NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
STATUS OF CHILDREN ACT 1978
As in force at 20 December 2022
Table of provisions
Part I Preliminary
1 Short title ......................................................................................... 1
2 Commencement .............................................................................. 1
2A Application to persons ..................................................................... 1
3 Interpretation ................................................................................... 1
Part II Status of children
4 Determination of relationship ........................................................... 2
4A Presumptions arising from marriage ................................................ 2
5 Presumptions of paternity arising from cohabitation ........................ 3
Part IIIA Children conceived following medical
procedures
5A Interpretation ................................................................................... 3
5B Application of Part ........................................................................... 4
5C Rule relating to maternity ................................................................. 4
5D Rule relating to paternity .................................................................. 5
5DA Rule relating to parentage – female de facto partners ..................... 5
5E Donor of ovum ................................................................................. 5
5F Status of sperm donor ..................................................................... 6
Part III Disposition of property
6 Instruments ...................................................................................... 6
7 Persons dealing with property ......................................................... 6
8 Recognition of paternity ................................................................... 7
Part IV Establishment of paternity and maternity
9 Presumptions of parentage arising from registration of birth ........... 8
9A Presumptions of paternity arising from acknowledgments ............... 8
9B Parentage arising from findings of courts ........................................ 8
10 Instruments filed with district Registrar ............................................ 9
11 Paternity .......................................................................................... 9
12 Maternity ........................................................................................ 10
Status of Children Act 1978 ii
Part V Parentage testing
13 Medical procedures to determine parentage ................................. 11
14 Matters to be taken into account in making determination ............. 12
15 Reports of medical procedure........................................................ 13
Part VI Miscellaneous
16 Presumptions of law ...................................................................... 13
17 Closed courts................................................................................. 13
18 Regulations.................................................................................... 14
ENDNOTES
Section 1 - Status of Children Act 1978 - Status of Children Act 1978 | Zoe
NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
As in force at 20 December 2022
STATUS OF CHILDREN ACT 1978
An Act relating to the Status of Children
Part I Preliminary
1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the Status of Children Act 1978.
2 Commencement
This Act shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by the
Administrator by notice in the Gazette.
2A Application to persons
This Act applies to a person, whether or not the person:
(a) was born in the Territory;
(b) was born before the commencement of this Act; or
(c) is an infant,
and whether or not the person's parents have ever been domiciled
in the Territory.
3 Interpretation
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
marriage includes:
(a) a void marriage and a voidable marriage which has been
annulled by a court; and
(b) a relationship between an Aboriginal man and woman that is
recognized as a traditional marriage by the community or
group to which they belong,
and married has a corresponding meaning.
Part II Status of children
Status of Children Act 1978 2
parentage testing procedure means a medical procedure
prescribed, or included in a class of medical procedures prescribed,
for the purposes of this definition.
prescribed court means a Territory court, a court of the
Commonwealth, a court of a State or another Territory or a court of
a prescribed overseas jurisdiction.
proof means proof on a balance of probabilities and proved has a
corresponding meaning.
Registrar means the Registrar within the meaning of the Birth,
Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1996.
Part II Status of children
4 Determination of relationship
(1) For all purposes of the law of the Northern Territory the relationship
between every person and his father and mother shall be
determined irrespective of whether the father and mother are or
have been married to each other and all other relationships shall be
determined accordingly.
(2) The rule of construction whereby in any instrument, in the absence
of expression of any intention to the contrary, words of relationship
signify only legitimate relationships, is abolished.
(3) For the purpose of construing any instrument the use, with
reference to relationship of a person, of the words "legitimate" or
"lawful" shall not of itself prevent the relationship from being
determined in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1).
4A Presumptions arising from marriage
(1) If a child is born to a woman while she is married, the child is
presumed to be a child of the woman and her husband.
(2) If:
(a) at a particular time:
(i) a marriage to which a woman is a party is ended by
death; or
(ii) a purported marriage to which a woman is a party is
annulled; and
(b) a child is born to the woman within 44 weeks after that time,
Part IIIA Children conceived following medical procedures
Status of Children Act 1978 3
the child is presumed to be a child of the woman and the former
husband or purported husband.
