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Commonwealth act
This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.
This is a short validation act — a type of law used to "fix" or legally approve something that has already happened (or is about to happen) before proper Parliamentary approval was in place.
The problem it solves: In Australia, the government can announce changes to customs duties (the taxes charged on goods imported into the country) almost immediately through what are called Customs Tariff Proposals — essentially, temporary notices of new tax rates. However, these proposals only become fully legal once Parliament passes a proper Act. In the meantime, customs officials are still out there collecting money under the proposed new rates. This law steps in to confirm that all that money was lawfully collected.
Specifically, this Act:
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Direct links to the current provisions in Customs Tariff Validation Act (No. 2) 1941.
Zoe has indexed the source text for search and analysis. Use the official register for the original document and download formats.
View on official registerSourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
Who does it affect?
Why does it matter? Without this Act, there could have been legal challenges arguing that those duty collections were unlawful because they hadn't yet been properly passed as legislation. This Act closes that legal gap by declaring, in plain terms: the money collected was lawful. It's essentially Parliament saying "yes, we approve of what was done in our name."
This type of legislation was particularly common during World War II, when the government needed to act quickly — often adjusting import duties rapidly in response to wartime economic conditions — and Parliament would later rubber-stamp those actions through validation acts like this one.