Commonwealth act

Seat of Government Act 1904

RepealedCTH

This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.

Jurisdiction

Commonwealth

Act Number

7 of 1904

Collection

act

Plain English Summary

1/10 complexity

What this law does

This law chooses the location for Australia’s national capital (the "Seat of Government"). It selects a site within 17 miles of Dalgety, New South Wales.

Key rules for the capital territory

Size: The federal territory must cover at least 900 square miles.
Sea access: The territory must have access to the sea.
Land prices: If the government buys private land for the capital, compensation is capped at the land’s value on 1 January 1904. This stops landowners from hiking prices once they know the capital is coming. Apart from that price cap, the normal land acquisition rules in the Property for Public Purposes Acquisition Act 1901 apply.

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Current sections

Direct links to the current provisions in Seat of Government Act 1904.

Seat of Government Act 1904

SEAT OF GOVERNMENT.

No. 7 of 1904.

An Act to determine the Seat of Government of the Commonwealth.

[Assented to 15th August, 1904.]

Preamble.

WHEREAS it is provided by the Constitution that the Seat of Government of the Commonwealth shall be determined by the Parliament:

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

Short title.

1. This Act may be cited as the Seat of Government Act 1904.

Determination of Seat of Government.

2. It is hereby determined that the Seat of Government of the Commonwealth shall be within seventeen miles of Dalgety, in the State of New South Wales.

Area of Federal territory.

3. The territory to be granted to or acquired by the Commonwealth, within which the Seat of Government shall be, should contain an area not less than nine hundred square miles, and have access to the sea.

Valuation of land within Federal territory.

4. The amount of the compensation to be paid by the Commonwealth for any land to be acquired by the Commonwealth within the Seat of Government or the surrounding territory shall not exceed the value of the land on the first day of January One thousand nine hundred and four, but in other respects the provisions of the Property for Public Purposes Acquisition Act 1901 shall apply to the acquisition of such land.

Source text

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

1 Seat of Government Act 1904