(3) If:
(a) the parties to a marriage separated at any time;
(b) after the separation, they resumed cohabitation on one
occasion;
(c) within 3 months after the resumption of cohabitation, they
separated again and lived separately and apart; and
(d) a child is born to the woman within 44 weeks after the end of
cohabitation but after the dissolution of the marriage,
the child is presumed to be a child of the woman and the former
husband.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (3), a marriage dissolved by a
decree of dissolution shall be deemed to have been dissolved on
the making of the decree nisi under the Family Law Act 1975 of the
Commonwealth in relation to the marriage.
5 Presumptions of paternity arising from cohabitation
If:
(a) a child is born to a woman; and
(b) at any time during the period beginning not earlier than 44
weeks and ending not later than 20 weeks before the birth, the
woman cohabited with a man to whom she was not married,
the child is presumed to be a child of the man.
Part IIIA Children conceived following medical
procedures
5A Interpretation
(1) In this Part:
fertilization procedure means:
(a) artificial insemination; or
Part IIIA Children conceived following medical procedures
Status of Children Act 1978 4
(b) the procedure of fertilizing an ovum outside the body and
transferring the fertilized ovum into the uterus whether or not
the ovum was produced by the woman into whose uterus it is
transferred.
(2) A reference in this Part to the husband or wife of a person:
(a) is, where the person is living with another person of the
opposite sex as his or her spouse on a bona fide domestic
basis although not married to the other person, a reference to
that other person; and
(b) does not, in that case, include a reference to the spouse, if
any, to whom the person is lawfully married,
and married woman, in those circumstances, has a corresponding
meaning.
5B Application of Part
(1) This Part applies to and in relation to:
(a) a pregnancy referred to in section 5C, 5D or 5E, whether the
pregnancy occurred before or after the commencement of the
Status of Children Amendment Act 1985 and whether or not it
resulted from a fertilization procedure carried out in the
Territory; and
(b) a child born as a result of a pregnancy referred to in
section 5C, 5D, 5E or 5F, whether the child was born before or
after the commencement of the Status of Children
Amendment Act 1985 and whether or not it was born in the
Territory.
(2) Nothing in this Part affects the vesting in possession or in interest of
property that occurred before the commencement of the Status of
Children Amendment Act 1985.
5C Rule relating to maternity
A woman who gives birth to a child is, for all purposes, the mother
of the child, notwithstanding that the child was conceived by the
fertilization of an ovum taken from another woman.
Part IIIA Children conceived following medical procedures
Status of Children Act 1978 5
5D Rule relating to paternity
(1) Where a married woman undergoes, with the consent of her
husband, a fertilization procedure as a result of which she becomes
pregnant:
(a) the husband is taken to have caused the pregnancy and to be
the father of a child born as a result of the pregnancy; and
(b) in the case where the semen used in the fertilization
procedure was not that of the husband, the man who
produced the semen is taken not to have produced that
semen and not to be the father of a child born as the result of
the pregnancy.
(3) In a proceeding in which the operation of subsection (1) is relevant,
a husband's consent to the carrying out of a fertilization procedure
in respect of his wife shall be presumed, but that presumption is
rebuttable.
5DA Rule relating to parentage – female de facto partners
(1) Where a woman who is the de facto partner of another woman
undergoes, with the consent of the other woman, a fertilization
procedure as a result of which she becomes pregnant, the other
woman is taken to be a parent of:
(a) the unborn child; and
(b) a child born as a result of the pregnancy.
(3) In a proceeding in which the operation of subsection (1) is relevant,
a woman's consent to the carrying out of a fertilzation procedure in
respect of her de facto partner is to be presumed, but that
presumption is rebuttable.
5E Donor of ovum
Where:
(a) a woman becomes pregnant as the result of a fertilization
procedure; and
(b) the ovum used for the purposes of the procedure was taken
from another woman,
then, for all purposes, the woman from whom the ovum was taken
is not the mother of a child born as a result of the pregnancy.
Part III Disposition of property
Status of Children Act 1978 6
5F Status of sperm donor
If an unmarried woman, or a married woman without the consent of
her husband, becomes pregnant by means of a fertilization
procedure using sperm obtained from a man who is not her
husband, that man is taken not to be the father of any child born as
a result of the pregnancy.
Part III Disposition of property
6 Instruments
(1) All instruments executed before the commencement of this Act
shall be governed by the enactments, rules of construction and law
which would have applied to them if this Act had not been passed.
