Child Support (Commonwealth Powers) Act 2019

The Act operates through two constitutional devices and a handful of drafting definitions.

• Adoption of Commonwealth law (s 4). The Act adopts the Commonwealth Child Support laws specified in the definitions (s 3). Subsection 4(1) states the adopted laws are those "in the form in which they exist at the end of the day before commencement day." Subsection 4(2) limits the temporal effect of the adoption to the period beginning on commencement day and ending on the termination day fixed under s 6. Adoption here is for the purposes of section 51(xxxvii) of the Commonwealth Constitution, the referral power.

• Reference of a subject‑matter (s 5). Section 5(1) refers the "matter of the maintenance of exnuptial children" to the Commonwealth Parliament. The referral expressly includes the matter of amending or otherwise affecting the operation of the Commonwealth Child Support laws (s 5(2)). It excludes content already addressed in Part VII of the Commonwealth Family Law Act 1975, including conferring jurisdiction on specified courts (s 5(3)).

• Temporal and revocation mechanics (s 6). The Governor may fix a termination day by proclamation (s 6(1)), but the termination day must be no earlier than the first day after the end of the 12‑month period beginning with the Gazettal date of the proclamation (s 6(2)). A revoking proclamation can be made and will have effect only if published before the termination day (s 6(3)-(4)); if a revoking proclamation has effect it is taken never to have been made for the purposes of ss 4(2) and 5(5) (s 6(5)). Importantly, no proclamation (initial or revoking) can be made unless a draft has first been approved by a resolution passed by both Houses of the WA Parliament (s 6(7)).

• Definitions (s 3). The Act defines "Commonwealth Child Support laws" to include the two named Commonwealth Acts, and "any Commonwealth enactment that (i) amends or otherwise affects the operation" of those Acts and (ii) "has not come into operation before commencement day" (s 3). It also defines adoption, commencement day, reference and related terms.

• Amendment to WA statute (Pt 3, ss 7-8). The Family Court Act 1997 is amended so that its local definitions for the child support statutes are deleted and replaced with cross‑references to the Commonwealth Acts (s 8). The Act provides notes indicating those definitions should be read with reference to this Act.

• Repeal of prior Act (s 9). The Child Support (Adoption of Laws) Act 1990 is repealed.

Interpretive tensions and scope points that the Act itself creates are central: s 4(1) adopts the Commonwealth laws "as in force" at a fixed snapshot in time (end of the day before commencement), while s 3(c) defines Commonwealth Child Support laws to include Commonwealth enactments that amend those Acts and "have not come into operation before commencement day." The Act separately says the referral includes amending the Commonwealth Child Support laws (s 5(2)). These drafting choices fix the legal text that applies in WA while also signalling that future Commonwealth amendments are within the scope of the referred matter. The Act however expressly excludes Part VII Family Law Act matters such as court jurisdiction (s 5(3)), limiting the referral’s practical reach.

Primary subjects affected are the legal and administrative actors engaged in child support matters in Western Australia, and, indirectly, the individuals who are parties to child support obligations.

• Individuals with child support interests. Parents, custodial guardians, and the children for whom maintenance is payable will be governed, for the period of adoption and reference, by the Commonwealth Child Support laws as adopted by s 4(1) insofar as those laws relate to maintenance of exnuptial children. Although the Act does not reproduce operational detail, it changes the legal source of obligations by declaring that the Commonwealth Acts apply in WA for the stated period (s 4(1)-(2)). Consequently, assessments, registration and collection mechanisms under the Commonwealth Acts (which are the adopted instruments) will determine calculation and enforcement for those matters during the adoption period.

• WA courts and practitioners. The Family Court Act 1997 is amended to replace its local definitions with references to the Commonwealth Acts (Pt 3, s 8). That will affect how WA courts and legal practitioners identify the applicable child support statutes when advising clients or exercising jurisdiction that touches child support terms. However, the Act excludes Part VII Family Law Act matters including conferring jurisdiction on specified courts (s 5(3)), so jurisdictional arrangements remain constrained by that exclusion.

• WA Government and Parliament. The Act changes the locus of legislative competence on the referred matter by transferring (temporarily) the law‑making capacity to the Commonwealth under the referral model of s 51(xxxvii). The Governor has executive authority to fix the termination day by proclamation, but only if a draft proclamation has been approved by resolution of both Houses of the WA Parliament (s 6(1), (7)). That creates an interinstitutional decision pathway: the Executive proposes (via proclamation) and the Parliament must approve the draft before the proclamation may be made. The requirement for at least 12 months’ lead time before termination (s 6(2)) imposes a procedural constraint on how rapidly the state may retrieve the power.

