Land (Revocation of Reservations and Other Matters) Act 2009

This Act makes targeted statutory title and reservation changes for specific parcels of land in Victoria. Mechanically, it revokes particular Orders in Council and certain restricted Crown grants (Parts 2, 4, 5, 6; Schedules 1-9), dissolves the Yarra Bend Park Trust and repeals the Kew and Heidelberg Lands Acts (Part 3, s 10, s 12, s 15), repeals two Footscray Acts (Part 6, s 28), amends leasing/licensing powers in the Geelong (Kardinia Park) Land Act 1950 (Part 7, s 30), and creates a set of administrative consequences and recording duties for the Registrar of Titles (multiple sections). The Act also implements re-reservations or temporary reservations for some parcels (Part 4 s 19; Part 5 s 23; Part 6 s 27) and preserves a listed set of existing leases by operation of Part 3 s 13.

Key operative mechanisms are statutory revocation, statutory vesting and divestment, substitution in proceedings, conversion of committees of management, and mandatory register amendments. For example, where an Order in Council is revoked by this Act, the land concerned is generally “taken to be unalienated land of the Crown, freed and discharged from all trusts, limitations, reservations, restrictions, encumbrances, estates and interests” (see s 7(a); equivalent language in ss 18(a), 22(a), 26(a)). The Act repeatedly requires the Registrar of Titles to make the necessary entries under the Transfer of Land Act 1958 to reflect these changes (s 8; s 16; s 20; s 24; s 29).

The Act is parcel-specific. Schedule 1 lists eight subject areas (Montefiore Homes Community Residence; Altona Memorial Park Cemetery; J.R. Parsons Reserve; Kananook Creek Reserve; Yarra Bend Park; Caulfield Racecourse; Royal Park Reserve; Western Oval Reserve) and Schedules 2-9 contain the plans showing the hatched areas to which the revocations or temporary reservations relate. Several provisions operate only to “the extent” the Order in Council or Crown grant applies to the hatched plan area (see, for example, s 3(1), s 4, s 17(1), s 21). The Act therefore effects partial revocations of existing reservations and sometimes partial revocations of Crown grant volumes (for example, s 3(2) revokes Crown Grant Volume 1966 Folio 010 to the extent it applies to the hatched area in Schedule 2).

The Act also provides express transitional and protective rules. For Yarra Bend Park it dissolves the statutory Trust and vests its assets and liabilities in the State (s 12(c)-(d)), takes Parks Victoria to be the committee of management (s 11), preserves specific leases in continuity and treats those leases as if assigned to Parks Victoria (s 13). Where land is re-reserved by the Act, it is reserved under the Crown Land (Reserves) Act 1978 for defined purposes (see s 19(b) for Caulfield Racecourse; s 23 for Royal Park; s 27 for Western Oval).

Commencement is staggered by proclamation with a default commencement date of 1 July 2010 if not proclaimed earlier (s 2). The Endnotes record the actual commencement dates for particular provisions and an amendment to the definition of Parks Victoria by the Parks Victoria Act 2018 (see Endnotes and s 9 as amended).

This Act uses a small set of legal devices and concepts repeatedly. Understanding those concepts explains how the instrument restructures title, management and regulatory status for particular Crown land parcels.

• Revocation of Orders in Council and Crown grants. The Act revokes specified Orders in Council that created permanent reservations and, in several places, revokes Crown grant volumes “to the extent” they apply to the hatched land (see Parts 2, 4: ss 3-6, 17). A revocation in the Act operates by statute rather than by administrative surrender or private conveyance.

• Conversion to unalienated Crown land and discharge from prior interests. Where an Order in Council is revoked the land is “taken to be unalienated land of the Crown, freed and discharged from all trusts, limitations, reservations, restrictions, encumbrances, estates and interests” (s 7(a); cf. ss 18(a), 22(a), 26(a)). That is a statutory clearing of prior legal encumbrances and a return of the land to the Crown estate.