(2) Where an instrument to which subsection (1) applies creates a
special power of appointment nothing in this Act shall extend the
class of persons in whose favour the appointment may be made or
cause the exercise of the power to be construed so as to include
any person who is not a member of that class.
(3) The estate of a person who dies intestate as to the whole or any
part of his estate before the commencement of this Act shall be
distributed in accordance with the enactments and rules of law
which would have applied to the estate if this Act had not been
passed.
7 Persons dealing with property
(1) For the purposes of the administration or distribution of any estate
or of any property held upon trust, or of any application under the
Family Provision Act 1970, or for any other purposes, an executor,
administrator, or trustee is not under any obligation to inquire as to
the existence of any person who could claim an interest in the
estate or the property by reason only of the provisions of this Act.
(2) No action shall lie against:
(a) an executor of a person's will;
(b) an administrator or trustee of a person's estate; or
(c) the trustee under any instrument,
Part III Disposition of property
Status of Children Act 1978 7
by any person who could claim an interest in the estate or property
by reason only of any of the provisions of this Act, to enforce any
claim arising by reason of the executor or administrator or trustee:
(d) having made any distribution of the estate or of the property
held upon trust; or
(e) having otherwise acted in the administration of the estate or
property held on trust,
so as to disregard the claims where, at the time of making the
distribution or otherwise so acting, the executor, administrator or
trustee had no notice of the relationship on which the claim is
based.
8 Recognition of paternity
(1) The relationship of father and child and any other relationship
traced in any degree through that relationship shall:
(a) for any purpose related to succession to property;
(b) for any purpose related to the construction of any will or other
testamentary disposition or of any instrument creating a trust;
or
(c) for the purpose of an application under the Family Provision
Act 1970,
be recognized only if:
(d) the father and the mother of the child were married to each
other at the time of its conception or at some subsequent time;
(e) paternity has been admitted (expressly or by implication) by
the father and if that purpose is for the benefit of the father,
paternity has been admitted while the child was living; or
(f) paternity has been established by or against the father.
(2) In any case where, by reason of the provisions of subsection (1),
the relationship of father and child is not recognized at the time the
child is born, the occurrence of any act, event or conduct which
enables that relationship and any other relationship traced in any
degree through it to be recognized shall not affect any estate, right
or interest in any real or personal property to which any person has
become absolutely entitled, whether beneficially or otherwise,
before the act, event or conduct occurred.
Part IV Establishment of paternity and maternity
Status of Children Act 1978 8
Part IV Establishment of paternity and maternity
9 Presumptions of parentage arising from registration of birth
If a person's name is entered as a parent of a child in the register of
births or parentage information kept under a law of the Territory, the
Commonwealth, a State or another Territory of the Commonwealth
or a prescribed overseas jurisdiction, the person is presumed to be
a parent of the child.
9A Presumptions of paternity arising from acknowledgments
(1) If:
(a) under subsection (2) or another law of the Territory, the
Commonwealth, a State or another Territory of the
Commonwealth or a prescribed overseas jurisdiction, a man
has executed an instrument acknowledging that he is the
father of a specified child; and
(b) the instrument has not been annulled or otherwise set aside,
the man is presumed to be the father of the child.
(2) Where an instrument is signed by the parent of a child and by a
man acknowledging that he is the other parent of the child and the
instrument:
(a) is executed as a deed; or
(b) is signed jointly or severally by each of those persons in the
presence of a legal practitioner,
the persons named are presumed to be the parents of the child.
9B Parentage arising from findings of courts
(1) If:
(a) during the lifetime of a particular person, a prescribed court
has:
(i) found expressly that the person is a parent of a
particular child; or
(ii) made a finding that it could not have made unless the
person was a parent of a particular child; and
(b) the finding has not been altered, set aside or reversed,
the person is taken to be a parent of the child.
Part IV Establishment of paternity and maternity
Status of Children Act 1978 9
(2) If:
(a) after the death of a particular person, a prescribed court has:
(i) found expressly that the person was a parent of a
particular child; or
(ii) made a finding that it could not have made unless the
person was a parent of a particular child; and
(b) the finding has not been altered, set aside or reversed,
the person is presumed to be a parent of the child.
10 Instruments filed with district Registrar
(1) An instrument of the kind described in section 9A(2) or a copy
thereof may on payment of the prescribed fee, if any, be filed in the
office of the Registrar.
