Australian Capital Territory
Recovery of Lands Act 1929 No 1
Republication No 3
Republication date: 13 September 2002
Last amendment made by Act 2001 No 44
Amendments incorporated to 13 September 2002
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
About this republication
The republished law
This is a republication of the Recovery of Lands Act 1929 (including any amendment made
under the Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3 (Editorial changes)) as in force on 13 September
2002. It also includes any amendment, repeal or expiry affecting the republished law to 13
September 2002.
The legislation history and amendment history of the republished law are set out in
endnotes 3 and 4.
Kinds of republications
The Parliamentary Counsel’s Office prepares 2 kinds of republications of ACT laws (see
the ACT legislation register at www.legislation.act.gov.au):
authorised republications to which the Legislation Act 2001 applies
unauthorised republications.
The status of this republication appears on the bottom of each page.
Editorial changes
The Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3 authorises the Parliamentary Counsel to make editorial
amendments and other changes of a formal nature when preparing a law for republication.
Editorial changes do not change the effect of the law, but have effect as if they had been
made by an Act commencing on the republication date (see Legislation Act 2001, s 115
and s 117). The changes are made if the Parliamentary Counsel considers they are
desirable to bring the law into line, or more closely into line, with current legislative
drafting practice.
This republication does not include amendments made under part 11.3 (see endnote 1).
Uncommenced provisions and amendments
If a provision of the republished law has not commenced or is affected by an
uncommenced amendment, the symbol U appears immediately before the provision
heading. The text of the uncommenced provision or amendment appears only in the last
endnote.
Modifications
If a provision of the republished law is affected by a current modification, the symbol M
appears immediately before the provision heading. The text of the modifying provision
appears in the endnotes. For the legal status of modifications, see Legislation Act 2001,
section 95.
Penalties
The value of a penalty unit for an offence against this republished law at the republication
date is—
(a) if the person charged is an individual—$100; or
(b) if the person charged is a corporation—$500.
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
Amendments incorporated to
13 September 2002
Australian Capital Territory
Recovery of Lands Act 1929
Contents
Page
1 Name of Act 2
2 Application of Act 2
3 Method of determining leases 2
4 Warrant of ejectment 2
5 Notice of intention to apply for a warrant of ejectment 3
6 Incorporation of intention to apply for warrant with notice of
determination 3
7 Notice to be left with registrar of court 3
8 Service of notice 3
9 Proof of service of notice 4
10 Notice by Territory or Minister 4
11 Certificate of Minister about determination of lease to be evidence 4
12 Approved forms 4
Contents
Page
contents 2 Recovery of Lands Act 1929 R3
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
Endnotes
1 About the endnotes 5
2 Abbreviation key 5
3 Legislation history 6
4 Amendment history 7
5 Earlier republications 8
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
Amendments incorporated to
13 September 2002
Australian Capital Territory
Recovery of Lands Act 1929
An Act to provide for the recovery of possession of lands on the
determination of leases
Section 1
page 2 Recovery of Lands Act 1929 R3
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
1 Name of Act
This Act is the Recovery of Lands Act 1929.
2 Application of Act
(1) This Act applies only in relation to Territory land.
(2) This Act does not apply to a residential tenancy agreement
within the meaning of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 to
which that Act applies.
3 Method of determining leases
If the Territory on behalf of the Commonwealth may because of
any law or because of any provision contained in a lease
determine a lease, or if the Territory on behalf of the
Commonwealth has a right of re-entry or forfeiture under any
proviso or stipulation in a lease for a breach of any covenant or
condition in a lease, the Territory on behalf of the
Commonwealth may determine the lease by written notice, in
accordance with form 1, served on the lessee, stating that the
lease has been determined and requiring the lessee to give up
possession of the land to the Territory.
4 Warrant of ejectment
If, after a lease has been determined under section 3 or
otherwise, the lessee or any person apparently in occupation or
possession of the land fails to give up possession of it to the
Territory within the time within which in the notice determining
the lease, or, if the lease has been otherwise determined, in a
notice in accordance with form 2, served on the lessee, the
lessee is required to give up possession of the land, a magistrate
sitting as the Magistrates Court, may, on the application of the
Minister, or of any person acting in that behalf for the Minister,
if in his opinion the lease has been lawfully determined, issue a
warrant, in accordance with form 3, authorising any police
officer, within a period of not more than 30 days after the date
Section 5
R3 Recovery of Lands Act 1929 page 3
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of the warrant, to enter on the land by force and with the
assistance that is necessary and give possession of it to the
Territory.
