Contents

Part I—Preliminary                                                                                                                1

1............ Short title see Note 1]....................................................................... 1

2............ Commencement [see Note 1].............................................................. 1

3............ Repeal................................................................................................. 1

4............ Interpretation...................................................................................... 1

4A......... Application of the Criminal Code...................................................... 3

Part II—Constitution and seat of the High Court                                                 4

Division 1—Justices of the High Court                                                              4

5............ The High Court................................................................................... 4

6............ Consultation with State Attorneys‑General on appointment of Justices               4

7............ Qualification of Justices..................................................................... 4

8............ Seniority............................................................................................. 4

9............ Acting Chief Justice............................................................................ 5

10.......... Justices not to hold other office......................................................... 5

11.......... Oath or affirmation of allegiance and of office.................................... 5

12.......... Salary and allowances......................................................................... 5

13.......... Appropriation................................................................................... 6

Division 2—Seat of the High Court                                                                      7

14.......... Seat [see Note 2]................................................................................. 7

15.......... Places of sittings................................................................................. 7

16.......... Judgment may be pronounced at any sitting...................................... 7

Part III—Administration of the High Court                                                             8

17.......... Administration of the Court............................................................... 8

18.......... Chief Executive and Principal Registrar of the Court......................... 9

19.......... Functions and powers of the Chief Executive and Principal Registrar 9

20.......... Terms and conditions of appointment............................................. 10

21.......... Remuneration and allowances........................................................... 10

22.......... Leave of absence............................................................................... 11

23.......... Resignation....................................................................................... 11

24.......... Termination of appointment............................................................ 11

25.......... Acting Chief Executive and Principal Registrar................................ 12

26.......... Officers and employees.................................................................... 13

27.......... Marshal and Deputy Marshals........................................................ 13

28.......... Certain officers may administer oaths and affirmations................... 14

Part IV—Registry and procedure                                                                                15

30.......... Registry............................................................................................ 15

31.......... Transfer of proceedings.................................................................... 16

32.......... Seals.................................................................................................. 16

33.......... Writs etc........................................................................................... 17

34.......... Date of process................................................................................. 17

Part V—Finance                                                                                                                     18

35.......... Moneys appropriated for the Court................................................ 18

36.......... Estimates.......................................................................................... 18

37.......... Application of moneys appropriated for the Court......................... 18

38.......... Trust moneys................................................................................... 19

39.......... Other moneys................................................................................... 19

40.......... Limitation on contracts..................................................................... 19

41.......... Accounts with ADIs........................................................................ 19

42.......... Proper accounts to be kept............................................................... 20

43.......... Audit................................................................................................. 20

44.......... Exemption from taxation.................................................................. 21

Part VI—Miscellaneous                                                                                                    22

45.......... Proceedings in respect of administration of the Court..................... 22

46.......... Exercise of powers of the Court in administrative matters.............. 22

47.......... Annual reports and financial statements.......................................... 22

48.......... Rules of Court.................................................................................. 23

49.......... Regulations....................................................................................... 23

Schedule                                                                                                                                      24

Notes                                                                                                                                            25

To make provision with respect to the High Court of Australia

  

Notes to the High Court of Australia Act 1979

Note 1

The High Court of Australia Act 1979 as shown in this compilation comprises Act No. 137, 1979 amended as indicated in the Tables below.

All relevant information pertaining to application, saving or transitional provisions prior to 6 April 2001 is not included in this compilation. For subsequent information see Table A.