(2) The Registrar shall cause indexes of all instruments and copies
filed with him under subsection (1) to be made and kept in his office
and shall, upon request made by or on behalf of a party to an
instrument so filed or a child referred to in any such instrument or a
guardian or relative of that child, cause a search of any index to be
made and shall permit that person to inspect any such instrument
or copy where the Registrar is satisfied that the person has a direct
and proper interest in the matter.
(3) If the Supreme Court makes a declaration of paternity under
section 11 or of maternity under section 12 or revokes such a
declaration, an Associate Judge must forward a copy of the
declaration or revocation to the Registrar for filing under this section
and on receipt of any such copy the Registrar shall file it
accordingly as if it were an instrument of the kind referred to in
section 9A(2).
11 Paternity
(1) A person who:
(a) alleges that a named person is the father of her child;
(b) alleges that the relationship of father and child exists between
that person and any other named person; or
(c) being a person having a proper interest in the result, wishes to
have it determined whether the relationship of father and child
exists between 2 named persons,
Part IV Establishment of paternity and maternity
Status of Children Act 1978 10
may apply to the Supreme Court for a declaration of paternity and,
if it is proved to the satisfaction of the Court that the relationship
exists, the Court may make a declaration of paternity whether or not
the father or the child or both of them are living or dead.
(2) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1), the Court may refuse to
hear an application for a declaration of paternity if it is of opinion
that it is not just or proper to do so.
(3) Where a declaration has been made under subsection (1) and it
appears to the Court that new facts or circumstances have arisen
that have not previously been disclosed to a court and could not, by
the exercise of reasonable diligence, have previously been known,
the Court may revoke such declaration which shall, upon
revocation, cease to have any force or effect.
12 Maternity
(1) Any person who:
(a) alleges that any named person is the mother of his child;
(b) alleges that the relationship of mother and child exists
between that person and any other named person; or
(c) being a person having a proper interest in the result, wishes to
have it determined whether the relationship of mother and
child exists between 2 named persons,
may apply to the Supreme Court for a declaration of maternity and,
if it is proved to the satisfaction of the Court that the relationship
exists, the Court may make a declaration of maternity whether or
not the mother or the child or both of them are living or dead.
(2) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1), the Court may refuse to
hear an application for a declaration of maternity if it is of the
opinion that it is not just or proper to do so.
(3) Where a declaration has been made under subsection (1) and it
appears to the Court that new facts or circumstances have arisen
that have not previously been disclosed to a court and could not, by
the exercise of reasonable diligence, have previously been known,
the Court may revoke such declaration which shall, upon
revocation, cease to have any force or effect.
Part V Parentage testing
Status of Children Act 1978 11
Part V Parentage testing
13 Medical procedures to determine parentage
(1) Where the parentage of a child is in issue in proceedings before a
court, the Court may:
(a) on the request of a party to the proceedings;
(b) on the request of a person representing the child; or
(c) of its own motion,
make an order requiring a parentage testing procedure to be
carried out in relation to a person referred to in subsection (2) for
the purpose of obtaining information to assist in determining the
parentage of the child.
(2) The order under subsection (1) may be made in relation to:
(a) the child;
(b) a person believed by the Court to be the mother of the child;
or
(c) any other person where the Court is of the opinion that the
information that could be obtained if the parentage testing
procedure were to be carried out in relation to the person
might assist in determining the parentage of the child.
(3) The order under subsection (1) may be made subject to terms and
conditions.
(4) Where a court makes an order under subsection (1) the Court may:
(a) make such orders as it considers necessary or desirable:
(i) to enable the parentage testing procedure to be carried
out; or
(ii) to make the parentage testing procedure more effective
or reliable,
including, but not limited to, orders requiring a person to
submit to a medical procedure, to provide a bodily sample or
to furnish information relevant to the person's medical or
family history; and
Part V Parentage testing
Status of Children Act 1978 12
(b) make such orders as it thinks fit in relation to costs incurred in
relation to:
(i) the carrying out of the parentage testing procedure or
other orders made by the Court in relation to the
parentage testing procedure; or
(ii) the preparation of reports in relation to the information
obtained as a result of the carrying out of the parentage
testing procedure.