• Commonwealth Parliament and agencies. The Commonwealth Parliament receives the referred matter and thus is empowered to legislate about maintenance of exnuptial children for WA under s 51(xxxvii) to the extent the matter is not already within its legislative power (s 5(4)). The Act also indicates that the referral includes amendments to the Commonwealth Child Support laws (s 5(2)), signalling to Commonwealth agencies and Parliament that future legislative or administrative changes will be relevant to WA during the life of the referral.

• Entities reliant on the 1990 Act. The Act repeals the Child Support (Adoption of Laws) Act 1990 (s 9). Any individual or agency relying upon that prior enactment must now follow the scheme established by the present Act or the Commonwealth Acts as adopted.

Who does not get affected by this instrument is also specified. The Act expressly excludes the matters addressed by Part VII of the Family Law Act 1975, including conferring jurisdiction on the Family Court of Australia, the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, or the Family Court of Western Australia (s 5(3)). Therefore, questions about jurisdictional competence of those courts remain outside this referral and adoption.

The Act itself establishes rights and duties primarily by reference to the Commonwealth Child Support laws it adopts; it does not create new substantive private law duties beyond that adoption. The Act sets the legal framework that determines which statutory instruments govern maintenance of exnuptial children in WA for the adoption period. Key points:

• Duty to follow Commonwealth child support regime. By adopting the Commonwealth Child Support laws "in the form in which they exist at the end of the day before commencement day" (s 4(1)), the Act imports whatever duties, liabilities, administrative obligations and entitlements are contained in those Commonwealth Acts, insofar as they relate to maintenance of exnuptial children. This includes duty to provide information, comply with assessments, and obligations as to payment, registration and collection procedures that are specified in the adopted Commonwealth Acts. The Act itself does not replicate those procedural duties; it makes them operative in WA by statutory adoption (s 4(1)).

• Right of the Commonwealth to legislate for the referred matter. Section 5(1) refers the matter to the Commonwealth Parliament. That referral is a grant of legislative competence; it enables the Commonwealth to enact laws within the scope of the referred matter for WA. Section 5(2) clarifies that the matter referred includes amendment of the Commonwealth Child Support laws, thus allowing the Commonwealth to reshape the substantive and procedural content of child support law that will apply in WA for the life of the referral.

• Exclusions from reference (rights retained by WA). Section 5(3) preserves WA’s control over matters addressed by Part VII of the Family Law Act 1975, specifically excluding conferral of jurisdiction on the listed courts. This creates a legal boundary protecting certain jurisdictional matters from the referral, meaning rights and duties that flow from Part VII remain outside the referral.

• Temporal limits and executive duty to consult Parliament. The Governor may fix a termination day, but cannot make such a proclamation unless a draft proclamation is first approved by resolution of both Houses of the State Parliament (s 6(1), (7)). This imposes a procedural duty on the Executive to secure parliamentary approval before terminating the adoption and the referral. The termination day must be at least 12 months after Gazettal of the proclamation (s 6(2)), creating a statutory minimum notice requirement before the termination takes effect.

• Effect of revocation. A revoking proclamation that has effect is taken to mean that the revoked proclamation was never made for the purposes of ss 4(2) and 5(5) (s 6(5)). That affects legal certainty for the period the adoption and referral would otherwise have applied, and it modifies the temporal operation of the adopted laws and referred matter.

• Statutory cross‑references in WA law. The Family Court Act 1997 is amended to refer to the Commonwealth Acts by name in its definitions (s 8). That creates an interlocking duty for WA courts and tribunals to treat the Commonwealth Acts as the point of reference for matters that intersect with child support law.

The Act contains no express financial obligations borne by the State, no appropriations, and no operational directives on how assessments, registration, or collection will be administered in practice. Those operational duties and rights reside in the adopted Commonwealth statutes. Therefore, for particulars about enforcement powers, review rights, or procedural obligations, practitioners must consult the text of the Commonwealth Child Support laws adopted at the snapshot date (s 4(1)).

