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Commonwealth act
This Act converts the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (SMEC) — a government-owned body — into a public company registered under Australian corporations law. Think of it as changing SMEC from a special government agency created by its own Act of Parliament into a normal company that operates under the same rules as other Australian businesses.
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Direct links to the current provisions in Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (Conversion into Public Company) Act 1989.
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View on official registerSourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
This is part of a broader 1980s–90s trend of Australian governments corporatising (turning into companies) state-owned enterprises — giving them more commercial flexibility while moving them out of direct government administration. SMEC, which provides engineering consultancy services globally, was being set up to compete commercially rather than operate as a bureaucratic body.