The Act and the Schedule are drafted with explicit interactions with pre-existing statutes, state legal limits, trust law and Commonwealth notification procedures. The textual commitments identify where Church law yields to state law and where it supplements or continues pre-existing legal relationships.
State law supremacy and inconsistency
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Any canon or rule made under the Constitution that contravenes any law or statute in force in the State is incapable of having force or effect to the extent of the contravention, s 3. This is an express conflict rule placing state statutes above canons for the parts that are inconsistent, and it obliges those making and applying canons to consider compatibility with state law.
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A construction saving is included to read the Act not to exceed the legislative power of the State, s 10. This clause operates as an interpretive instruction to preserve as much of the Act as possible within constitutional limits.
Continuing operation of trust statutes and substitutions
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The Church of England Trust Property Act 1917 is confirmed to continue to apply to Church trust property within the meaning of the Act, and references to the Church of England in that Act are to be read as references to the Church of England in Australia, s 5. This preserves established trust-law arrangements while mapping the Church’s new corporate identity onto them.
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The Act requires that the Church of England Trust Property Act 1917 and all other Acts, statutes, grants, deeds, wills, instruments and synod ordinances in existence when the Constitution takes effect be read and construed as if the name “Church of England in Australia” were substituted for references to the “Church of England” or similar expressions, s 6. That produces a textual continuity for disposers of property and for statutory references, but it does not displace state law constraints.
Tribunals and arbitration law
- A tribunal under chapter nine of the Constitution is to be treated as an arbitrator referred to in the Commercial Arbitration Act 2010 for the purpose of securing attendance of witnesses and production of documents, and in that capacity has power to administer oaths and to treat parties as bound by an arbitration agreement for those limited purposes, s 9. The Schedule repeats that tribunals are to be treated as arbitrators in any law in force in the State or territory in which the tribunal sits, sch Pt 2, ch 9 s 62. This cross-reference plugs the tribunal processes into the statutory arbitration enforcement tools available under state and Commonwealth legislation.
Evidence and admissibility
- The Constitution allows authenticated copies of canons or resolutions sealed with the official seal to be admissible in evidence without further proof, sch Pt 2, ch 4 s 25(2). This interacts with court evidence rules in that certified church documents are made readily admissible in civil proceedings; however, admissibility does not mean the court will give them effect if they conflict with state law, because of s 3.
References to Commonwealth procedures
- Commencement procedures are linked to Commonwealth Gazette notification under section 68 of the Constitution and to notification in state gazettes, s 12; sch Pt 2, ch 12 s 68. The Act accepts as conclusive a Commonwealth Gazette copy purporting to be signed by one or more Metropolitans, s 12. This creates a documentary mechanism for establishing effective dates that sits across Commonwealth and state publication systems.
Interpretive and comparative law references
- The Constitution contemplates taking into account decisions of English ecclesiastical judicial authorities and Commonwealth-era bodies, but provides that such decisions have permissive effect only and are not binding, sch Pt 2, ch 12 ss 72-73. The Constitution also declares that “judicial authority” includes historical bodies and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council for the purpose of reference, sch Pt 2, ch 12 s 74(5). That situates the Church’s internal law in comparative ecclesiastical jurisprudence, while disclaiming compulsion.
Application to dioceses across jurisdictions
- The Constitution takes effect only in dioceses that assent, and sch Pt 2, ch 12 s 68 sets out requirements for appointment of the day including parliamentary enactments in at least five States before the Constitution takes effect. The Act itself applies, per s 2, to dioceses in the State of New South Wales, but sch Pt 2, ch 12 ss 68-69 describe mechanisms for making the Constitution apply more widely, including requirements for diocesan ordinances and parliamentary enactments in other States. Practically, that means the Act’s local effect is nested within a plan for national application that depends on separate state actions and diocesan assent.
Acts to be read with Acts Interpretation Act
- The Schedule declares that the Constitution shall be construed as if the Acts Interpretation Act 1901-1948 of the Commonwealth applied, sch Pt 2, ch 12 s 74(7), which affects how references, gendered language, and other interpretive issues are handled in the Constitution.