(5) Where a person who has attained the age of 18 years contravenes
an order under this section, the person is not liable to any penalty in
relation to the contravention, but the Court may draw such
inferences as it thinks fit in the circumstances.
(6) Where an order under this section is directed to a child who has not
attained the age of 18 years, a medical procedure or other act must
not be carried out in relation to the child under the order unless a
guardian of the child consents to the medical procedure or act
being carried out, but the Court may draw such inferences from a
failure or refusal to consent as the Court thinks fit in the
circumstances.
(7) If a guardian of the child consents to a medical procedure or other
act being carried out in relation to the child under the order, a
person who carries out, or assists in the carrying out of, the medical
procedure or act is not liable to any civil or criminal action in relation
to the proper carrying out of the medical procedure or act.
14 Matters to be taken into account in making determination
(1) Before making a determination under section 13 the Court may, if it
thinks that to do so would be in the best interest of the child,
appoint a fit and proper person to act as the litigation guardian of
the child.
(2) In deciding whether to give a direction under section 13, the Court
shall:
(a) consider and determine all objections made by a party to the
proceedings on account of medical, religious or other grounds;
and
(b) if it determines that an objection is valid, take the objection
into account in arriving at its decision.
Part VI Miscellaneous
Status of Children Act 1978 13
15 Reports of medical procedure
(1) A report made in accordance with regulations made for the
purposes of section 13 may be received in evidence in proceedings
under this Act.
(2) Where a report referred to in subsection (1) is received in evidence
in proceedings under this Act, the Court may:
(a) on the request of a party to the proceedings;
(b) on the request of a person representing the relevant child; or
(c) of its own motion,
make an order requiring the person who made the report, or any
person whose evidence may be relevant in relation to the report, to
appear before the Court and give evidence in relation to it.
Part VI Miscellaneous
16 Presumptions of law
(1) A presumption arising under this Act is rebuttable by proof on a
balance of probabilities.
(2) Where:
(a) 2 or more presumptions arising under this Act are relevant in
any proceeding; and
(b) those presumptions, or some of those presumptions, conflict
with each other and are not rebutted in the proceeding,
the presumption that appears to the Court to be the more or most
likely to be correct prevails.
(3) To avoid doubt, subsections (1), (2) and (4) do not apply to
sections 5D(1), 5DA(1), 5F and 9B(1).
(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a prosecutor may
not, in any criminal proceedings, rely on a presumption arising
under this Act to prove the parentage of a child.
17 Closed courts
(1) Unless the Court otherwise orders, the hearing of an application
made under this Act shall be in closed court.
Part VI Miscellaneous
Status of Children Act 1978 14
(2) A person shall not publish, whether in a newspaper, magazine,
journal or other periodical publication, or by radio or television or
otherwise, the name of or any particulars relating to the identity of
any person by, or in relation to, whom proceedings are taken under
this Act without the authority of the Court before which such
proceedings are taken.
Maximum penalty: 40 penalty units.
18 Regulations
The Administrator may make regulations not inconsistent with this
Act for or with respect to:
(a) forms for the purposes of this Act;
(aa) the carrying out of parentage testing procedures under orders
made under section 13;
(ab) the preparation of reports in relation to the information
obtained as the result of the carrying out of procedures under
orders made under section 13;
(b) fees to be charged under this Act; and
(c) generally, all matters required or permitted by this Act to be
prescribed and all matters that are necessary or convenient
for the proper administration of this Act or to achieve the
object and purposes of this Act.