5 Notice of intention to apply for a warrant of ejectment
Notice, in accordance with form 4, of the intention of the
Minister or of any person acting in that behalf for the Minister,
to make an application for a warrant under section 4, shall be
served on the lessee not less than 7 days before the time stated
in the notice as the time when the application may be made.
6 Incorporation of intention to apply for warrant with
notice of determination
The notice of intention to make an application for a warrant may
be incorporated with the notice of determination of the lease, or
the notice requiring the lessee to give up possession of the land.
7 Notice to be left with registrar of court
The notice of the intention of the Minister to make an
application for a warrant or a copy of it, with an affidavit of
service, in accordance with form 5 duly completed endorsed on
it, shall be left with the registrar of the court before the date
when the application is to be made, and the application shall be
included in the list of matters to be dealt with by the court on
that day.
8 Service of notice
Service of any notice under this Act shall be deemed to have
been duly effected if the notice or a true copy of it is—
(a) given to the lessee personally; or
(b) given to a person apparently over 16 years old, on, and
apparently an occupant of, the land the subject of the lease;
or
Section 9
page 4 Recovery of Lands Act 1929 R3
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(c) attached in a prominent position on the land the subject of
the lease; or
(d) posted by prepaid registered post addressed to the lessee at
his last-known place of abode.
9 Proof of service of notice
Service of any notice under this Act may be proved by affidavit
endorsed on the notice or a copy of it.
10 Notice by Territory or Minister
Any notice that may be given by the Territory on behalf of the
Commonwealth or by the Minister under this Act shall be
deemed to be a notice by the Territory on behalf of the
Commonwealth or by the Minister if it is signed for and on
behalf of the Territory or the Minister.
11 Certificate of Minister about determination of lease to
be evidence
A certificate signed by the Minister, or any person the Minister
directs, stating that a lease has been determined shall be
evidence of the determination of the lease.
12 Approved forms
(1) The Minister may, in writing, approve forms for this Act.
(2) If the Minister approves a form for a particular purpose, the
approved form must be used for that purpose.
Note For other provisions about forms, see Legislation Act 2001, s 255.
(3) An approved form is a notifiable instrument.
Note A notifiable instrument must be notified under the Legislation Act
2001.
(4) In this Act, a reference to a form by a number is a reference to
an approved form identified with the number.
Endnotes
About the endnotes 1
R3 Recovery of Lands Act 1929 page 5
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
Endnotes
1 About the endnotes
Amending and modifying laws are annotated in the legislation history and
the amendment history. Current modifications are not included in the
republished law but are set out in the endnotes.
Not all editorial amendments made under the Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3
are annotated in the amendment history. Full details of any amendments can
be obtained from the Parliamentary Counsel’s Office.
Uncommenced amending laws and expiries are listed in the legislation
history and the amendment history. These details are underlined.
Uncommenced provisions and amendments are not included in the
republished law but are set out in the last endnote.
If all the provisions of the law have been renumbered, a table of renumbered
provisions gives details of previous and current numbering.
The endnotes also include a table of earlier republications.
If the republished law includes penalties, current information about penalty
unit values appears on the republication inside front cover.
2 Abbreviation key
am = amended ord = ordinance
amdt = amendment orig = original
ch = chapter p = page
cl = clause par = paragraph
def = definition pres = present
dict = dictionary prev = previous
disallowed = disallowed by the Legislative (prev...) = previously
Assembly prov = provision
div = division pt = part
exp = expires/expired r = rule/subrule
Gaz = Gazette reg = regulation/subregulation
hdg = heading renum = renumbered
IA = Interpretation Act 1967 reloc = relocated
ins = inserted/added R[X] = Republication No
LA = Legislation Act 2001 s = section/subsection
LR = legislation register sch = schedule
LRA = Legislation (Republication) Act 1996 sdiv = subdivision
mod = modified / modification sub = substituted
No = number SL = Subordinate Law
num = numbered underlining = whole or part not commenced
o = order or to be expired
om = omitted/repealed
Endnotes
3 Legislation history
page 6 Recovery of Lands Act 1929 R3
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3 Legislation history
This Act was originally a Commonwealth ordinance—the Recovery of Lands
Ordinance 1929 No 1 (Cwlth).
The Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 (Cwlth),
s 34 (4) converted most former Commonwealth ordinances in force in the
ACT into ACT enactments. This allowed the ACT Legislative Assembly to
amend and repeal the laws. This Act was converted into an ACT enactment
on 11 May 1989 (self-government day).
