INTERPRETATION ACT 1987 - SECT 23
Commencement of Acts
INTERPRETATION ACT 1987 - SECT 23
Commencement of Acts
23 Commencement of Acts
(1) An Act shall commence, or shall be deemed to have commenced--
(a) except
as provided by paragraphs (b) and (c)--on the day occurring 28 days after the
date of assent to the Act,
(b) if the Act provides for its commencement,
whether by proclamation under the Act or otherwise--on the day or days
specified in, or ascertained in accordance with, that provision, or
(c) if a
day is appointed for its commencement by a proclamation under subsection
(2)--on the day so appointed.
(2) The Governor may, by proclamation, appoint
a day for the commencement of an Act that does not provide for its
commencement, being a day that occurs--
(a) no earlier than the date of assent
to the Act, and
(b) no later than the day occurring 28 days after the date of
assent to the Act.
(3) A power to appoint by proclamation a day on which an
Act shall commence does not include power to appoint a day prior to the day on
which the proclamation appointing the day is published.
(4) A power to
appoint by proclamation a day on which an Act shall commence does not include
power to appoint different days for different portions of the Act unless
express provision is made in the Act for that purpose.
(4A) A power to
appoint by proclamation different days for the commencement of different
portions of an Act includes the power to appoint different days for the
commencement of the repeal of different portions of any previous Act or
instrument repealed by a provision of the Act.
(5) A proclamation appointing
a day on which an Act shall commence does not fail merely because the
proclamation is not published until after that day but, in that event, the Act
shall not commence on that day but shall commence--
(a) except as provided by
paragraph (b)--on the day on which the proclamation is published, or
(b) in
the case of a proclamation under subsection (2)--
(i) on the day on which the
proclamation is published, or
(ii) on the day on which the Act would have
commenced had the proclamation not been made,
whichever is the earlier.
(6)
An Act may be referred to by its short title (or name) even though the
provision that specifies the short title (or name) has not commenced.
(7) If
an Act provides for its commencement, whether by proclamation under the Act or
otherwise--
(a) that provision has effect for the purposes of subsection (1)
(b), and
(b) in the case of an Act that provides for its commencement by
proclamation under the Act--such a proclamation may be made and shall have
effect,
even though that provision has not commenced.
(8) In this section,
"published" means published on the NSW legislation website.