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Western Australia act
What this law does
Who says this and why (the stated purpose)
Practical, mechanical effects and who bears them
Legal effect: the Act does not change the date of the holiday or the fact that it is a public/bank holiday or an employment entitlement. It changes only the name used in statutes and allows existing references to be read as references to the new name (s 3(1)–(2); ss 5, 7).
Administrative work: agencies, employers, courts, tribunals and private parties that maintain laws, contracts, awards, payroll systems, signage, websites and other documents that use the term "Foundation Day" will need to update wording or at least treat earlier references as referring to the new name (s 3(2); ss 5, 7). Those parties will incur the costs of making updates (time, printing, IT changes). The Act itself does not allocate funding for that work.
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Direct links to the current provisions in Western Australia Day (Renaming) Act 2012.
The authorised version of this legislation is published by the jurisdiction's legislation service. Follow the link below to read or download it from the official source.
View on official registerSourced from the Western Australian Legislation website (legislation.wa.gov.au). Not the authorised version.
Decision-makers and interpretation: the Act gives a rule for reading older references as referring to the new name (s 3(2)). Where a reading as "Western Australia Day" would be inappropriate, actors (courts, agencies, employers) will need to decide whether to treat a particular reference as applying to the renamed holiday. That creates a small area of interpretive discretion in application (s 3(2)).
Costs, incentives, trade-offs and risks
Direct fiscal cost: the statute does not create new public expenditure obligations; costs are limited to administrative updates by public bodies and private parties. The Act does not change the timing or substantive entitlements attached to the holiday (s 3(1); ss 5, 7), so it does not create ongoing additional pay or leave liabilities beyond existing arrangements.
Incentives and behaviour: because the legal entitlements tied to the holiday remain in place but under a new name, businesses and employers are incentivised to update contracts, payroll and communications promptly to avoid confusion about entitlements and rostering. Failure to update may produce disputes about interpretation that will be resolved case-by-case under the reading rule (s 3(2)).
Opportunity costs and implementation risk: the main opportunity cost is the administrative time spent updating documents and systems. The short commencement timetable (ss 1–2) means updates may be required quickly after Royal Assent, creating a modest implementation burden for those who must act fast (s 2).
Effects on private enterprise and market activity: the Act does not alter competition, prices, ownership, or the legal ability of businesses to operate. Its likely market effect is limited to administrative adjustments and a modest risk of contractual ambiguity during transition (s 3(2); ss 5, 7).
Concentrated benefits and diffuse costs
Benefit: the change creates a new statutory name for the holiday; that benefit is symbolic and accrues to the community broadly as determined by the Legislature (Background).
Costs: the costs of implementing the name change (updating instruments, systems and communications) are dispersed across many public and private actors. The Act does not establish compensation or cost-sharing mechanisms for those updates.
Summary statement of legal scope