\nCompany 8(1)\n\nLand Act 4\n\nmineral rights 8(1), 9(2)\n\nregistration authority 8(1)\n\nrepealed Acts 4\n\nscheme 4\n\ntenure 4\n\nTransfer of Land Act 4\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed because the legislative text is inaccessible. No comparison between original intent and current application is possible without the full Act."},"complexity_factors":["The actual legislative text is unavailable, making substantive analysis impossible","Only the title and a broken page notice were provided","Historical legislation from 1954 may involve complex interplay with Commonwealth veteran schemes, but this cannot be confirmed without the text","Uncertainty about current legal status (in force, repealed, or amended) adds analytical difficulty"],"plain_english_summary":"## War Service Land Settlement Scheme Act 1954 (WA)\n\n**What we know:** This is a Western Australian law from 1954, but the actual text of the legislation is **no longer available** on the WA Parliamentary Counsel's website. The page has been taken down as part of system upgrades.\n\n**What we can infer from the title:** Based on its name and era, this Act almost certainly dealt with providing farmland to Australian veterans (ex-servicemen and women) returning from World War II. Similar schemes across Australia allowed returned soldiers to take up agricultural blocks of land, often with government support, loans, and training — a key post-war policy to reward service and boost rural productivity.\n\n**Who it may have affected:**\n- Returned WW2 veterans seeking farming opportunities\n- Their families\n- Rural landholders and communities in Western Australia\n- Government agencies administering land grants and soldier settler schemes\n\n**Current status:** Because the full text is unavailable, it is **unclear whether this Act is still in force, has been repealed, or has been consolidated** into other legislation. Anyone needing to rely on this law should contact the Parliamentary Counsel's Office directly or search the WA legislation register for current status."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Act replaces and consolidates earlier War Service Land Settlement Acts (s3, s9) and continues the same scheme while adding and clarifying specific mechanisms. Notable scope shifts in the text include: (1) preservation of existing perpetual-lease terms from being worsened by later regulations (s6(3A)); (2) a statutory procedure for handling mineral rights when land is acquired for the scheme, including issuing a Schedule-form Crown grant and recording by registration authorities (s8(2)–(6); Schedule); and (3) an express prohibition on Crown reservations of marketable timber in perpetual leases and the nullification of earlier such reservations (s6(5)). These textual changes adjust how property and resource rights are recorded and managed under the scheme while keeping the overarching objective (State-run war service land settlement and acceptance of Commonwealth funds) intact (long title; s5)."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-references to multiple other Acts (Commonwealth Act, Land Administration Act, Transfer of Land Act, and historical/now-repealed Acts) introducing inter-legislative dependencies (see s4, s5, s6, s8).","Property-tenure mechanics: conversion from perpetual leasehold to fee simple with Minister-fixed purchase price and staged payments (s7).","Mineral-rights regime: multi-step revesting and regranting mechanism with special recording and a statutory grant form in the Schedule (s8(2)–(6); Schedule).","Executive discretion and overlapping decision-makers: Minister sets conditions and prices and approves mortgages/sales; Governor grants tenures and may override Land Act regulations (s5, s6(1), s6(3), s6(4), s7).","Validation and preservation clauses preserving past transactions while enabling future action (s3, s9, s6(3A)), complicating retrospective and prospective legal analysis.","Delegation, liability and administrative regulation powers with limits (s10–s12, s11) affecting implementation and risk allocation.","Regulatory hierarchy where scheme-specific regulations prevail over Land Act regulations in case of inconsistency (s6(3)), creating potential uncertainty about applicable rule sets."],"plain_english_summary":"What this law does (mechanically)\n\n- It continues and consolidates a State scheme that provides land tenures to help settle war service personnel and their dependants on land (the “scheme”) and allows the State to accept Commonwealth money for that purpose (see long title; s4; s5(1)(a)–(b)).\n- The Minister is authorised to accept Commonwealth financial assistance on the State’s behalf, must comply with any conditions attached, and must lay those conditions before each House of Parliament within six sitting days after receiving them (s5(1)(b)–(c), s5(3)).\n- The Governor may grant land tenures (including perpetual leases) on terms the Governor thinks fit so long as those terms are not inconsistent with any Commonwealth-determined conditions (s6(1)). Where possible, provisions of the Land Administration Act apply to those tenures, but the Governor can make special regulations for the scheme and those special regulations prevail over inconsistent Land Act regulations (s6(2)–(3)).