What it does
The Minors (Property and Contracts) Act 1970 comprehensively reforms the common law and statutory rules governing the contractual and proprietary capacity of persons under the age of 21. Its central innovation is to fix the age of majority at 18 years for almost all civil purposes. Section 8 provides that a person aged 18 or upwards is not under the disability of infancy in relation to any civil act. Section 9(1) then declares that such a person is of full age and adult, is sui juris (subject only to mental illness rules), and is free of any disability or incapacity of infancy. This change applies both to rules of law and to the construction of statutes and instruments, with carefully drafted savings for pre-commencement documents and certain wage, criminal, and guardianship references (s 9(2)–(3)).
Part 3 supplies the detailed machinery that applies to persons under 18. Section 17 states the default rule: a civil act in which a minor participates is not binding on the minor except as provided by the Act. The Act then enumerates a series of situations in which a civil act becomes presumptively binding. These include a beneficial civil act (s 19), a disposition for consideration that is not manifestly inadequate or excessive (s 20), a reasonable gift (s 21), an act done pursuant to a pre-existing duty (s 22), investment in government securities (s 23), and acts protected by the bona-fide stranger rule (s 24). Special presumptions apply to receipts for income given by a married minor (s 25).
Court supervision is layered throughout. The Supreme Court may grant a minor general or specific capacity by order (s 26), while the Local Court may approve individual contracts or dispositions below a $10,000 threshold (s 27). Certified dispositions by or to a minor, supported by independent legal advice and valuation evidence, attract presumptive binding status (ss 28 and 29). Affirmation of an otherwise non-binding act may occur by court order during minority, by the minor after attaining 18, or by the personal representative after death (s 30). Repudiation is available to the minor until age 19 (s 31), to the personal representative within defined time limits (s 32), or by court order (s 34), but only if the act is not for the minor’s benefit at the time of repudiation. Notice requirements (s 33) and restrictions on the effect of repudiation (s 35) protect third-party rights and the interests of association creditors.