This Act does not itself specify penalties, fines, criminal offences, enforcement agencies or administrative sanctioning regimes. Its enforcement profile therefore operates indirectly through the Commonwealth Child Support laws that it adopts (s 4(1)) rather than through any new WA‑based penalties.

• Enforcement mechanisms are in the adopted Commonwealth laws. The Act adopts the Commonwealth Child Support laws "in the form in which they exist at the end of the day before commencement day" (s 4(1)). Any penalties, administrative enforcement powers (for example, garnishee notices, withholding, administrative penalties, or criminal offences) that are contained within those Commonwealth statutes will, by virtue of the adoption, be the operative enforcement regime in WA for matters within the scope of the adoption. The Act itself does not replicate or vary those enforcement mechanisms.

• No new WA enforcement agencies or powers created. The Act contains no provisions creating WA administrative bodies, enforcement officers, investigative powers, or court‑level enforcement procedures beyond its amendment to the Family Court Act 1997 (Pt 3). Enforcement therefore remains a matter of the substantive Commonwealth Acts and the agencies that administer them, insofar as those Acts are operative in WA by adoption and insofar as Commonwealth institutions exercise functions under those Acts.

• Termination and legal effect. The temporal nature of the adoption and the referral (s 4(2); s 5(5); s 6) introduces an enforcement uncertainty window. If a termination proclamation is made (s 6(1)) and given effect, the adopted Commonwealth laws will cease to have effect in WA at the termination day. A revoking proclamation that is published before the termination day and that "has effect" results in the revoked proclamation being treated as never made for the purposes of ss 4(2) and 5(5) (s 6(5)). These provisions affect the period during which enforcement powers derived from the adopted Commonwealth statutes operate in WA.

• No financial allocation or administrative transition rules. The Act does not provide for funding, staffing, agency responsibilities, or transitional administrative steps for enforcement. For practical enforcement, agencies (Commonwealth or State) must rely on existing administrative arrangements or separate intergovernmental agreements, none of which are created or required by this Act.

• Jurisdictional exclusions. Section 5(3) preserves matters addressed in Part VII of the Family Law Act 1975 and excludes conferring jurisdiction on certain Commonwealth courts. Enforcement actions that require conferral of jurisdiction under Part VII remain outside the scope of this Act. Accordingly, enforcement processes that depend on Part VII jurisdictional arrangements are not altered by this Act.

In short, penalties and enforcement applicable to the maintenance of exnuptial children in WA under this Act are those embedded in the Commonwealth Child Support framework adopted by s 4(1), together with whatever administrative practice exists for implementing those Commonwealth laws in WA. The Act does not itself create a standalone WA enforcement scheme.

This Act operates as an adoption and referral instrument, so its principal interactions are with: (a) the Commonwealth Constitution (s 51(xxxvii)); (b) the specified Commonwealth Child Support statutes; (c) the Commonwealth Family Law Act 1975 Part VII; (d) the Family Court Act 1997 (WA); and (e) the repealed Child Support (Adoption of Laws) Act 1990 (WA). The Act defines interaction points and explicit exclusions.

• Constitutional mechanism: section 51(xxxvii). The Act explicitly adopts and refers matters "for the purposes of section 51(xxxvii) of the Constitution of the Commonwealth" (long title; s 4(1)). That constitutional provision permits a State to refer matters to the Commonwealth Parliament. The Act thus invokes a federational principle, changing the legislative competence for the referred matter.

• Interaction with Commonwealth Child Support laws. The Act adopts the Commonwealth Child Support laws "in the form in which they exist at the end of the day before commencement day" (s 4(1); s 3). That is the clearest statutory interaction: it imports the wording, scope and operative provisions of the named Commonwealth statutes as the source law in WA for the relevant subject‑matter during the adoption period. Section 3(c) also defines Commonwealth Child Support laws to include any Commonwealth enactment that amends or affects the operation of the named Acts and that "has not come into operation before commencement day". This definition interacts with s 4(1) and s 5(2) and creates potential interpretive questions about whether certain Commonwealth enactments are included by reference or not (see below).

• Interaction with Commonwealth amendments. Section 5(2) expressly states that the matter referred includes the matter of amending, or otherwise affecting the operation of, the Commonwealth Child Support laws. That gives the Commonwealth Parliament competence to pass amendments relevant to the referred matter and, depending on constitutional and statutory interpretation, those amendments may become applicable to WA under the referral model. Section 5(4) however limits the reference so that it has effect only if and to the extent the matter is not already within the Commonwealth’s legislative powers otherwise than by reference.