ENDNOTES
Status of Children Act 1978 15
ENDNOTES
1 KEY
Key to abbreviations
amd = amended od = order
app = appendix om = omitted
bl = by-law pt = Part
ch = Chapter r = regulation/rule
cl = clause rem = remainder
div = Division renum = renumbered
exp = expires/expired rep = repealed
f = forms s = section
Gaz = Gazette sch = Schedule
hdg = heading sdiv = Subdivision
ins = inserted SL = Subordinate Legislation
lt = long title sub = substituted
nc = not commenced
2 LIST OF LEGISLATION
Status of Children Act 1978 (Act No. 16, 1979)
Assent date 26 January 1979
Commenced 21 September 1979 (Gaz G38, 21 September 1979, p 1)
Statute Law Revision Act (No. 2) 1979 (Act No. 128, 1979)
Assent date 15 October 1979
Commenced 15 October 1979
Status of Children Amendment Act 1985 (Act No. 40, 1985)
Assent date 18 September 1985
Commenced 1 November 1985 (Gaz G43, 30 October 1985, p 2)
Statute Law Revision Act 1988 (Act No. 66, 1988)
Assent date 22 December 1988
Commenced 22 December 1988
Statute Law Revision Act 1990 (Act No. 33, 1990)
Assent date 11 June 1990
Commenced 11 June 1990
Status of Children Act 1996 (Act No. 16, 1996)
Assent date 19 April 1996
Commenced 1 July 1996 (Gaz S15, 13 June 1996)
Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration (Consequential Amendments) Act 1996 (Act
No. 27, 1996)
Assent date 28 June 1996
Commenced 1 January 1997 (s 2, s 2 Births, Deaths and Marriages
Registration Act 1996 (Act No. 26, 1996) and Gaz G49,
4 December 1996, p 5)
ENDNOTES
Status of Children Act 1978 16
Statute Law Revision Act (No. 2) 2003 (Act No. 44, 2003)
Assent date 7 July 2003
Commenced 7 July 2003
Law Reform (Gender, Sexuality and De Facto Relationships) Act 2003 (Act No. 1, 2004)
Assent date 7 January 2004
Commenced 17 March 2004 (Gaz G11, 17 March 2004, p 8)
Justice Legislation Amendment (Penalties) Act 2010 (Act No. 12, 2010)
Assent date 20 May 2010
Commenced 1 July 2010 (Gaz G24, 16 June 2010, p 2)
Statute Law Revision Act 2014 (Act No. 38, 2014)
Assent date 13 November 2014
Commenced 13 November 2014
Supreme Court Amendment (Associate Judges) Act 2017 (Act No. 18, 2017)
Assent date 5 September 2017
Commenced 22 November 2017 (Gaz S84, 21 November 2017, p 1)
Surrogacy Act 2022 (Act No. 8, 2022)
Assent date 26 May 2022
Commenced 20 December 2022 (Gaz S66, 20 December 2022)
3 SAVINGS AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS
s 15 Status of Children Amendment Act 1996 (Act No. 16, 1996)
4 GENERAL AMENDMENTS
General amendments of a formal nature (which are not referred to in the table
of amendments to this reprint) are made by the Interpretation Legislation
Amendment Act 2018 (Act No. 22, 2018) to: ss 1, 3, 7 and 8.
5 LIST OF AMENDMENTS
lt amd No. 16, 1996, s 4
s 2A ins No. 16, 1996, s 5
s 3 amd No. 66, 1988, s 5; No. 16, 1996, s 6; No. 27, 1996, s 7
s 4 amd No. 16, 1996, s 7
s 4A ins No. 16, 1996, s 8
s 5 sub No. 16, 1996, s 8
pt IIA hdg ins No. 40, 1985, s 4
ss 5A – 5C ins No. 40, 1985, s 4
s 5D ins No. 40, 1985, s 4
amd No. 8, 2022, s 72
s 5DA ins No. 1, 2004, s 41
amd No. 8, 2022, s 73
s 5E ins No. 40, 1985, s 4
s 5F ins No. 40, 1985, s 4
sub No. 8, 2022, s 74
s 7 amd No. 44, 2003, s 3
s 9 sub No. 16, 1996, s 9
s 9A ins No. 16, 1996, s 9
ENDNOTES
Status of Children Act 1978 17
s 9B ins No. 16, 1996, s 9
amd No. 8, 2022, s 75
s 10 amd No. 128, 1979, s 31; No. 66, 1988, s 5; No. 16, 1996, s 10; No. 38,
2014, s 2; No. 18, 2017, s 36
pt V hdg sub No. 16, 1996, s 11
s 13 amd No. 33, 1990, s 9
sub No. 16, 1996, s 11
ss 14 – 15 sub No. 16, 1996, s 11
s 16 amd No. 33, 1990, s 9; No. 16, 1996, s 12; No. 8, 2022, s 76
s 17 amd No. 16, 1996, s 13; No. 12, 2010, s 3
s 18 amd No. 16, 1996, s 14
s 19 rep No. 44, 2003, s 3
s 20 rep No. 66, 1988, s 5
sch rep No. 44, 2003, s 3