REPRESENTATION ACT 1905
- Reprinted as at 18 November 1964 (HISTACT2 CHAP 319 #DATE 18:11:1964)
REPRESENTATION ACT 1905-1964 - TABLE OF PROVISIONS
TABLE
REPRESENTATION ACT 1905-1964
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section
1. Short title
2. Inquiry as to population of the several States
3. Appointment of Enumeration Day
4. Ascertainment of number of people of the Commonwealth and the
States
5. Statistical information to be furnished
6. Certificate of Chief Electoral Officer
7. Gazettal of certificate
8. Effect of certificate
9. Determination of number of Members of House of Representatives
10. Determination of representation of the States
11. Notification setting forth number of Members of House of
Representatives
12. Certificate not to affect certain elections
13. Power to make regulations
Laying before Parliament
Power of Parliament over
SCHEDULES
Schedule A (Repealed)
SCHEDULE B
Certificate of Chief Electoral Officer
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REPRESENTATION ACT 1905-1964 - SECT. 1.
Short title.
SECT
Representatives.
Short title amended; No. 32, 1918, s. 2.
1. This Act may be cited as the Representation Act 1905-1964.*
REPRESENTATION ACT 1905-1964 - SECT. 2.
Inquiry as to population of the several States.
SECT
2. For the purpose of determining the number of Members of the House of
Representatives to be chosen from time to time in the several States, the
Chief Electoral Officer of the Commonwealth shall at the times and in the
manner prescribed by this Act ascertain the numbers of the people of the
Commonwealth, and the numbers of the people of the several States.
REPRESENTATION ACT 1905-1964 - SECT. 3.
Appointment of Enumeration Day.
SECT
3. (1) The day on which any census of the people of the Commonwealth is
taken shall be an Enumeration Day within the meaning of this Act.
Sub-section (2) omitted by No. 9, 1938, s. 3.
* * * * * * * *
REPRESENTATION ACT 1905-1964 - SECT. 4.
Ascertainment of number of people of the Commonwealth and the States.
SECT
4. (1) The numbers of the people shall be ascertained as on Enumeration Day
in accordance with the following provisions:-
(a) The numbers of the people of each State, as shown by the census, shall
be taken.
Sub-section (1) amended by No. 9, 1938, s. 4.
* * * * * * * *
(c) There shall be excluded from the reckoning the number of persons who,
by section twenty-five or section one hundred and twenty-seven of the
Constitution, are required not to be counted.
Sub-sections (2) and (3) omitted by No. 9, 1938, s. 4.
* * * * * * * *
REPRESENTATION ACT 1905-1964 - SECT. 5.
Statistical information to be furnished.
SECT
5. All Statistical Officers of the Commonwealth and of the several States
are hereby authorized and required to furnish to the Chief Electoral Officer
all such statistical information as he requires to enable him to ascertain the
numbers of the people in accordance with this Act.
REPRESENTATION ACT 1905-1964 - SECT. 6.
Certificate of Chief Electoral Officer.
SECT
6. The Chief Electoral Officer shall forthwith, after he has ascertained the
numbers of the people in accordance with this Act, make and forward to the
Minister a certificate, in accordance with the form prescribed in Schedule B
or by the regulations, setting forth the numbers of the people of the
Commonwealth and of the several States as on Enumeration Day.
REPRESENTATION ACT 1905-1964 - SECT. 7.
Gazettal of certificate.
SECT
7. A copy of the certificate of the Chief Electoral Officer shall forthwith
be published in the Gazette*; and copies of the certificate shall forthwith be
laid before both Houses of the Parliament, if the Parliament is then sitting,
and if not then within thirty days after the next meeting of the Parliament.
REPRESENTATION ACT 1905-1964 - SECT. 8.
Effect of certificate.
SECT
8. The certificate of the Chief Electoral Officer shall, for the purposes of
this Act, be evidence of the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth and of
the several States, and shall remain in force until superseded by the making
of another certificate in accordance with this Act.