• Committees of management and trustees. The Act revokes appointments of committees of management and trustees to the extent they relate to revoked land (s 7(b)-(c); equivalents at ss 18(b)-(c); 22(b)-(c); 26(b)-(c)). Conversely, Parks Victoria is taken to be committee of management for Yarra Bend Park on commencement (s 11). These instruments therefore reallocate statutory management authority from prior bodies to the Crown and to Parks Victoria in specific cases.

• Vesting and substitution. The Act vests the assets of the Yarra Bend Park Trust in the State, divests the Trust of the Park, dissolves the Trust, substitutes the State in proceedings, and makes the State liable for the Trust’s debts and obligations (s 12(a)-(f)). These are express statutory vesting and substitution mechanics.

• Preservation and statutory reassignment of leases. Part 3 s 13 preserves specified leases in existence immediately before commencement, and treats them from commencement as leases between Parks Victoria and the then-current lessees, “as if” assigned to Parks Victoria (s 13(2)). Subsections (3)(a)-(c) then provide that nothing done by the Part is to be regarded as placing a person in breach of any lease provision, or as fulfilling a condition enabling exercise of rights or remedies, or releases a surety. Those clauses operate as protective transition rules for contracting parties.

• Re-reservation under the Crown Land (Reserves) Act. Where the Act requires re-reservation, it does so by taking the land to be reserved under section 4(1) of the Crown Land (Reserves) Act 1978 for specified purposes (see s 19(b) for Caulfield; s 23 for Royal Park; s 27 for Western Oval). The Act therefore interacts directly with the statutory reservation power in the Crown Land (Reserves) Act.

The Act specifies the classes of persons and public entities directly affected, and does so in parcel-specific terms. The primary affected parties are the Crown (State), statutory trusts and committees of management, Parks Victoria, the Registrar of Titles, named lessees in Part 3, and any persons or entities with interests on the hatched areas listed in Schedules 2-9.

• The State (Crown). Across multiple provisions, the State is both the recipient of assets and the bearer of liabilities. Section 12(c) vests rights, property and assets of the dissolved Yarra Bend Park Trust in the State; s 12(d) makes the State liable for the Trust’s existing debts and obligations; ss 7(a), 18(a), 22(a), 26(a) take the revoked land to be unalienated Crown land. The State also becomes the substituted party in any pending proceedings to which the Trust was a party (s 12(e)).

• Parks Victoria. The Act takes Parks Victoria to be the committee of management for the Park (Yarra Bend Park) on commencement (s 11). The definition of Parks Victoria in s 9 was updated by the Parks Victoria Act 2018 (Endnotes and s 9 note). Parks Victoria therefore gains statutory management responsibility for Yarra Bend Park parcels and receives leases by operation of s 13(2).

• Yarra Bend Park Trust and trustees. The Trust is dissolved on commencement (s 12(a)). Persons appointed or holding office as trustees go out of office (s 12(a)). The Trust’s property and liabilities transfer to the State (s 12(c)-(d)).

• Named lessees. Section 13(1) lists five specific leases that are preserved: RMIT (lease dated 14 January 2003), KRT Riversdale Pty Ltd (18 February 2009), Faktom Services Pty Ltd (1 January 1996), Victorian Indigenous Nurseries Co-operative Ltd (1 July 2007), and Jesuit Social Services Ltd (1 April 2006). Those lessees have their leases carried forward and treated as if assigned to Parks Victoria (s 13(2)).

• Committees of management and trustees of other reserves. Where Orders in Council are revoked, any appointment of a committee of management or trustee “is revoked to the extent that it relates to that land” (s 7(b)-(c); equivalents ss 18(b)-(c); 22(b)-(c); 26(b)-(c)). Those bodies therefore lose statutory roles for the hatched land.

• Registrar of Titles. The Registrar has a series of mandatory duties to make the necessary recordings and amendments to the Register kept under the Transfer of Land Act 1958 as a consequence of each Part (s 8; s 16; s 20; s 24; s 29). Those duties impose actionable administrative tasks on the Registrar and require changes to title records.

