Western Australian Current Acts

LAND ADMINISTRATION ACT 1997 - SECT 3

3 .         Terms used

        (1)         In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears —

        adjoining , in relation to parcels of Crown land, includes only separated by —

            (a)         roads; or

            (b)         railways; or

            (c)         watercourses or other natural features of such a character as to be insufficient to prevent the passage of stock; or

            (d)         reserves or unallocated Crown land;

        alienated land means land held in freehold;

        appointed day means day fixed under section 2(1);

        approved form means form for the time being approved under section 278;

        authorised land officer means a person appointed under section 30 to be an authorised land officer;

        Board means the Board established by section 94;

        carbon covenant and carbon right have the same respective meanings as they have in the Carbon Rights Act 2003 ;

        caveat means caveat lodged under section 20 or 21, as the case requires;

        certificate of Crown land title means certificate of Crown land title (being a certificate of the radical title of the Crown) referred to in section 29 and showing the interests, dealings or caveats granted, entered in to or lodged in respect of a parcel of Crown land, and, except in that section, includes any subsidiary certificate of Crown land title —

            (a)         created in relation to part of that parcel; and

            (b)         referred to in that certificate of Crown land title; and

            (c)         showing the particular interests, dealings or caveats granted, entered into or lodged in respect of that part;

        certificate of title has the same meaning as it has in the TLA;

        class A reserve means reserve classified as a class A reserve under section 42;

        Commissioner has the meaning given in the Soil and Land Conservation Act 1945 section 4;

        Commissioner of Main Roads means Commissioner of Main Roads holding office under the Main Roads Act 1930 ;

        condition includes limitation, restriction and, when used in the sense of a stipulation, term;

        condition of land , in relation to land under a pastoral lease or a diversification lease, includes the condition of the soil comprising the land and the condition of the vegetation on the land;

        covenant means covenant referred to in section 15;

        Crown land , subject to subsections (2), (3), (4) and (5), means all land, except for alienated land;

        Crown lease has the same meaning as it has in the TLA;

        DBNGP corridor has the meaning given in the Dampier to Bunbury Pipeline Act 1997 section 27(1);

        dealing , when used as a noun, means —

            (a)         document that when registered creates, effects, cancels or alters interests in, or status orders in respect of, Crown land; or

            (b)         order;

        Department means department principally assisting the Minister in the administration of this Act;

        diversification lease has the meaning given in section 92B(1);

        diversification lessee means the holder of a diversification lease;

        external Territory has the same meaning as it has in section 17 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 of the Commonwealth;

        high water mark , in relation to tidal waters, means ordinary high water mark at spring tides;

        instrument , except in relation to a delegation to, or the appointment of, a person, has the same meaning as it has in the TLA;

        interest , in relation to Crown land, means, except in Parts 9 and 10, charge, Crown lease, easement, lease, mortgage, profit à prendre or other interest, including such interests as are lawfully granted or entered into by a management body, and their counterparts under the repealed Act, but does not include —

            (a)         care, control and management of a reserve, mall reserve or road; or

            (b)         caveat; or

            (c)         licence; or

            (d)         mining, petroleum or geothermal energy right;

        inundated land means alienated land that, through the excavation of that land or other land, has become inundated by tidal waters;

        land means —

            (a)         all land within the limits of the State; and

            (b)         all marine and other waters within the limits of the State; and

            (c)         all coastal waters of the State as defined by section 3(1) of the Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1980 of the Commonwealth; and

            (d)         the sea-bed beneath, and all islands and structures within, the waters referred to in paragraphs (b) and (c); and

            (e)         the airspace above, and subsoil beneath, anything referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d);

        land administration expertise includes expertise and services in —

            (a)         the compilation, storage and use of land information; and

            (b)         land surveying; and

            (c)         land mapping; and

            (d)         land registration;

        land district means land district constituted under section 26;

        lease means lease of Crown land granted under this Act or under an order made under section 46(3) or 59(5)(b);

        leasehold scheme has the meaning given in the Strata Titles Act 1985 section 3(1);

        licence means licence granted under section 91(1);

        location or lot has the meaning given in section 3A(1);

        mall reserve means land reserved under section 59(1) as read with section 59(4)(a)(i);

        managed reserve means reserve the care, control and management of which are placed under section 46 or 59;

        management body means person or persons with whom or which the care, control and management of a reserve or mall reserve are placed under section 46(1) or 59(4);

        management order means order by which the care, control and management of a reserve are placed under section 46(1) or 59(4);

        management plan has the meaning given in section 108A(2);

        mining, petroleum or geothermal energy right means —

            (a)         mining tenement within the meaning of the Mining Act 1978 ; or

            (b)         drilling reservation, lease, licence, permit, pipeline licence, special prospecting authority, access authority or other right under the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Resources Act 1967 , the Petroleum Pipelines Act 1969 or the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1982 ;

        Minister means Minister in the Minister’s capacity as the body corporate continued under section 7(1);

        order means order made by the Minister under this Act in an approved form;

        pastoral lease means lease which is a pastoral lease of Crown land granted under section 101 or continued under section 143;

        pastoral lessee means holder of a pastoral lease;

        Planning Commission means Western Australian Planning Commission established under the Planning and Development Act 2005 ;

        positive covenant , in relation to land, means positive covenant complying with any relevant scheme and registrable under section 15, or covenant which complies with any relevant scheme and which imposes obligations —