Table of Acts

Act	Number and year	Date of Assent	Date of commencement		Application, saving or transitional provisions
High Court of Australia Act 1979	137, 1979	23 Nov 1979	21 Apr 1980 (see Gazette 1980, No. S82)
Public Service Reform Act 1984	63, 1984	25 June 1984	S. 151(1): 1 July 1984 (see Gazette 1984, No. S245) (a)		S. 151(9)
Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (No. 1) 1985	65, 1985	5 June 1985	S. 3: 3 July 1985 (b)		—
Statutory Instruments (Tabling and Disallowance) Legislation Amendment Act 1988	99, 1988	2 Dec 1988	2 Dec 1988		—
Lands Acquisition (Repeal and Consequential Provisions) Act 1989	21, 1989	20 Apr 1989	9 June 1989 (see s. 2 and Gazette 1989, No. S185)		—
Courts and Tribunals Administration Amendment Act 1989	157, 1989	5 Dec 1989	Parts 1 and 6 (ss.1, 2, 17, 18): Royal Assent Ss. 3–16 and 19–25: 1 Jan 1990 (see Gazette 1989, No. S398)		—
Industrial Relations Legislation Amendment Act 1991	122, 1991	27 June 1991	Ss. 4(1), 10(b) and 15–20: 1 Dec 1988 Ss. 28(b)–(e), 30 and 31: 10 Dec 1991 (see Gazette 1991, No. S332) Remainder: Royal Assent		S. 31(2)
Prime Minister and Cabinet Legislation Amendment Act 1991	199, 1991	18 Dec 1991	18 Dec 1991		—
Law and Justice Legislation Amendment Act 1993	13, 1994	18 Jan 1994	S. 22: 13 Jan 1993 Part 6 (ss. 27–41): 11 Apr 1994 (see Gazette 1994, No. S126) Remainder: Royal Assent		S. 34
Statute Law Revision Act 1996	43, 1996	25 Oct 1996	Schedule 4 (items 87, 88) and Schedule 5 (items 72–74): Royal Assent (c)		—
Workplace Relations and Other Legislation Amendment Act 1996	60, 1996	25 Nov 1996	Schedule 16 (item 29): 25 May 1997 (d)		—
Financial Sector Reform (Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Act (No. 1) 1999	44, 1999	17 June 1999	Schedule 6 (items 21–24): Royal Assent (e)		—
Law and Justice Legislation Amendment Act 1999	125, 1999	13 Oct 1999	Schedule 8: Royal Assent (f)		—
Public Employment (Consequential and Transitional) Amendment Act 1999	146, 1999	11 Nov 1999	Schedule 1 (items 511–514): 5 Dec 1999 (see Gazette 1999, No. S584) (g)		—
Law and Justice Legislation Amendment (Application of Criminal Code) Act 2001	24, 2001	6 Apr 2001	S. 4(1), (2) and Schedule 31: (h)		S. 4(1) and (2) [see Table A]
Abolition of Compulsory Age Retirement (Statutory Officeholders) Act 2001	159, 2001	1 Oct 2001	29 Oct 2001	Sch. 1 (item 97) [see Table A]
Financial Framework Legislation Amendment Act 2005	8, 2005	22 Feb 2005	Schedule 2 (items 125–129, 174): Royal Assent	Sch. 2 (item 174) [see Table A]

(a)      The High Court of Australia Act 1979 was amended by section 151(1) only of the Public Service Reform Act 1984, subsection 2(4) of which provides as follows:

                 (4)   The remaining provisions of this Act shall come into operation on such day as is, or on such respective days as are, fixed by Proclamation.

(b)     The High Court of Australia Act 1979 was amended by section 3 only of the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (No.1) 1985, subsection 2(1) of which provides as follows:

                 (1)   Subject to this section, this Act shall come into operation on the twenty‑eighth day after the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.

(c)      The High Court of Australia Act 1979 was amended by Schedule 4 (items 87, 88) and Schedule 5 (items 72–74) only of the Statute Law Revision Act 1996, subsection 2(1) provides as follows:

                 (1)   Subject to subsections (2) and (3), this Act commences on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.

(d)      The High Court of Australia Act 1979 was amended by Schedule 16 (item 29) only of the Workplace Relations and Other Legislation Amendment Act 1996, subsections 2(2) and (3) provide as follows:

                 (2)   Subject to subsection (3), the items of the Schedules, other than Schedule 5, item 1 of Schedule 9. Items 2 and 3 of Schedule 12, item 90 of Schedule 16 and the items of Schedule 19, commence on the day or days to be fixed by Proclamation.

                 (3)   If an item of a Schedule does not commence under subsection (2) within the period of 6 months beginning on the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent, it commences on the first day after the end of that period.

(e)      The High Court of Australia Act 1979 was amended by Schedule 6 (items 21–24) only of the Financial Sector Reform (Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Act (No. 1) 1999, subsection 3(1) of which provides as follows:

                 (1)   Subject to this section, this Act commences on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.

(f)       The High Court of Australia Act 1979 was amended by Schedule 8 only of the Law and Justice Legislation Amendment Act 1999, subsection 2(1) of which provides as follows:

                 (1)   Subject to this section, this Act commences on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.

(g)      The High Court of Australia Act 1979 was amended by Schedule 1 (items 511–514) only of the Public Employment (Consequential and Transitional) Amendment Act 1999, subsections 2(1) and (2) of which provide as follows:

                 (1)   In this Act, commencing time means the time when the Public Service Act 1999 commences.