\n- Perpetual lessees under the scheme may, subject to Commonwealth conditions, purchase the fee simple (freehold) in the land after 10 years (or a shorter period if agreed), paying a purchase price fixed under the scheme by the Minister (s7(a)). During the first 10 years lessees may pay up to 90% of the purchase price on account and interest stops accruing on amounts paid (s7(b)).\n- The Act sets out special treatment for “mineral rights” where land acquired by the State for the scheme is dealt with under the Transfer of Land Act: it provides a process for those mineral rights to be recorded and for an instrument in the Act’s Schedule to be issued (s8(1)–(6); Schedule). The Grant form in the Schedule (s8(3)(b)) describes rights over specified minerals (but excludes gold, silver and precious metals) and grants fee simple with a peppercorn rent.\n- The Act validates actions taken under the earlier repealed War Service Land Settlement Acts (s3, s9).\n- The Governor may make regulations for carrying out the scheme and may prescribe penalties (up to $100) for breaches (s6(3), s10). The Minister may delegate powers to named public service officers in writing (s11). People performing functions under the Act in good faith are protected from personal tort liability (s12).\n\nWho is affected and who decides\n\n- Who decides: The Minister (accepting Commonwealth funds, determining scheme purchase prices and conditions, approving certain mortgage/sale arrangements) and the Governor (authorising and granting tenures, making scheme-specific regulations) exercise primary decision-making power (s5, s6(1), s6(4), s7). Registration authorities record transactions and the Minister may delegate powers to public service officers (s8(6), s11).\n- Who pays: Commonwealth appropriations accepted by the Minister finance some scheme activity (s5(1)(b)); the Minister may expend those funds without further appropriation and the State may charge amounts from the Consolidated Account to carry out the scheme (s5(2)). Individual lessees pay rentals, purchase prices and any mortgage/encumbrance obligations under their leases; lessees may also pay on account toward purchase price (s7).\n\nWhy it matters (stated purpose and practical trade-offs)\n\n- Stated purpose: the Act exists to enable the State to carry out war service land settlement and to accept Commonwealth financial assistance for that purpose (long title; s5(1)(a)–(b)).\n\n- Practical trade-offs, costs and incentives (source-based):\n  - Fiscal: the State can accept Commonwealth funds and spend them without further appropriation (s5(1)(b), s5(2)(a)), but the State also remains liable to charge the Consolidated Account for other amounts needed to run the scheme (s5(2)(b)). This concentrates spending decisions in the Minister’s office (s5).  \n  - Property and private choice: lessees gain a pathway to convert leasehold into fee simple ownership (s7) which creates an incentive to invest in and use the land; the Minister fixes the purchase price under the scheme (s7(a)), which centralises price-setting in the executive.  \n  - Security and finance: the Act allows lessees — with Ministerial approval — to further mortgage or encumber leases that are already encumbered, and allows the Minister discretion to approve sales without requiring all Crown debts be paid first (s6(4)). That creates administrative discretion that affects secured-lending options for lessees and lenders.  \n  - Resource rights: the Act creates a specific mechanism for handling mineral rights on land acquired for the scheme (s8). It requires tenures to be expressed subject to mineral rights when applicable (s8(5)) and instructs registration authorities to record the effect (s8(6)), so developers or resource owners must expect those rights to be recorded and preserved consistent with the statutory process.  \n  - Legal certainty and continuity: the Act expressly validates actions under the repealed Acts (s9) and preserves the terms of previously granted perpetual leases from being worsened by new regulations (s6(3A)). That reduces retrospective change for existing lessees but also prevents some statutory adjustments to older leases.  \n  - Regulation and compliance: the Governor may make regulations specific to the scheme that can override inconsistencies with the Land Act (s6(3)); the Act also empowers the Governor to set fees, forms and penalties (s10). That places compliance burdens on participants in the scheme (forms, fees, potential penalties up to $100 for summary offences) and concentrates rulemaking power in the executive.\n\nImplementation, discretion and risks (source-based)\n\n- Executive discretion: the Minister decides to accept Commonwealth conditions and the purchase prices under the scheme (s5, s7). The Governor may make regulations with prevailing effect over the Land Act when inconsistent (s6(3)). The Minister has discretion to approve further mortgages and sales under long-term leases (s6(4)). These are significant points of administrative discretion that determine how the scheme operates in practice.