• Exclusion of Family Law Act Part VII matters. Section 5(3) excludes "any matter addressed in the Family Law Act 1975 (Commonwealth) Part VII, including conferring jurisdiction on" the listed courts. This preserves the relationship between family law jurisdiction (as structured under Part VII) and the referral. Practically, the Act leaves intact the framework governing which courts have jurisdiction under Part VII and prevents the referral from being used to change Part VII jurisdictional arrangements.

• Amendment of Family Court Act 1997 (WA). The Act amends the Family Court Act 1997 by removing local child support definitions and replacing them with references to the Commonwealth Acts (s 8). This aligns the WA Family Court Act terminology with the Commonwealth statutes adopted, reducing definitional divergence and promoting textual unity between state and Commonwealth law where child support matters intersect with functions of the Family Court of Western Australia.

• Repeal of prior WA adoption statute. The Act repeals the Child Support (Adoption of Laws) Act 1990 (s 9). Any residual interaction between that prior Act and WA statutes is therefore removed; the present Act supplants the earlier adoption mechanism.

• No express appropriation or administrative transfer. The Act contains no provisions about funding, agency responsibilities, or administrative transfer. Any interaction involving the practical administration of child support (for example, which agency collects payments, how cross‑jurisdictional enforcement is handled, or how data is shared) is not settled by the Act and will be governed by the Commonwealth Acts in force, any administrative arrangements the Commonwealth implements, and any intergovernmental arrangements that may be separately agreed.

• Temporal layering. Because s 4(1) adopts a snapshot ("as in the form in which they exist at the end of the day before commencement day"), the Act interacts with later Commonwealth legislative developments through s 5(2) (the referral includes the matter of amending those laws). The combined effect is that the initial operative text in WA is the snapshot adopted; subsequently, the Commonwealth may legislate regarding the referred matter and those laws may apply to WA within the scope of the referral subject to constitutional limits and the terms of any Commonwealth enactments.

These interactions create a hybrid legal environment in which the text of Commonwealth child support statutes (as adopted) governs WA child support matters during the adoption period, while the Commonwealth retains the competence to amend the regime insofar as the referral covers that subject matter.

The Act itself is compact and records a simple amendment and repeal history within its provisions and the compilation table.

• Enactment and commencement. The compilation table in the Notes shows the short title, number and year (7 of 2019), assent date (15 May 2019) and commencement date (15 May 2019) (Notes, Compilation table). Section 2 confirms the Act comes into operation on the day on which it receives Royal Assent.

• Amendments effected by this Act. Part 3 of the Act amends the Family Court Act 1997 (s 7). Section 8 specifically amends section 5(1) of the Family Court Act 1997 by deleting the existing definitions "Child Support (Assessment) Act" and "Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act" and inserting in alphabetical order definitions that explicitly identify those as Commonwealth Acts (s 8(1)-(2)). The new definitions include notes referring readers to this Act.

• Repeal. Part 4, section 9 repeals the Child Support (Adoption of Laws) Act 1990. The Act contains no transitional provisions in respect of that repeal; it is an outright repeal.

• Defined terms and cross‑references. Section 3 establishes the defined terms used by the Act, including "Commonwealth Child Support laws", which combines the two named Commonwealth Acts and any Commonwealth enactment that amends or affects their operation and "has not come into operation before commencement day" (s 3(a)-(c)). As noted elsewhere, this definition interacts with s 4(1) in a way that may produce interpretive questions about which Commonwealth enactments are included in the snapshot adopted by the State.

• No subsequent amendments recorded in this compilation. The Notes provide a compilation table that lists only the original enactment information. The Act as provided contains no subsequent amendment entries. Any later amendments to this Act would be reflected in future compilations and are not recorded in the text supplied.

In practical terms, the Act’s operative amendments are confined to the Family Court Act 1997 definitions (s 8) and the repeal of the 1990 Act (s 9). The major legal effect is the temporary adoption and referral (Pt 2, ss 4-6), which is implemented by executive action subject to parliamentary approval (s 6(7)) and time constraints (s 6(2)) rather than by an ongoing series of amending clauses within this instrument.

