Constitution Act 1902
31AActing Speaker
Start here
Get a plain-English read of 31A
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Constitution Act 1902.
31A Acting Speaker
31A Acting Speaker
(1) Subject to section 31 (3), the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly—
(a) acts as the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly when the Speaker is unavailable, and
(b) when so acting, has and may exercise and perform all the powers, authorities, duties and functions of the Speaker.
(2) For the purposes of this section, the Speaker is unavailable if there is a vacancy in the office of the Speaker or if the Speaker is absent from the State or otherwise unavailable to exercise and perform the powers, authorities, duties and functions of the Speaker.
(3) Without limiting the generality of this section, the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, while acting as the Speaker under this section, is taken to be the Speaker for the purposes of section 76 (3) of the Electoral Act 2017.
s 31A: Ins 1936 No 1, sec 2. Am 1999 No 31, Sch 1.7. Subst 2014 No 61, Sch 1 [6]. Am 2017 No 66, Sch 8.4.