3 Insertion of new section 13A in the Church of England Act 1854 2
4 Insertion of new section 4A in the Anglican Trusts Corporations Act 1884 3
5 Amendment of section 12 in the Anglican Trusts Corporations Act 1884 4
6 Insertion of new section 12A in the Anglican Trusts Corporations Act 1884 4
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Endnotes 8
1 General information 8
2 Table of Amendments 10
3 Explanatory details 11
Version No.001
Anglican Church of Australia Act 1985
No. 10194 of 1985
Version as at
28 February 2023
An Act to amend the Church of England Act 1854 and the Act No. 797 of the Parliament of Victoria and for other purposes.
WHEREAS by the Church of England Act 1854 provision is made for the election of lay representatives of parishes as members of a Synod of a diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia in Victoria.
And whereas it is agreed by all dioceses that the provisions of the Church of England Act 1854 be altered to permit the lay membership of Synod to be widened by the admission of persons nominated, appointed or ex officio:
And whereas by the Act No. 797 of the Parliament of Victoria provision is made for the establishment by dioceses of corporate bodies to hold as trustees property of the diocese:
And whereas it is agreed by all dioceses that the powers of those corporate bodies should be widened to enable them to invest in common funds and mortgage, charge or otherwise encumber trust property:
And whereas the names of the corporate bodies established by some dioceses include the words "Church of England":
And whereas the name of the Church was changed under and in accordance with the Anglican Church of Australia Constitution (Amendment) Act 1977:
And whereas it is agreed by all dioceses that it is desirable to enable the name of a corporate body of a diocese to be changed by omitting the words "Church of England" and by including the words "Anglican Church of Australia":
And whereas it is expedient for the Legislature to make provision for those matters.
Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly of Victoria in this present Parliament assembled and by the authority of the same as follows (that is to say):
1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the Anglican Church of Australia Act 1985.
2 Commencement
This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.
3 Insertion of new section 13A in the Church of England Act 1854
18 Vict. No. 45 as amended by No. 1947 and affected by Nos 45, 157, 454, 797, 1821, 1947, 6628 and 8984.
After section 13 of the Church of England Act 1854 there shall be inserted the following section:
Lay membership of Synod.
"13A. On and after the commencement of the Anglican Church of Australia Act 1985, the power of a Synod to alter the constitution of that or any future Synod with respect to lay membership includes the power to provide for the election, nomination or appointment of lay members, whether or not as representatives of parishes, and for lay members ex officio.".
4 Insertion of new section 4A in the Anglican Trusts Corporations Act 1884
No. 797 as affected by Nos 1947, 6626 and 8984.
After section 4 of the Act No. 797 of the Parliament of Victoria there shall be inserted the following section:
Change of name of Diocesan Trusts Corporation.
"4A. (1) The Church Synod in a diocese may from time to time by a resolution made with the concurrence of a majority both of the clergy and the laity, the votes of the clergy and those of the laity being separately taken, and the resolution receiving the assent of the Bishop, change the name of the corporate body of trustees to a name specified in the resolution.
(2) The Bishop of the diocese shall as soon as possible after the passing of a resolution under sub-section (1) cause a copy of the resolution duly certified under his hand to be delivered to the Registrar-General who shall retain the copy and register the resolution.
(3) After the registration of the resolution, the Registrar-General shall notify the change of name in the Government Gazette and upon that notification, the change of name takes effect.
(4) A change of name under this section does not operate—
(a) to create a new legal entity;
(b) to prejudice or affect the identity of the body corporate constituted by the corporate body of trustees or its continuity as a body corporate;
(c) to affect the property, or the rights and obligations, of the corporate body of trustees; or
(d) to render defective any legal proceedings by or against the corporate body of trustees—
and any legal proceedings that could have been continued or commenced by or against the corporate body of trustees by its former name may be continued or commenced by or against its new name.".
5 Amendment of section 12 in the Anglican Trusts Corporations Act 1884
No. 797.
In section 12 of the Act No. 797 of the Parliament of Victoria for the words "and dealt with" (where first and secondly occurring) there shall be substituted the words "dealt with, mortgaged, charged or otherwise encumbered".
6 Insertion of new section 12A in the Anglican Trusts Corporations Act 1884
No. 797.
After section 12 of the Act No. 797 of the Parliament of Victoria there shall be inserted the following section:
Common Funds.
'12A. (1) In this section—
"Common Fund" means a Common Fund authorized in accordance with this section to be established and kept in the books of a trusts corporation.
"Trusts Corporation" in relation to a diocese means the corporate body of trustees constituted within the diocese under this Act.
(2) Where the Synod of a diocese by resolution has so authorized, the trusts corporation of that diocese may, subject to the directions (if any) of the Synod, in its discretion, invest any moneys in its hands whether or not they are subject to any express trust—
(a) on the separate account of any trust or person; or
(b) (if the moneys are not directed by the terms of the trust to be invested in some other specified manner and investment in a Common Fund is not specifically prohibited by the terms of the trust governing these moneys) as part of a Common Fund established and kept in the books of the trusts corporation.
(3) A trusts corporation of a diocese may invest moneys forming part of a Common Fund in any manner in which trust moneys may be invested by a trustee under any Act or in any manner authorized by the Synod of the diocese.