The Act text supplied contains no cases, no recorded judicial authorities, and no litigation history. There are no sections of this Act that reference judicial interpretation, no schedules with transitional litigation provisions, and no notes citing past decisions. The compilation notes record only the enactment and commencement dates (Compilation table). Therefore, based on the source supplied, there is no litigation history to report.

Any future litigation that raises issues under this Act would likely involve questions such as: the constitutional validity of the referral under s 51(xxxvii); the interpretation of the temporal scope of adoption in s 4(1) vis‑à‑vis s 3(c); the scope of the exclusion in s 5(3) concerning Part VII matters; or procedural compliance with the parliamentary approval requirement in s 6(7). None of those points is litigated in the material supplied.

Because the Act adopts Commonwealth legislation by reference, disputes about the content of child support duties, enforcement powers and remedies will primarily arise under the adopted Commonwealth statutes. Any proceedings in WA courts concerning the effect of the adoption or the termination proclamation might raise separable legal questions under WA statute law or constitutional law; the Act itself creates the mechanisms that would be subject to judicial clarification but does not supply a record of adjudication.

This compact Act contains some drafting features and procedural requirements that can create practical or interpretive traps. The principal issues to watch are:

• Snapshot adoption versus broader definition tension. Section 4(1) adopts the Commonwealth Child Support laws "in the form in which they exist at the end of the day before commencement day." Section 3(c) also defines "Commonwealth Child Support laws" to include any Commonwealth enactment that amends the two named Acts and "has not come into operation before commencement day." Read literally, s 3(c) could include enactments not yet in operation at commencement day; s 4(1) then appears to limit adoption to the laws as they exist at the snapshot date. This creates an interpretive tension about whether certain Commonwealth enactments are included in the adopted package. Practitioners should not assume that every Commonwealth amendment automatically applies in WA; instead they should check whether the amendment existed in operative form at the end of the day before commencement. Section 5(2) provides that the referral includes the matter of amending the Commonwealth Child Support laws, which may mean subsequent Commonwealth amendments are within the referred matter, but the textual interplay is a potential source of legal argument.

• Temporal and procedural constraints on termination. A termination proclamation cannot be made unless a draft proclamation has first been approved by resolutions of both Houses of the WA Parliament (s 6(7)). Moreover, the termination day must be no earlier than the first day after the end of the 12‑month period beginning with the Gazette publication of the proclamation (s 6(2)). That produces at least 12 months’ lead time before termination takes effect. If a revoking proclamation is published before the termination day and it "has effect," the revoked proclamation is treated as never having been made for the purposes of ss 4(2) and 5(5) (s 6(3)-(5)). Those technical provisions can affect legal certainty regarding whether the adoption/reference has operated and for what precise period.

• Exclusion of Part VII matters. Section 5(3) excludes matters addressed in Part VII of the Family Law Act 1975, including conferring jurisdiction on the Family Court of Australia, the Federal Circuit Court, or the Family Court of Western Australia. Parties or lawyers who assume the referral transfers jurisdictional architecture to the Commonwealth may be surprised; the Act explicitly preserves those jurisdictional aspects outside the referral.

• No funding or administrative transition rules. The Act contains no provisions addressing how enforcement, collection or administrative responsibilities will be allocated, and no appropriation or funding mechanism is specified. This omission means implementation depends on the Commonwealth’s administrative arrangements or separate intergovernmental agreements. Practitioners should not expect the Act to solve operational or resourcing questions; those are left unresolved by the text.

• Repeal of the 1990 Act without transitional text. Section 9 repeals the Child Support (Adoption of Laws) Act 1990, but the Act does not include transitional savings or specific treatment for matters already in train under the old Act. Parties who previously relied on obligations or processes under the 1990 Act should check how the new adoption and the Commonwealth laws apply to ongoing matters.

• Parliamentary approval before proclamation. The requirement that the draft proclamation be approved by both Houses before the Governor can make it (s 6(7)) is a procedural constraint that may not be anticipated by parties expecting a purely executive act. The necessity of both Houses’ approvals can introduce political and scheduling friction and is a material implementation risk.

• Lack of express interplay with Commonwealth agencies. Because the Act adopts Commonwealth statutes but makes no administrative arrangements, there may be confusion about which agency will exercise functions in WA, especially for collection and enforcement. That administrative lacuna is a practical "gotcha" for service delivery and compliance.