            (a)         concerning the matters referred to in section 15(4)(a) to (e); or

            (b)         requiring the provision of public utility services or other services on or to the land or other land in its vicinity; or

            (c)         requiring the maintenance, repair or insurance of any structure or work on the land,

        or imposes any condition with respect to the performance of or failure to perform any such obligation;

        private road means alley, court, lane, road, street, thoroughfare or yard on alienated land, or a right of way created under section 167A(1) of the TLA, which —

            (a)         is not dedicated, whether under a written law or at common law, to use as such by the public; and

            (b)         is shown on a plan or diagram deposited or in an instrument lodged with the Registrar,

        and which —

            (c)         forms a common access to land, or premises, separately occupied; or

            (d)         once formed or was part of a common access to land, or premises, separately occupied, but no longer does so; or

            (e)         is accessible from an alley, court, lane, road, street, thoroughfare, yard or public place that is dedicated, whether under a written law or at common law, to use as such by the public; or

            (f)         once was, but is no longer, accessible from an alley, court, lane, road, street, thoroughfare, yard or public place that was dedicated, whether under a written law or at common law, to use as such by the public;

        profit à prendre means profit à prendre granted under section 91(1);

        public access route means public access route declared under section 64(1);

        public service officer has the same meaning as it has in the Public Sector Management Act 1994 ;

        public utility services means drainage, electricity, gas, sewerage, telephone or water services or such other services as are prescribed for the purposes of this definition;

        public work has the meaning given in the Public Works Act 1902 section 2;

        qualified certificate of Crown land title means qualified certificate of Crown land title referred to in section 29 or clause 44(2) of Schedule 2 and showing the interests, dealings or caveats granted, entered into or lodged in respect of a parcel of Crown land, and, except in that section, includes any subsidiary certificate of Crown land title —

            (a)         created in relation to part of that parcel; and

            (b)         referred to in that qualified certificate of Crown land title; and

            (c)         showing the particular interests, dealings or caveats granted, entered into or lodged in respect of that part;

        recorded means recorded under Part IIIB of the TLA;

        Register has the same meaning as it has in the TLA;

        registered means registered under Part IIIB of the TLA;

        Registrar or Registrar of Titles means Registrar of Titles referred to in section 7 of the TLA;

        remuneration has the same meaning as it has in the Salaries and Allowances Act 1975 ;

        repealed Act means Land Act 1933 ;

        reservation means order retaining in the radical title of the Crown any right or interest in land as a condition of —

            (a)         a conveyance or transfer of Crown land in fee simple; or

            (b)         the grant or entering into of an interest in Crown land;

        reserve means Crown land for the time being reserved under section 41;

        road means land dedicated at common law or reserved, declared or otherwise dedicated under an Act as an alley, bridge, court, lane, road, street, thoroughfare or yard for the passage of pedestrians or vehicles or both;

        scheme has the same meaning as it has in the Environmental Protection Act 1986 ;

        soil conservation notice means a soil conservation notice issued under the Soil and Land Conservation Act 1945 ;

        State instrumentality —

            (a)         includes an organisation as defined in the Public Sector Management Act 1994 section 3(1) and any other body corporate established under a written law; but

            (b)         does not include a local government or a regional local government;

        status order means order other than an order that creates an interest;

        stock means birds, crustaceans, fish, mammals or reptiles or other animals of any kind whatsoever which are farmed, kept or managed;

        subsidiary certificate of Crown land title means subsidiary certificate of Crown land title referred to in section 29;

        TLA means Transfer of Land Act 1893 ;

        townsite means townsite referred to in section 26(1);

        transitional period means period of 5 years beginning on the appointed day;

        unallocated Crown land means Crown land —

            (a)         in which no interest is known to exist, but in which native title within the meaning of the Native Title Act 1993 of the Commonwealth may or may not exist; and

            (b)         which is not reserved, declared or otherwise dedicated under this Act or any other written law;

        unmanaged reserve means reserve the care, control and management of which are not placed with a management body.

        (2)         All land below high water mark, including the beds and banks of tidal waters, is Crown land unless that land is inundated land or other alienated land.

        (3)         When tidal waters form the boundary of a parcel of land or a person holds the freehold in parcels of land adjoining tidal waters —

            (a)         the land below high water mark (except for land which was alienated land immediately before the appointed day) is Crown land; and

            (b)         if the line of the high water mark shifts over time by gradual and imperceptible degrees, the boundaries of the parcel or parcels of land shift with the high water mark.

        (4)         No act to occupy, use, build or carry out works or remove material, with or without lawful authority, is capable of causing land below high water mark to cease to be Crown land.

        (5)         Land that becomes raised above high water mark, whether gradually or imperceptibly or otherwise, because of the building or carrying out of works, is Crown land.

        (6)         A reference in this Act to the sale of Crown land is, unless the contrary intention appears, to be construed as a reference to the transfer of the Crown land in fee simple for consideration.

        (7)         A reference in this Act to the freehold in any land is a reference to the fee simple, whether absolute, conditional or otherwise, of that land.

        [Section 3 amended: No. 59 of 2000 s. 4; No. 56 of 2003 s. 4; No. 38 of 2005 s. 6; No. 28 of 2006 s. 375; No. 60 of 2006 s. 139; No. 35 of 2007 s. 98(2) and (3); No. 30 of 2018 s. 145; No. 4 of 2023 s. 4 and 92.]