The Act is expressly transitional and inter‑legislative; many of its provisions are about how it interacts with earlier State law, national scheme law, and the new Commonwealth legislation.
Primacy and “despite” clauses: Section 5 states that the Act has effect despite any provision of the old application Act or the applicable provisions of the State. Section 8(1) goes further by declaring that any State law provision that would otherwise be inconsistent with a national scheme law of the jurisdiction has effect despite that inconsistency and as if it were expressly provided for in the enabling Act. This is a statutory mechanism for preserving specified State choices even when inconsistency might otherwise have triggered constitutional inconsistency principles or federal preemption concerns, at least to the extent the Act claims it.
National scheme and replacement Commonwealth laws: Part 2 limits the autonomous operation of national scheme laws in the State after the Commonwealth new Corporations and ASIC Acts come into force (s 6). Section 7 provides that where national scheme provisions cease to operate of their own force, the effect is as if the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Commonwealth) applied, but with significant qualifications , notably that some rights and liabilities are cancelled where Commonwealth law substitutes a new right or liability (s 7(1)-(2)). Section 7(4) cancels the State liability where a Commonwealth Act makes a person liable to pay an identical amount in relation to the same matter.
Mapping and reference substitution: Section 11 and Schedule 1 provide the mapping table used to translate references in State Acts from the old Corporations Law/ASIC Law framing into the new Commonwealth Acts, regulations and preserved instruments. Subsection 11(5) also states that an express reference to a new Commonwealth instrument is taken to include corresponding provision of the old State Corporations/ASIC legislation, for pre‑relevant time events, unless contrary intention appears. The regulations may exclude or include specified references or kinds of references (s 11(2), (3), (4), (6)).
Declaratory provisions and applied law interactions: Part 3 allows the State to apply Commonwealth Corporations provisions to State matters by declaratory provision (s 14-15). The applied law is subject to modifications (s 16), and the broader machinery of the Corporations legislation (e.g. regulations and civil penalty mechanisms) may be impliedly applied unless the declaratory provision otherwise provides (s 19). This mechanism creates an interaction in which Commonwealth substantive provisions can operate locally but are tethered to the State’s procedural and institutional architecture by the Act’s modification rules.
Conferral, agency and functions: Section 17 limits the automatic transfer of functions to ASIC; a declaratory provision will only confer a function on ASIC if the provision provides for ASIC performing it under the types of agreements contemplated by the new ASIC Act and ASIC is authorised under section 11 of the new ASIC Act. Section 24 allows the State to enter arrangements with ASIC for ASIC to perform functions as the State’s agent, and those arrangements operate despite any contrary State law. Taken together, these provisions interact with both Commonwealth law and State administrative practices to determine which body does regulatory work.
Court jurisdiction and rules of court: The Act preserves existing State rules of court (s 10), authorises the Supreme Court to make rules for Corporations legislation matters (s 23), and assigns applied law judicial functions to State courts (s 18). Section 9 provides tailored rules for continuing or terminating existing proceedings. Thus the Act interacts with civil procedure and criminal procedure statutes, and with the pre‑existing cross‑vesting or jurisdictional arrangements listed in Part 5.
Regulations and displacement: Section 25 permits the Governor to make regulations that declare excluded matters for the purposes of s 5F of the new Corporations Act and to declare State provisions to be Corporations legislation displacement provisions for s 5G of the new Corporations Act (s 25(3)(a)-(b)). This is a direct interaction point with the Commonwealth Corporations Act’s own mechanisms for exclusion and displacement of Commonwealth law by State law.
Retroactivity, savings and protection: Section 25 allows regulations to take effect from a time earlier than the day they are made but provides statutory protections against prejudicial effect to private persons (s 25(6)-(7)). Section 7(1) incorporates the Commonwealth Acts Interpretation Act 1901 consequences when a national scheme law ceases to operate of its own force, but that effect is qualified by subsections that cancel some rights and liabilities (s 7(1)-(2)).
Part 5 amendments and incorporation: The Act records that amendments effected by Part 5 have been incorporated into authorised versions of specified State Acts (Companies (Application of Laws) Act 1982, Corporations (Tasmania) Act 1990, Futures Industry (Application of Laws) Act 1987, Jurisdiction of Courts (Cross-vesting) Act 1987, Securities Industry (Application of Laws) Act 1981) (ss 27-31). Those entries indicate further interaction with pre-existing State legislation.
Overall, the Act is an instrument of legal translation and institutional allocation, creating specific bridges and switches between State law, national scheme law, and the Commonwealth Corporations/ASIC architecture while preserving the State’s ability to regulate by declaratory provisions and regulations.