As with most ordinances in force in the ACT, the name was changed from
Ordinance to Act by the Self-Government (Citation of Laws) Act 1989
A1989-21, s 5 on 11 May 1989 (self-government day).
Before 11 May 1989, ordinances commenced on their notification day unless
otherwise stated (see Seat of Government (Administration) Act 1910 (Cwlth),
s 12).
Legislation before becoming Territory enactment
Recovery of Lands Act 1929 A1929-1
notified 14 February 1929
commenced 14 February 1929
as amended by
Recovery of Lands Ordinance 1930 Ord1930-3
notified 27 March 1930
commenced 27 March 1930
Seat of Government (Administration) Ordinance 1930 Ord1930-5
notified 1 May 1930
commenced 1 May 1930
Ordinances Revision Ordinance 1937 Ord1937-27
notified 23 December 1937
commenced 23 December 1937
Seat of Government (Designation) Ordinance 1938 Ord1938-25
(as am by Ordinances Revision Ordinance 1938 Ord1938-35 as
am by Ordinances Revision Ordinance 1959 Ord1959-21 )
notified 8 September 1938
commenced 8 September 1938
Endnotes
Amendment history 4
R3 Recovery of Lands Act 1929 page 7
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Magistrates Court Ordinance 1985 Ord1985-67 sch pt 2
notified 19 December 1985
commenced 1 February 1986 (s 2 and Cwlth Gaz 1986 No G3)
Self-Government (Consequential Amendments) Ordinance 1989
Ord1989-38 pt 2 and sch 1
notified 10 May 1989 (Cwlth Gaz 1989 No S160)
s 1, s 2 commenced 10 May 1989 (s 2 (1))
pt 2 and sch 1 commenced 11 May 1989 (s 2 (2) and see Cwlth
Gaz 1989 No S164)
Legislation after becoming Territory enactment
Magistrates and Coroner’s Courts (Registrar) Act 1991 A1991-44
sch 1
notified 20 September 1991 (Gaz 1991 No S95)
s 1, s 2 commenced 20 September 1991 (s 2 (1))
sch 1 commenced 25 September 1991 (s 2 (2) and Gaz 1991 No
S103)
Residential Tenancies (Consequential Provisions) Act 1998
A1998-4
notified 25 May 1998 (Gaz 1998 No S150)
commenced 25 May 1998 (s 2)
Legislation (Consequential Amendments) Act 2001 A2001-44 pt
324
notified 26 July 2001 (Gaz 2001 No 30)
s 1, s 2 commenced 26 July 2001 (IA s 10B)
pt 324 commenced 12 September 2001 (s 2 and see Gaz 2001 No
S65)
4 Amendment history
Name of Act
s 1 hdg am R2 LA
s 1 am R2 LA
Application
s 2 om Ord1930-5
ins Ord1989-38
am A1998-4
Endnotes
5 Earlier republications
page 8 Recovery of Lands Act 1929 R3
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Method of determining leases
s 3 am Ord1930-5; Ord1937-27; Ord1989-38; A2001-44
amdt 1.3585
Warrant of ejectment
s 4 am Ord1930-5; Ord1985-67; Ord1989-38; A2001-44
amdt 1.3585
Notice of intention to apply for a warrant of ejectment
s 5 am Ord1937-27; A2001-44 amdt 1.3585
Notice to be left with Registrar of Court
s 7 am Ord1937-27; A1991-44; A2001-44 amdt 1.3585
Notice by Territory or Minister
s 10 am Ord1937-27; Ord1989-38
Certificate of Minister about determination of lease to be evidence
s 11 am Ord1937-27
Approved forms
s 12 ins A2001-44 amdt 1.3586
(5)-(8) exp 12 September 2002 (s 12 (8))
Method of determining leases
sch am Ord1930-3; Ord1937-27; Ord1985-67; Ord1989-38
om A2001-44 amdt 1.3587
5 Earlier republications
Some earlier republications were not numbered. The number in column 1
refers to the publication order.
Since 12 September 2001 every authorised republication has been published
in electronic pdf format on the ACT legislation register. A selection of
authorised republications have also been published in printed format. These
republications are marked with an asterisk (*) in column 1. Except for the
footer, electronic and printed versions of an authorised republication are
identical.
Republication No Amendments to Republication date
1 A1991-44 31 October 1991
2 A2001-44 17 July 2002