{"id":"wine-grapes-industry-act-1991","name":"Wine Grapes Industry Act 1991","slug":"wine-grapes-industry-act-1991","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"sa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":110837,"registerId":"sa-wine-grapes-industry-act-1991-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Wine Grapes Industry Act 1991","content":"South Australia\nWine Grapes Industry Act 1991\nAn Act relating to the marketing of wine grapes.\n\nContents\n1\tShort title\n3\tInterpretation\n4\tApplication\n5\tIndicative price\n6\tTerms and conditions of payment\n7\tConsultation\n8\tOrders\n9\tConditions for acceptance of delivery\n10\tOffences\nLegislative history\nAppendix—Divisional penalties and expiation fees\n\nThe Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows:\n1—Short title\nThis Act may be cited as the Wine Grapes Industry Act 1991.\n3—Interpretation\n\t(1)\tIn this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—\npayment includes any form of monetary consideration or non-monetary consideration to which a monetary value can be assigned;\nprocessor includes a person who purchases wine grapes for resale to a processor;\nproducer means—\n\t(a)\ta person by whom, or on whose behalf, wine grapes are grown for sale;\n\t(b)\twhere wine grapes are grown for sale by a partnership or under a share farming agreement—the partners or the parties to that agreement,\nbut does not include an employee or other person who acquires no interest in the grapes;\nproduction area means—\n\t(a)\tthe areas of the district councils of Barmera, Berri, Loxton, Mannum, Mobilong, Morgan, Paringa and Waikerie; and\n\t(b)\tthe hundred of Katarapko; and\n\t(c)\tthe hundreds of Bowhill, Fisher, Forster, Nildottie and Ridley in the area of the district council of Ridley; and\n\t(d)\tthe hundred of Skurray in the area of the district council of Truro; and\n\t(e)\tthe municipalities of Murray Bridge and Renmark; and\n\t(f)\tthe counties of Young and Hamley; and\n\t(g)\tany other part of the State that the Governor may, by regulation, declare to be part of the production area;\nsale includes supply;\nwine grapes means any variety of grapes used or intended to be used for processing into wine, must, juice or grape spirit.\n\t(2)\tFor the purposes of this Act, if wine grapes are supplied to a processor for processing and the product derived from the processing is sold to that processor or some other processor, the contract of sale will be taken to be a contract for the sale of the grapes by the supplier to the processor who purchases the product.\nNote—\nFor definition of divisional penalties (and divisional expiation fees) see Appendix.\n4—Application\nThis Act does not apply in relation to the sale of wine grapes by a member of a registered co-operative to the co-operative.\n5—Indicative price\n\t(1)\tThe Minister may, by order, recommend a price (expressed as an amount per tonne) for wine grapes grown in the production area and sold to a processor.\n\t(2)\tThe price may vary according to the variety of wine grapes.\n6—Terms and conditions of payment\n\t(1)\tThe Minister may, by order, fix terms and conditions relating to—\n\t(a)\tthe time within which payment for wine grapes must be made by processors; and\n\t(b)\tpayments (which are to be regarded as payments in the nature of liquidated damages) to be made by processors in default of payment within that time.\n\t(2)\tIn determining terms and conditions, the Minister must not differentiate between processors.\n\t(3)\tAny terms and conditions fixed under this section are implied in every contract for the sale of wine grapes to a processor and any provision of a contract or other instrument is void to the extent of any inconsistency with those terms and conditions.\n7—Consultation\n\t(1)\tThe Minister must, before recommending prices or fixing terms and conditions under this Act, consult representatives of both producers and processors and may consult such other persons as he or she thinks fit.\n\t(2)\tA person may, at the request of the Minister or otherwise—\n\t(a)\tmake a submission to the Minister on the exercise of powers under this Act; and\n\t(b)\tengage in discussions or negotiations incidental to making or considering such a submission.\n8—Orders\n\t(1)\tThe Minister may vary or revoke an order under this Act by subsequent order.\n\t(2)\tThe Minister must publish in the Gazette each order made under this Act.\n\t(3)\tAn order under this Act comes into operation on the date of its publication in the Gazette or on such later date as is specified in the order but may, if it so provides, apply to contracts made before the date on which it comes into operation.\n9—Conditions for acceptance of delivery\n\t(1)\tA processor must not accept delivery of wine grapes for processing unless—\n\t(a)\tall amounts that have previously fallen due for payment by the processor for wine grapes received by the processor, or any person acting on the processor's behalf, in a previous season have been paid in full; or\n\t(b)\tthe processor has been granted an exemption under this section.\nPenalty: Division 5 fine.\n\t(2)\tIf a processor enters into a contract for the sale of wine grapes and is prohibited by this section from accepting delivery of the grapes, the processor will be regarded as being in breach of a fundamental condition of the contract.