The Act confers and removes a set of statutory duties, management rights and recording obligations. These are concentrated on the State, Parks Victoria, the Registrar of Titles, and certain lessees.

• Registrar of Titles’ statutory duty to record changes. For each Part where land status changes, the Registrar must “make any recordings in or amendments to the Register kept under the Transfer of Land Act 1958 that are necessary because of the operation of any provision of this Part” (s 8; s 16; s 20; s 24; s 29). This is a mandatory ministerial/administrative duty placed on the Registrar and has practical implications for workload, mapping and title records.

• Statutory divestment and vesting. Where the Yarra Bend Park Trust is dissolved, all rights, property and assets vested in the Trust immediately before commencement are vested in the State (s 12(c)). Conversely, the Park as vested in the Trust is divested from the Trust (s 12(b)). The Act therefore alters who holds title and legal control.

• Substitution in proceedings. The State is substituted as a party to any proceeding pending in any court or tribunal to which the Trust was a party immediately before the commencement of Part 3 (s 12(e)). That confers the right of the State to continue or defend proceedings in the Trust’s stead; it also imposes a consequential duty on public legal services to represent the substituted party.

• Preservation and effective assignment of leases. Section 13(1) lists specific leases which are preserved by the Part. Subsection 13(2) provides that each listed lease “has effect from the commencement of this Part as a lease between Parks Victoria as lessor and the lessee for the time being under the lease, as if it had been assigned to Parks Victoria; and as if the lease referred to Parks Victoria instead of the Trust.” In practical terms, lessees retain rights and must perform obligations under their leases, but the counterparty is treated as Parks Victoria.

• Protective rules for contractual consequences. Section 13(3) contains three protective rules: nothing done by the Part is to be regarded as placing any person in breach of, or as constituting a default under, any provision of a listed lease (s 13(3)(a)); nothing is to be regarded as fulfilling any condition which allows a person to exercise a right or remedy or to terminate any agreement (s 13(3)(b)); and nothing releases any surety or other obligor wholly or in part from any obligation (s 13(3)(c)). Those clauses limit immediate triggers for remedies or termination that might otherwise arise from operation of the Act.

The Act does not create a standalone penalties or enforcement regime; it is principally an administrative and title-reforming statute. There are no express monetary penalties, fines, or criminal offences created by the text. Enforcement of the Act’s effects is administrative: vestings, revocations, re-reservations, and Registrar entries operate by statute rather than by regulatory sanction.

Relevant enforcement and compliance mechanisms in the Act are therefore institutional and administrative:

• Registrar of Titles’ mandatory recording duty. The Registrar “must” make necessary recordings and amendments in the Register under the Transfer of Land Act 1958 for each Part that changes land status (s 8; s 16; s 20; s 24; s 29). The Registrar’s obligations are mandatory; non-performance would be an administrative failure rather than a penal offence under this Act. Any sanction for an Registrar’s failure would be governed by the Transfer of Land Act 1958, its administrative frameworks, and the employing agency’s governance arrangements, not by this Act.

• Substitution in proceedings. Section 12(e) substitutes the State as a party to proceedings that were previously in the name of the Yarra Bend Park Trust. That substitution imposes legal consequences and obligations on the State and affects rights of claimants and defendants; the mechanism for enforcement continues to be the ordinary legal process in courts and tribunals.

• Preservation of contractual remedies. Section 13(3) expressly prevents operation of the Part being used as a ground to treat a party as in breach or to trigger conditions which would allow remedies or termination. That limits the ability of private parties to enforce remedies against lessees or to terminate agreements merely because of the statutory reallocation of lessor rights. If a party attempts to enforce such a remedy, courts will be required to construe and apply s 13(3) to prevent enforcement to the extent the Act bars it.

• Repeal and revocation effects. The clearing language , land is “freed and discharged from all trusts, limitations, reservations, restrictions, encumbrances, estates and interests” (s 7(a) and similar) , extinguishes prior private rights in the hatched land. That extinguishment is final by statute; enforcement questions relate to whether an interest was in fact extinguished under the Act’s defined scope (the hatched areas) and whether the Register has been updated.