• Potential for differing textual sources. The Family Court Act 1997 amendments (s 8) replace local references with Commonwealth statute names. If a practitioner cites the Family Court Act for child support definitions, they must be alert that those definitions now point to Commonwealth instruments rather than to WA‑originated text.

These points are derived directly from the Act’s text (ss 3-6, 8-9) and represent concrete areas where misreading or oversight can produce legal or operational surprises.

Compliance under this Act requires attention to two linked tasks: (1) determine which Commonwealth Child Support statute texts are operative in WA by reference to the snapshot; and (2) observe the procedural controls should the State decide to terminate the adoption/reference. The Act itself is procedural and referential; compliance therefore means aligning practice with the adopted Commonwealth instruments and following the statutory termination procedures.

Practical steps for advisers and agencies:

• Identify the operative Commonwealth texts. Section 4(1) adopts the Commonwealth Child Support laws "in the form in which they exist at the end of the day before commencement day." To advise clients or to administer cases, identify precisely which versions of the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989 and the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988 were in force at that snapshot time. That is the primary legal source for obligations and rights in WA for the adopted subject matter. Do not assume later Commonwealth amendments automatically apply in WA without checking the operation of the referral provisions (s 5(2)-(4)).

• Track Commonwealth amendments and the referral scope. Section 5(2) states the referral includes amending, or otherwise affecting the operation of, the Commonwealth Child Support laws. Practitioners should monitor Commonwealth parliamentary activity and enactments affecting those laws, and assess whether particular amendments fall within the referred matter and thus apply to WA. Note s 5(4): the reference has effect only to the extent the matter is not otherwise within Commonwealth legislative power. Document the provenance of each amendment to reduce uncertainty about whether it is captured by the referral.

• Use the Family Court Act 1997 updated definitions. The amendments in s 8 replace the deleted WA definitions with explicit references to the Commonwealth Acts. When preparing pleadings, practice notes, advice or policy, refer to the Commonwealth Acts by their names as now defined in the Family Court Act. Cross‑check that the version cited is the one adopted by s 4(1) unless a subsequent Commonwealth enactment has become applicable under the referral.

• Prepare for proclamation procedures if the State plans to terminate. Section 6 requires that any proclamation fixing a termination day must be preceded by approval of the draft by a resolution of both Houses of the WA Parliament (s 6(7)). The termination day cannot be earlier than the first day after the end of the 12‑month period measured from Gazette publication (s 6(2)). If the State intends to terminate the adoption or the reference, prepare the draft proclamation and secure parliamentary approvals, and plan for at least 12 months’ lead time after Gazettal.

• Be aware of the revocation regime. A revoking proclamation can revoke an earlier proclamation but only if published before the termination day (s 6(3)-(4)). If a revoking proclamation has effect it is taken that the revoked proclamation was never made for the purposes of ss 4(2) and 5(5) (s 6(5)). Keep careful records of Gazettal dates and parliamentary approvals to establish whether a proclamation or its revocation has legal effect.

• Note exclusions to avoid jurisdictional errors. Section 5(3) expressly excludes matters addressed in Part VII of the Family Law Act 1975, including conferring jurisdiction on the listed courts. Parties seeking to change jurisdictional arrangements or relying on the referral to alter court jurisdiction should not assume the Act authorises that. Ensure court filings and jurisdictional arguments reflect the exclusion.

• Review prior‑reliant arrangements. The Act repeals the Child Support (Adoption of Laws) Act 1990 (s 9). Check whether any ongoing matters relied on that repeal; advise clients or agencies about how the new adoption operates for matters previously governed by the 1990 Act.

• No funding or operational guarantees in the Act. Because the Act contains no appropriation, administrative transfer or funding arrangements, administrators should secure operational agreements with the relevant Commonwealth agencies or otherwise make intergovernmental arrangements for collection, registration and enforcement activities that the adopted Commonwealth Acts contemplate.

• Record and document provenance of obligations. Given the Act’s referential nature and the potential for interpretive questions about which enactments apply, make explicit in advice and orders the statutory provenance of any alleged obligation: cite the adopted Commonwealth Act and the version date, and note whether the matter falls within the referral scope.

Compliance therefore focuses on careful statutory hygiene: identify the exact adopted Commonwealth texts, track Commonwealth legislative activity, follow the State’s proclamation procedures if termination is contemplated, and manage the absence of express administrative arrangements by securing the appropriate intergovernmental or agency contacts.