\n\t(3)\tThe Minister may, by written notice, exempt a processor from this section subject to such conditions (if any) as the Minister specifies in the notice.\n\t(4)\tThe Minister may, by written notice, revoke an exemption or vary or revoke any conditions to which an exemption is subject.\n\t(5)\tA processor who contravenes or fails to comply with a condition of an exemption is guilty of an offence.\nPenalty: Division 5 fine.\n10—Offences\n\t(1)\tOffences against this Act are summary offences.\n\t(2)\tProceedings for an offence against this Act must be commenced within 12 months after the date on which the offence is alleged to have been committed.\n\t(3)\tProceedings for an offence against this Act must not be commenced except with the authorisation of the Minister.\n\t(4)\tAn apparently genuine document purporting to be under the hand of the Minister and to authorise the commencement of proceedings under this Act must be accepted in legal proceedings, in the absence of proof to the contrary, as proof of the authorisation.\nLegislative history\nNotes\n\t•\tFor further information relating to the Act and subordinate legislation made under the Act see the Index of South Australian Statutes or www.legislation.sa.gov.au.\nLegislation amended by principal Act\nThe Wine Grapes Industry Act 1991 amended the following:\nPrices Act 1948\nPrincipal Act and amendments\nNew entries appear in bold.\nYear\nNo\nTitle\nAssent\nCommencement\n1991\n71\nWine Grapes Industry Act 1991\n12.12.1991\n12.12.1991 (Gazette 12.12.1991 p1747)\n1992\n78\nWine Grapes Industry (Indicative Prices) Amendment Act 1992\n3.12.1992\n3.12.1992\nProvisions amended\nNew entries appear in bold.\nEntries that relate to provisions that have been deleted appear in italics.\nProvision\nHow varied\nCommencement\nLong title\namended under Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002\n\ns 2\nomitted under Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002\n\ns 3(1)\n\n\nproduction area\namended by 78/1992 s 2\n3.12.1992\nSch\nomitted under Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002\n\nAppendix—Divisional penalties and expiation fees\nAt the date of publication of this version divisional penalties and expiation fees are, as provided by section 28A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1915, as follows:\n\nDivision\nMaximum imprisonment\nMaximum fine\nExpiation fee\n1\n15 years\n$60 000\n—\n2\n10 years\n$40 000\n—\n3\n7 years\n$30 000\n—\n4\n4 years\n$15 000\n—\n5\n2 years\n$8 000\n—\n6\n1 year\n$4 000\n$300\n7\n6 months\n$2 000\n$200\n8\n3 months\n$1 000\n$150\n9\n–\n$500\n$100\n10\n–\n$200\n$75\n11\n–\n$100\n$50\n12\n–\n$50\n$25\nNote: This appendix is provided for convenience of reference only.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"Yes. The defined \"production area\" was amended by the Wine Grapes Industry (Indicative Prices) Amendment Act 1992 (78/1992 s2), and later technical revisions removed or omitted specified provisions under the Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002. Those amendments altered which localities fall within the Act's geographic reach; the Act continues to exclude member‑to‑registered co‑operative sales (s4)."},"complexity_factors":["Ministerial discretion to recommend prices and fix payment terms by order (s5, s6)","Orders can be varied, revoked, published and may apply to contracts made before commencement (s8(1)‑(3))","Terms fixed by the Minister are implied in every contract and inconsistent private contract terms are void (s6(3))","Exemption regime for processors with ministerial conditions, revocation and offence for non‑compliance (s9(3)‑(5))","Mandatory consultation requirement before orders, but broad discretion on whom to consult (s7)","Prosecution constraints: summary offences, 12‑month limitation and proceedings only with Ministerial authorisation (s10(1)‑(4))","Geographical scope set by detailed local listings and expandable by Governor regulation (s3(1)(a)‑(g))","Application carve‑out for sales by a member to a registered co‑operative (s4)","Penalty framework uses divisional penalties/expiation fees (Appendix) which affect enforcement exposure"],"plain_english_summary":"This Act lets the Minister recommend per‑tonne indicative prices and fix standard payment terms for wine grapes sold to processors in a defined production area, and makes those terms implied into every contract. It affects grape producers and processors (not member‑to‑registered co‑operative sales). Mechanically, it centralises pricing and payment rules, allows ministerial orders (including exemptions) and consultation, and restricts prosecutions to cases authorised by the Minister."},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as the legislative text was not returned. The document provided is a '404 Page Not Found' error from the South Australian legislation website, containing no substantive legal content to evaluate against any original intent."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative text was retrievable — the source document is a website error page, not actual legislation","No provisions, definitions, schedules, or operative clauses are available for analysis","Complexity cannot be meaningfully assessed without the Act's content"],"plain_english_summary":"**What happened here?