                 (2)   Subject to this section, this Act commences at the commencing time.

(h)      The High Court of Australia Act 1979 was amended by Schedule 31 only of the Law and Justice Legislation Amendment (Application of Criminal Code) Act 2001, subsection 2(1)(a) of which provides as follows:

                 (1)   Subject to this section, this Act commences at the later of the following times:

                              (a)   immediately after the commencement of item 15 of Schedule 1 to the Criminal Code Amendment (Theft, Fraud, Bribery and Related Offences) Act 2000;

         Item 15 commenced on 24 May 2001.

Table of Amendments

ad. = added or inserted      am. = amended     rep. = repealed     rs. = repealed and substituted
Provision affected	How affected
Part I
S. 4 ......................................	am. No. 13, 1994; No. 44, 1999; No. 8, 2005
S. 4A ...................................	ad. No. 24, 2001
Part II
Division 1
S. 7 ......................................	am. No. 43, 1996
S. 9 ......................................	am. No. 43, 1996
S. 11 ....................................	am. No. 43, 1996
Part III
S. 17 ....................................	am. No. 21, 1989
S. 18 ....................................	am. No. 13, 1994
S. 19 ....................................	am. No. 99, 1988; No. 13, 1994; No. 43, 1996; No. 24, 2001
S. 20 ....................................	am. No. 199, 1991; No. 13, 1994; No. 43, 1996; No. 159, 2001
S. 21 ....................................	am. No. 13, 1994; No. 43, 1996
S. 22 ....................................	rs. No. 122, 1991
	am. No. 13, 1994; No. 146, 1999
S. 23 ....................................	am. No. 13, 1994; No. 43, 1996
S. 24 ....................................	am. No. 122, 1991; No. 13, 1994; No. 43, 1996
S. 25 ....................................	am. No. 13, 1994; No. 43, 1996; No. 146, 1999
S. 26 ....................................	am. No. 63, 1984; No. 199, 1991; No. 13, 1994; No. 146, 1999
S. 27 ....................................	am. No. 43, 1996
S. 28 ....................................	am. No. 13, 1994
S. 29 ....................................	rep. No. 65, 1985
Part IV
S. 30 ....................................	am. No. 13, 1994; No. 60, 1996
S. 33 ....................................	am. No. 13, 1994
Part V
S. 35 ....................................	am. No. 8, 2005
S. 39 ....................................	am. No. 44, 1999; No. 8, 2005
S. 40 ....................................	am. No. 157, 1989
Heading to s. 41 ..................	rs. No. 44, 1999
S. 41 ....................................	am. No. 13, 1994; No. 44, 1999
S. 43 ....................................	am. No. 43, 1996; No. 24, 2001
Part VI
S. 45 ....................................	am. No. 13, 1994
S. 47 ....................................	am. No. 43, 1996; No. 8, 2005
S. 49 ....................................	ad. No. 125, 1999

Note 2

S. 14—The date fixed was 1 September 1980 (see Gazette 1980, No. S193).

Table A

Application, saving or transitional provisions

Law and Justice Legislation Amendment (Application of Criminal Code) Act 2001 (No. 24, 2001)

4  Application of amendments

             (1)  Subject to subsection (3), each amendment made by this Act applies to acts and omissions that take place after the amendment commences.

             (2)  For the purposes of this section, if an act or omission is alleged to have taken place between 2 dates, one before and one on or after the day on which a particular amendment commences, the act or omission is alleged to have taken place before the amendment commences.

Abolition of Compulsory Age Retirement (Statutory Officeholders) Act 2001 (No. 159, 2001)

Schedule 1

97   Application of amendments

The amendments made by this Schedule do not apply to an appointment if the term of the appointment began before the commencement of this item.

Financial Framework Legislation Amendment Act 2005 (No. 8, 2005)

Schedule 2

174   Saving provision—provisions that formerly referred to the Treasurer

(1)         Any thing that:

                     (a)  was done by the Treasurer, or by a delegate of the Treasurer, before the commencing time under an affected provision; and

                     (b)  was in effect immediately before the commencing time;

continues to have effect after the commencing time as if it had been done by the Finance Minister under the affected provision.

(2)         In this item:

affected provision means a provision that is amended by an item in this Schedule so as to replace references to the Treasurer with references to the Finance Minister.

commencing time means the day this Act receives the Royal Assent.

Finance Minister means the Minister who administers the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997.