Because the Act contains no penal provisions, disputes about compliance, enforcement or interpretation will be resolved through standard civil or administrative law channels. The Act creates administrative obligations on public bodies (Registrar, Parks Victoria, State legal services) rather than criminal liabilities. Any challenge to the Act’s operation (for example, by a person asserting that an interest was wrongly extinguished or that the Registrar failed to make necessary entries) will involve actions for judicial review or declarations in the courts; the Act itself provides no special remedy mechanism.

The Act is highly interwoven with existing Crown land statutes, the Transfer of Land Act 1958, and other specialised Acts. The text specifies the points of interaction and cross-reference.

• Crown Land (Reserves) Act 1978. The Act repeatedly relies on the reservation mechanism in section 4(1) of the Crown Land (Reserves) Act 1978. Where it re-reserves land, it does so by taking the land to be reserved under s 4(1) of that Act for specified purposes (see s 19(b) for Caulfield Racecourse, s 23 for Royal Park, s 27 for Western Oval). The Act also expressly revokes any regulations made under s 13 of the Crown Land (Reserves) Act insofar as they applied to affected lands (s 7(d); s 12(f)).

• Transfer of Land Act 1958. For each Part the Registrar of Titles must make the appropriate recordings in the Register kept under the Transfer of Land Act 1958 (s 8; s 16; s 20; s 24; s 29). The Act therefore creates direct duties on the Registrar under the Transfer of Land Act’s recording system and requires that title records be updated to reflect revocations, vestings and re-reservations.

• Kew and Heidelberg Lands Acts 1933 & 1958. The Act repeals both statutes (s 15). Those repeals have the effect of removing the statutory basis for the Yarra Bend Park Trust and related provisions; the Act then replaces the legal structure for Yarra Bend Park by vesting assets in the State and making Parks Victoria committee of management (ss 11-12).

• Footscray (Recreation Ground) Lands Act 1968 & Footscray (Western Oval Reserve) Lands Act 1981. Both Acts are expressly repealed by s 28. The repeal sits alongside the revocation and re-reservation provisions in Part 6 and will alter the statutory foundation for management of the Western Oval Reserve.

• Racing Act 1958. Section 19(c)-(d) takes the surrender land at Caulfield Racecourse to form part of Crown grant Volume 7275 Folio 814 and expressly to form part of the land described in item 2 of Schedule 2 to the Racing Act 1958. That statutory incorporation affects how racing-related land is treated under the Racing Act.

• Parks Victoria Act 2018. The definition of Parks Victoria in s 9 was amended by the Parks Victoria Act 2018, No. 19/2018 s 246, and the Endnotes record the commencement of that amendment on 12 September 2018. That amendment changes which legal entity is referenced where the Act names “Parks Victoria” and therefore affects the application of ss 11 and 13.

The instrument provides a concise amendment and commencement record in its Endnotes. The relevant historical points recorded in the source are:

• Original assent and staged commencement. The Land (Revocation of Reservations and Other Matters) Act 2009 was assented to on 8 December 2009. Commencement of provisions was staggered: sections 1, 2, 9-16 and Schedule 1 commenced on 17 December 2009; sections 4-8, 21-30 and Schedules 3-5, 8 and 9 commenced on 25 February 2010; and sections 3, 17-20 and Schedules 2, 6 and 7 commenced on 1 July 2010 pursuant to s 2(2) (Endnotes 1).

• Parks Victoria Act 2018 amendment. The only amendment recorded in the Table of Amendments in the source is the Parks Victoria Act 2018 (No. 19/2018), which amended the definition of Parks Victoria in s 9. The Endnotes show that s 246 of the Parks Victoria Act 2018 amended the definition and that the relevant provision commenced on 12 September 2018 (Special Gazette 21.8.18 p. 1). The Endnotes’ Table of Amendments entry confirms this is the only amendment incorporated into Version No. 004 (12 September 2018).

