Short title
1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the Northern Territory (Lessees’ Loans Guarantee) Act 1954.
© 2026 Zoe. All rights reserved.
Zoe is a legal information platform. Always consult the Federal Register of Legislation for authoritative text.
Commonwealth act
This Act lets the Finance Minister, on behalf of the Commonwealth, guarantee part of loans (including overdrafts) of up to $60,000 made by authorised deposit‑taking institutions to eligible pastoral or agricultural leaseholders (companies excluded) for permanent improvements to leased land or partly to discharge mortgages so a first mortgage can be given (s3, s4). The Minister decides what portion to guarantee (measuring it against what the lender would advance without a guarantee), negotiates terms with the lender, and may delegate those powers, creating ministerial discretion and modest administrative and compliance demands (s4(2)–(4)).
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.
Direct links to the current provisions in Northern Territory (Lessees' Loans Guarantee) Act 1954.
This Act may be cited as the Northern Territory (Lessees’ Loans Guarantee) Act 1954.
This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
ADI (authorised deposit‑taking institution) means:
(a) a body corporate that is an ADI for the purposes of the Banking Act 1959; or
(b) the Reserve Bank of Australia.
eligible person means the holder of a pastoral homestead lease or an agricultural lease granted under an Ordinance of the Northern Territory of Australia relating to Crown lands, but does not include a company.
loan includes an advance by way of overdraft.
(1) Where the Finance Minister is satisfied that a loan of an amount not exceeding Sixty thousand dollars is proposed to be made by an ADI to an eligible person, and that the loan is required, and is intended to be used, by the eligible person: (a) for the purpose of making or erecting permanent improvements to or on the land comprised in his or her lease; or (b) partly for a purpose specified in the last preceding paragraph and partly for the purpose of discharging a mortgage or charge over his or her interest in the land comprised in his or her lease so as to enable him or her to give a first mortgage over that interest as security for the moneys to be borrowed for the first‑mentioned purpose; the Finance Minister may, on behalf of the Commonwealth, guarantee the repayment to the ADI of a portion of the loan and of interest on that portion. (2) The portion of the loan to be guaranteed shall be determined by the Finance Minister having regard to the extent to which the amount of the loan exceeds the amount that the ADI might have been expected to advance in the ordinary course of business without the guarantee. (3) The terms and conditions of the guarantee shall be as agreed between the Finance Minister and the ADI. (4) The Finance Minister may, by written instrument, delegate any of the Finance Minister’s powers or functions under this section to an official (within the meaning of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013) of a non‑corporate Commonwealth entity (within the meaning of that Act). In exercising powers or functions under a delegation, the official must comply with any directions of the Finance Minister. (5) In this section:
Finance Minister means the Minister who administers the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.
Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
This Act may be cited as the Northern Territory (Lessees’ Loans Guarantee) Act 1954.
This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
ADI (authorised deposit‑taking institution) means:
(a) a body corporate that is an ADI for the purposes of the Banking Act 1959; or
(b) the Reserve Bank of Australia.
eligible person means the holder of a pastoral homestead lease or an agricultural lease granted under an Ordinance of the Northern Territory of Australia relating to Crown lands, but does not include a company.
loan includes an advance by way of overdraft.
(1) Where the Finance Minister is satisfied that a loan of an amount not exceeding Sixty thousand dollars is proposed to be made by an ADI to an eligible person, and that the loan is required, and is intended to be used, by the eligible person: (a) for the purpose of making or erecting permanent improvements to or on the land comprised in his or her lease; or (b) partly for a purpose specified in the last preceding paragraph and partly for the purpose of discharging a mortgage or charge over his or her interest in the land comprised in his or her lease so as to enable him or her to give a first mortgage over that interest as security for the moneys to be borrowed for the first‑mentioned purpose; the Finance Minister may, on behalf of the Commonwealth, guarantee the repayment to the ADI of a portion of the loan and of interest on that portion. (2) The portion of the loan to be guaranteed shall be determined by the Finance Minister having regard to the extent to which the amount of the loan exceeds the amount that the ADI might have been expected to advance in the ordinary course of business without the guarantee. (3) The terms and conditions of the guarantee shall be as agreed between the Finance Minister and the ADI. (4) The Finance Minister may, by written instrument, delegate any of the Finance Minister’s powers or functions under this section to an official (within the meaning of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013) of a non‑corporate Commonwealth entity (within the meaning of that Act). In exercising powers or functions under a delegation, the official must comply with any directions of the Finance Minister. (5) In this section:
Finance Minister means the Minister who administers the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.