Commonwealth act

Loan Act (No. 3) 1943

RepealedCTH

This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.

Jurisdiction

Commonwealth

Act Number

55 of 1943

Collection

act

Plain English Summary

2/10 complexity

This law authorised the Australian Government to borrow £200 million (a massive sum in 1943) to help pay for World War II.

What it does:

Allows the Treasurer to borrow up to £200 million by issuing government bonds (under the Commonwealth Inscribed Stock Act) or short-term Treasury Bills
Limits the use of these funds to:
- Costs of borrowing itself (fees, interest, etc.)
- War expenses approved by Parliament through other laws

Why it matters: During WWII, the government needed extraordinary funds for troops, equipment, and operations. Rather than raising taxes immediately, this Act allowed the government to borrow from investors and banks—essentially asking the public to lend money to the war effort now and be repaid later. The £200 million cap (equivalent to roughly $16–20 billion in today's currency) illustrates the enormous financial scale of total war.

JSON API

Deep dive

Want the full deep dive?

Zoe can write the in-depth analysis on top of the summary above: how it works, who it affects and what each part actually does.

Current sections

Direct links to the current provisions in Loan Act (No. 3) 1943.

Loan Act (No. 3) 1943

THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA.

__________

LOAN (No. 3).

––––––

No. 55 of 1943.

An Act to authorize the Raising and Expending of a certain Sum of Money.

[Assented to 19th October, 1943.]

BE it enacted by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows :—

Short title.

This Act may be cited as the Loan Act (No. 3) 1943.

Commencement.

This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.

Authority to borrow £200,000,000.

The Treasurer may, from time to time, borrow, under the provisions of the Commonwealth Inscribed Stock Act 1911-1940, or under the provisions of any Act authorizing the issue of Treasury Bills, moneys not exceeding in the whole the amount of Two hundred million pounds.

Purposes for which money may be expended.

The amount borrowed may be issued and applied only for the expenses of borrowing and for the purposes of appropriations made, or to be made, by law.

Issue and application of £200,000,000.

There may be issued and applied out of the proceeds of any loan raised under the authority of this Act, or of any other Act, the sum of Two hundred million pounds for war purposes.

_________________

By Authority: L. F. Johnston, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra.

F.6438.—Price 3d.

Source text

Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.

1 Loan Act (No. 3) 1943