• No amendments not in operation. The Endnotes state there are no amendments Not in Operation at the date of the publication (Endnotes 3). The Version No. 004 label indicates the text incorporates amendments up to 12 September 2018.

• Repeals and consequential changes. The Act itself effects legislative repeal of several statutes: the Kew and Heidelberg Lands Act 1933 and Kew and Heidelberg Lands Act 1958 are repealed by s 15; the Footscray (Recreation Ground) Lands Act 1968 and Footscray (Western Oval Reserve) Lands Act 1981 are repealed by s 28. Those repeals are substantive changes effected by the 2009 Act.

• Amendments to other Acts. Section 30 effects a textual amendment to the Geelong (Kardinia Park) Land Act 1950, inserting a heading and adding “or licences” into section 3 and related subsections. That is a consequential, narrow change included in the 2009 Act.

• Commencement provision. Section 2 provides for commencement by proclamation and contains a default commencement rule: if a provision does not come into operation before 1 July 2010, it comes into operation on that day. The Endnotes show how this operated in practice for the instrument’s Parts and Schedules.

There are no other recorded successive amending Acts or variations in the Endnotes for this instrument up to the published Version No. 004. Users should consult the current consolidated database at www.legislation.vic.gov.au for any amendments after 12 September 2018 not reflected in this Version.

The Act’s text and Endnotes do not record or name any litigation arising under the Act. The instrument itself contains no schedule or note listing cases, and no judicial decisions are cited in the Act.

However, the Act contains express provisions that will have litigation consequences by operation of law and therefore create the potential for court involvement:

• Substitution of State in pending proceedings. Section 12(e) substitutes the State as a party to any proceeding pending in any court or tribunal to which the Yarra Bend Park Trust was a party immediately before the commencement of Part 3. That substitution requires court processes to record the State as party and may give rise to procedural applications by parties who seek clarification or contest substitution. Any litigation that was pending in the Trust’s name at the time of the Part 3 commencement would have been required to adjust pleadings, service and representation to reflect the State’s substitution.

• Preservation of leases and bar on triggering remedies. Section 13(3) provides that nothing done by Part 3 “is to be regarded as placing any person in breach of, or as constituting a default under,” the listed leases; that nothing “is to be regarded as fulfilling any condition” which allows a party to exercise a right or remedy; and that nothing releases any surety. Those clauses are likely to be invoked if a party attempts to treat a lease event as having been triggered by the statutory assignment or the Trust’s dissolution. Challenges may therefore appear as declaratory relief or applications for injunctive relief if a party seeks to enforce or avoid contractual remedies.

• Title and register disputes. The Act requires the Registrar of Titles to make necessary recordings under the Transfer of Land Act 1958. Failed or delayed recordings, or disputes about whether a particular interest was extinguished “to the extent” of the hatched area, could give rise to applications for rectification, declarations, or judicial review.

• Potential challenges to extinguishment. Because the Act expressly frees the land from “all trusts, limitations, reservations, restrictions, encumbrances, estates and interests” (see s 7(a) and equivalents), a person asserting a continuing interest might challenge whether the Act’s revocation properly extinguished that interest, whether the relevant land was properly described in the Schedule, or whether the Registrar correctly registered the change. Any such challenges would appear in the courts but none are recorded in the Act’s text.

This Act contains several technical details and transition traps that practitioners and affected parties should not overlook. The source text creates precise effects that are contingent on the detailed Schedules, specific lease listings, and conditional operations.

• “To the extent” language and hatched plans. Many revocations and Crown-grant revocations are expressed “to the extent that it applies to the land shown hatched on the plan” in a Schedule (see ss 3(1)-(2); 4; 17(1)-(2); 21). The practical effect is that only the hatched portion is affected. Errors in interpreting the hatched area, reliance on an incorrect plan, or differences between cadastral and plan references can create disputes about whether a particular strip of land was actually revoked. Always inspect the correct Schedule plan and check the Registrar’s updated entries.