\n- Implementation friction: the Act depends on coordination between Commonwealth-determined conditions, State determinations (Minister and Governor), and record-keeping by registration authorities (s5, s6, s8(6)). Where Commonwealth conditions attach to funding, the Minister must publish those conditions to Parliament promptly (s5(3)), but the operational detail is left to regulations and executive decision (s6, s10).  \n- Limited civil liability for officials: people acting in good faith under the Act are protected from personal tort claims (s12), while the Minister and the State remain potentially liable (s12(1)–(3)).\n\nConcise statement of effect on markets and private actors (source-grounded)\n\n- For individual lessees: provides a statutory route from perpetual leasehold to fee simple ownership (s7), the ability to pay on account and stop interest on amounts paid (s7(b)), and potential access to further borrowing subject to Ministerial approval (s6(4)).  \n- For resource owners and miners: requires mineral rights to be identified, documented and preserved in a statutory form when land is acquired and re-granted under the scheme (s8(2)–(6); Schedule). Tenures granted under the scheme must be expressed subject to those mineral rights (s8(5)).  \n- For lenders and purchasers: Ministerial approvals and specific statutory instruments will affect the enforceability and priority of mortgages and sales involving scheme land (s6(4), s7(a), s8(5)).  \n\nPrimary statutory references: ss4–12; Schedule."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains focused on its original purpose of facilitating war service land settlement and managing the associated Commonwealth funding. While it has been amended to update references to modern land administration legislation (e.g., Land Administration Act 1997 replacing older statutes) and to add modern administrative provisions (delegation, tort protection in 2010), the core scope of settling returned servicemen on land has not expanded into unrelated areas. The amendments are modernising rather than scope-expanding."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple cross-references to other Acts (Land Administration Act 1997, Transfer of Land Act 1893, Commonwealth States Grants Act 1952, repealed Acts)","Complex mineral rights provisions in section 8 involving temporary revesting of rights in the Crown and immediate revesting in the original holder","Nested conditions and exceptions in section 7 regarding purchase of fee simple (10-year waiting period, shorter periods for special circumstances, payment caps, multiple sub-conditions)","Savings and validation provisions protecting actions taken under repealed legislation (sections 3 and 9)","Interaction between State and Commonwealth funding conditions requiring parliamentary laying (section 5(3))","Specific historical context requiring understanding of the Midland Railway Company's mineral rights"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis is a Western Australian law from 1954 that set up a scheme to give land to returned soldiers (\"war service land settlement\"). It allowed the State to:\n\n*   **Accept federal money** from the Commonwealth Government to help pay for the scheme (under the *States Grants (War Service Land Settlement) Act 1952*).\n*   **Grant land to veterans** on special terms called \"perpetual leases\" (a type of long-term lease that can eventually be converted to full ownership).\n*   **Let veterans buy their land outright** after 10 years (or earlier in special cases), converting their lease into full ownership (\"fee simple\").\n*   **Deal with mineral rights** on land that used to belong to the Midland Railway Company, ensuring these rights were preserved when land was transferred to settlers.\n*   **Protect past decisions** made under earlier laws that this Act replaced.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n*   **Returned servicemen and women** from World War II who were eligible for land grants.\n*   **The Minister for Lands** (who runs the scheme).\n*   **The State of Western Australia** (which manages the money and land).\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nThis law was part of Australia's post-WWII \"soldier settlement\" program, designed to help veterans transition to civilian life by giving them farmland. It created a special system of land tenure outside normal land laws, with specific rules about:\n\n*   How leases could be mortgaged or sold.\n*   Removing timber rights from the Crown (the government couldn't take timber from settlers' land).\n*   Protecting the rights of the Midland Railway Company regarding minerals under the land.\n\nThe Act has been amended over the years to modernise references (updating which land laws apply) and add protections for officials acting in good faith."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/war-service-land-settlement-scheme-act-1954","history":"/api/acts/war-service-land-settlement-scheme-act-1954/history","analysis":"/api/acts/war-service-land-settlement-scheme-act-1954/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/war-service-land-settlement-scheme-act-1954/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/war-service-land-settlement-scheme-act-1954/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/war-service-land-settlement-scheme-act-1954/documents"}}