**\n\nThe link provided did not successfully retrieve the text of the *Wine Grapes Industry Act 1991* (SA). Instead, the South Australian legislation website returned a **\"Page Not Found\"** error, likely because the URL or bookmark used was created before a website update on 24 March 2026 and is now broken.\n\n**What is known about this Act?**\n\nThe *Wine Grapes Industry Act 1991* is a South Australian law that historically governed the wine grape industry in SA — covering matters such as the pricing and terms of sale of wine grapes between growers and wineries, dispute resolution, and industry regulation. It would typically affect **wine grape growers** (farmers who grow grapes for wine production) and **wine producers/wineries** who purchase those grapes.\n\n**What you should do**\n\nTo read the actual current text of this legislation, visit the SA legislation website directly at [legislation.sa.gov.au](https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au) and search for the Act by name. The old link is simply broken — the law itself may still be in force or may have been amended or repealed."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains focused on its original purpose of regulating wine grape marketing in South Australia's Riverland region. The 1992 amendment expanded the 'production area' definition to include additional hundreds (Bowhill, Fisher, Forster, Nildottie, Ridley, Skurray) and the counties of Young and Hamley, but this represents a geographic expansion consistent with the original intent rather than scope creep. No subsequent amendments have altered the fundamental regulatory scheme of indicative pricing, payment terms, and processor restrictions."},"complexity_factors":["Short statute with only 10 operative sections (excluding title and appendix)","Minimal cross-referencing - only internal references to 'this Act' and one reference to the Acts Interpretation Act 1915 in the Appendix","7 defined terms in section 3(1), all straightforward (payment, processor, producer, production area, sale, wine grapes)","Simple conditional structure with clear 'if-then' logic in sections 4, 9(1), and 9(2)","No nested exceptions - only one clear exemption in section 4 (co-operative members) and one exemption power in section 9(3)","Single delegated power (Minister making orders) with straightforward procedural requirements (Gazette publication, consultation)","No complex temporal provisions or transitional arrangements","Penalty structure relies on external 'divisional penalties' system rather than bespoke penalty provisions"],"plain_english_summary":"This South Australian law protects wine grape growers in specific Riverland and Murraylands regions by ensuring they get paid fairly and on time when selling grapes to wine processors.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Sets recommended prices**: The Minister can recommend fair prices per tonne for different grape varieties grown in designated \"production areas\" (mainly the Riverland region including Berri, Loxton, Renmark, Waikerie and surrounding areas).\n- **Enforces payment terms**: The Minister can set rules about when processors must pay for grapes, and impose penalty payments (like late fees) if processors pay late.\n- **Blocks dodgy processors**: Processors can't accept new grape deliveries if they still owe money for grapes from the previous season, unless the Minister gives them a special exemption.\n- **Overrides unfair contracts**: Any payment terms set by the Minister automatically become part of every grape sale contract, and any contract terms that contradict these rules are void (legally unenforceable).\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- **Producers**: People who grow wine grapes for sale (including share farmers and partners, but not employees who don't own the grapes).\n- **Processors**: Wineries and other businesses that buy grapes to make wine, juice, or grape spirit. This includes middlemen who buy grapes just to resell them to actual processors.\n- **Geographic scope**: Only applies to specific council areas in South Australia's Riverland and Murraylands regions, though the Governor can add more areas by regulation.\n\n**Who it doesn't cover:**\n- Sales by members to their registered co-operatives (these are exempt).\n\n**Why it matters:**\nWine grape growing is a significant industry in South Australia, and this law prevents processors from exploiting growers through delayed payments or unfair pricing. It gives the government power to intervene in commercial relationships to ensure growers get paid promptly, protecting the economic viability of grape growing in the region."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/wine-grapes-industry-act-1991","history":"/api/acts/wine-grapes-industry-act-1991/history","analysis":"/api/acts/wine-grapes-industry-act-1991/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/wine-grapes-industry-act-1991/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/wine-grapes-industry-act-1991/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/wine-grapes-industry-act-1991/documents"}}