• Partial revocation of Crown grants and inclusion rules. Some Crown Grant volumes are revoked only in part (for example, Crown Grant Volume 7275 Folio 814 is revoked to the extent it applies to the hatched land in Schedule 6 (s 17(2))). But s 19(c) then takes the surrendered land in Schedule 7 to be included in Crown grant Volume 7275 Folio 814. Practitioners must track both the revocation and the conditional re-inclusion processes to understand current title. The interplay of revocation, surrender, and statutory inclusion is technical and timing-dependent.

• Conditional operation for Caulfield Racecourse. Section 19’s re-application of reservation at Caulfield Racecourse occurs “On the surrender to the Crown of the land shown hatched on the plan in Schedule 7” , a trigger event. The re-reservation (s 19(b)) and inclusion in Racing Act Schedule (s 19(d)) therefore depend on a formal surrender taking place. Until surrender occurs, the status of the Schedule 7 land may remain in flux.

• Lease “assignment as if” and protections do not remove obligations. Section 13(2) treats listed leases as if assigned to Parks Victoria; s 13(3) protects lessees and third parties from being treated as in breach or having remedies triggered by the operation of the Part. But s 13(3)(c) makes clear that no surety or other obligor is released from its obligation. That means financial or guarantor obligations remain enforceable. Also, while s 13(3)(a) prevents automatic characterisation of conduct as a breach, it does not immunise a party from separate breaches unrelated to the statutory operation.

• Registrar workload and timing risk. The Act repeatedly places a “must” duty on the Registrar to make necessary recordings (s 8; s 16; s 20; s 24; s 29). If the Registrar does not promptly update the Register, title purchasers, mortgagees and lessees may face uncertainty. Practitioners should confirm that the Registrar has effected the required entries and obtain contemporaneous certificates or searches.

For government agencies, land managers, trustees, lessees, and private parties with interests in the named parcels, compliance with the Act requires administrative steps, confirmations, and targeted legal actions. Below is a practical compliance checklist mapped to the Act’s provisions and likely tasks.

1. Confirm exact parcels and Schedules.

   • Obtain and inspect the Schedule plans (Schedules 2-9) to identify the hatched areas precisely. The Act’s scope is parcel-specific; confirm whether the subject land forms part of your property or interest (see Schedules and s 3, s 17, s 21, s 25).

2. Registrar of Titles entries.

   • The Registrar must make necessary recordings under the Transfer of Land Act 1958 (s 8; s 16; s 20; s 24; s 29). If you represent an affected party, request evidence of updated Register entries (paper or electronic search), titles re-issuance or memorials showing revocation, vesting or re-reservation. If entries are delayed, consider administrative complaints or court relief to compel rectification pursuant to the Transfer of Land Act or administrative law.

3. For Yarra Bend Park matters (Part 3):

   • Parks Victoria will assume committee of management responsibilities on commencement (s 11). If you are a lessee listed in s 13(1), confirm Parks Victoria’s acceptance and obtain written confirmation of the assignment-equivalent and details for rent payments, insurance, and contacts.
   • If you are a contractor, licensor or surety with the Trust, note that the State assumed liabilities and obligations (s 12(c)-(d)); obtain confirmation from State legal services regarding creditor arrangements or outstanding liabilities.

4. Leaseholders and contractual counterparties.

   • Lessees named in s 13(1) should verify the transitional protections under s 13(3) and whether any clause in their lease requires landlord consent for assignment; confirm that the statutory “as if assigned” treatment has been recorded and obtain formal documentation from Parks Victoria.
   • For other occupiers or permit-holders not named, identify whether your instrument survived the revocation or whether it needs fresh agreement or new licence from the Crown or Parks Victoria.

5. For surrendered or re-reserved land (Caulfield, Royal Park, Western Oval).

   • For Caulfield Racecourse parcels, ensure any surrender to the Crown required by s 19 is properly documented and registered; once surrender occurs, confirm re-reservation under the Crown Land (Reserves) Act has been recorded and confirm the land’s inclusion in the Racing Act schedule where relevant (s 19).