(4) Investments made from moneys forming part of a Common Fund of a trusts corporation of a diocese shall not be made on account of or belong to any particular trust or person but the trusts corporation shall cause to be kept in the books of the trusts corporation accounts from which may be determined at any time the current amount at credit in a Common Fund kept by it on account of each trust or person.
(5) The trusts corporation of a diocese may in its discretion make advances of moneys forming part of a Common Fund for any purpose of or relating to the diocese.
(6) An advance of moneys under sub-section (5) shall be deemed to be an investment of moneys forming part of the Common Fund and shall bear interest at a rate fixed by the trusts corporation and the amount advanced and the interest thereon shall be a charge on the assets of the diocese.
(7) A trusts corporation of a diocese may sell investments belonging to a Common Fund and may withdraw any of the moneys belonging to a Common Fund for any purpose of or relating to the exercise and discharge of its powers and duties under this or any other Act or under any trust or under any direction of the Synod of the diocese.
(8) A trusts corporation of a diocese may in its discretion at any time withdraw from a Common Fund any amount at credit in the Common Fund on the account of any trust or person and may invest that amount on a separate account of that trust or person.
(9) Amounts withdrawn from a Common Fund under sub-section (8) shall as from the date of withdrawal cease to have any claim for interest or otherwise from the Common Fund.
(10) Any profits or losses upon realisation of any investment in a Common Fund shall be credited or debited (as the case requires) to the Common Fund and be received or borne proportionately by the several amounts in the Common Fund on account of each trust or person at the time of the realisation.
(11) As on the first day of each month a trusts corporation of a diocese shall, in respect of each Common Fund kept by it, determine the value of the investments in the Common Fund as on that day and, in respect of securities listed on a Stock Exchange, the quotations published by the Stock Exchange shall be prima facie evidence of value and if there are no such quotations on that day the valuation of the chairman or secretary of the relevant Stock Exchange shall be prima facie evidence of the value.
(12) Additions to, or withdrawals from, a Common Fund shall during any month be effected on the basis of the valuation under sub-section (11) made as on the first day of that month.
(13) The trusts corporation of a diocese shall pay or allocate the income arising from a Common Fund proportionately to or among the trusts or persons entitled to the income of the Common Fund in proportion to the several amounts in the Common Fund on account of each trust or person and the period for which they formed part of the Common Fund.'.
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Endnotes
1 General information
See www.legislation.vic.gov.au for Victorian Bills, Acts and current Versions of legislation and up-to-date legislative information.
Minister's second reading speech—
Legislative Council: 17 July 1985
Legislative Assembly: 18 September 1985
The long title for the Bill for this Act was–—
An Act to amend the Church of England Act 1854 and the Anglican Trusts Corporations Act 1884 of the Parliament of Victoria and for other purposes.
The Anglican Church of Australia Act 1985 was assented to on 8 October 1985 and came into operation on 8 October 1985: section 2.
INTERPRETATION OF LEGISLATION ACT 1984 (ILA)
Style changes
Section 54A of the ILA authorises the making of the style changes set out in Schedule 1 to that Act.
References to ILA s. 39B
Sidenotes which cite ILA s. 39B refer to section 39B of the ILA which provides that where an undivided section or clause of a Schedule is amended by the insertion of one or more subsections or subclauses, the original section or clause becomes subsection or subclause (1) and is amended by the insertion of the expression "(1)" at the beginning of the original section or clause.
Interpretation
As from 1 January 2001, amendments to section 36 of the ILA have the following effects:
• Headings
All headings included in an Act which is passed on or after 1 January 2001 form part of that Act. Any heading inserted in an Act which was passed before 1 January 2001, by an Act passed on or after 1 January 2001, forms part of that Act. This includes headings to Parts, Divisions or Subdivisions in a Schedule; sections; clauses; items; tables; columns; examples; diagrams; notes or forms. See section 36(1A)(2A).
• Examples, diagrams or notes
All examples, diagrams or notes included in an Act which is passed on or after 1 January 2001 form part of that Act. Any examples, diagrams or notes inserted in an Act which was passed before 1 January 2001, by an Act passed on or after 1 January 2001, form part of that Act. See section 36(3A).
• Punctuation
All punctuation included in an Act which is passed on or after 1 January 2001 forms part of that Act. Any punctuation inserted in an Act which was passed before 1 January 2001, by an Act passed on or after 1 January 2001, forms part of that Act. See section 36(3B).
• Provision numbers
All provision numbers included in an Act form part of that Act, whether inserted in the Act before, on or after 1 January 2001. Provision numbers include section numbers, subsection numbers, paragraphs and subparagraphs. See section 36(3C).
• Location of "legislative items"
A "legislative item" is a penalty, an example or a note. As from 13 October 2004, a legislative item relating to a provision of an Act is taken to be at the foot of that provision even if it is preceded or followed by another legislative item that relates to that provision. For example, if a penalty at the foot of a provision is followed by a note, both of these legislative items will be regarded as being at the foot of that provision. See section 36B.
• Other material
Any explanatory memorandum, table of provisions, endnotes, index and other material printed after the Endnotes does not form part of an Act.
See section 36(3)(3D)(3E).
2 Table of Amendments
There are no amendments made to the Anglican Church of Australia Act 1985 by Acts and subordinate instruments.
3 Explanatory details
No entries at date of publication.
Section 1 - Anglican Church of Australia Act 1985 - Anglican Church of Australia Act 1985 | Zoe