REPRESENTATION ACT 1905-1964 - SECT. 9.
Determination of number of Members of House of Representatives.
SECT
9. The Chief Electoral Officer shall, immediately after the issue of the
foregoing certificate, determine the number of Members of the House of
Representatives to be chosen in the several States in the manner hereinafter
mentioned.*
REPRESENTATION ACT 1905-1964 - SECT. 10.
Determination of representation of the States.
SECT
Amended by No. 97, 1964, s. 3.
10. For the purpose of determining the number of Members of the House of
Representatives to be chosen in the several States, the following procedure
shall be followed:-
(a) A quota shall be ascertained by dividing the number of people of the
Commonwealth, as shown by the certificate (for the time being in force) of the
Chief Electoral Officer, by twice the number of Senators.
(b) The number of Members to be chosen in each State shall, subject to the
Constitution, be determined by dividing the number of the people of the State,
as shown by the certificate (for the time being in force) of the Chief
Electoral Officer, by the quota; and if on such division there is a remainder,
one more Member shall be chosen in the State.
REPRESENTATION ACT 1905-1964 - SECT. 11.
Notification setting forth number of Members of House of Representatives.
SECT
11. The Chief Electoral Officer shall forthwith, after he has determined the
number of Members of the House of Representatives to be chosen in the several
States in accordance with this Act, make and forward to the Minister a
notification setting forth the number of Members of the House of
Representatives to be chosen in the several States.
REPRESENTATION ACT 1905-1964 - SECT. 12.
Certificate not to affect certain elections.
SECT
12. When in pursuance of a certificate under this Act an alteration takes
place in the number of Members of the House of Representatives to be chosen in
any State the alteration shall not affect-
(a) any election held before the State has been redistributed into
electoral divisions pursuant to the certificate; nor
(b) any election to fill a vacancy in a House of Representatives elected
before such redistribution, but shall affect any general election after such
redistribution.
REPRESENTATION ACT 1905-1964 - SECT. 13.
Power to make regulations.
SECT
13. (1) The Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with
this Act, prescribing all matters necessary or convenient to be prescribed for
carrying out or giving effect to this Act.
Laying before Parliament.
(2) All regulations made in pursuance of this Act shall be laid before both
Houses of the Parliament within thirty days next after they are made if the
Parliament is then sitting, or if the Parliament is not then sitting then
within thirty days after the next meeting of the Parliament.
Power of Parliament over.
Amended by No. 9, 1938, s. 5.
(3) A regulation altering or superseding or providing a substitute for or
affecting Schedule B, shall not have any force until it has been laid before
both Houses of the Parliament for thirty days, or if within that time a
resolution has been proposed in either House of the Parliament to disapprove
of the regulation, until the motion for the resolution has been disposed of.
(4) If before the regulation comes into force a resolution disapproving of
it is passed by either House of the Parliament, the regulation shall be of no
effect.
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REPRESENTATION ACT 1905-1964 - SCHEDULE B
SCH
SCHEDULES
Schedule A repealed by No. 9, 1938, s. 6.
* * * * * * * *
SCHEDULE B
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
The Representation Act 1905
CERTIFICATE OF THE CHIEF ELECTORAL OFFICER OF THE NUMBERS OF THE
PEOPLE OF THE COMMONWEALTH AND OF THE SEVERAL STATES.
I, , Chief Electoral Officer of the Commonwealth of Australia, do
hereby certify that I have, in the manner prescribed by the Representation Act
1905, ascertained the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth and of the
several States, and that those numbers were on the day of 19 as
follows:-
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States Numbers of the
People
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New South Wales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Victoria . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Queensland . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . South Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Western Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tasmania . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Commonwealth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Dated the day of 19 .
Chief Electoral
Officer.
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REPRESENTATION ACT 1905-1964 - NOTES
NOTES
1. The Representation Act 1905-1964 comprises the Representation Act 1905 as
amended by the other Acts specified in the following table:
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Number Date of Assent
Act and year and of commencement
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Representation Act 1905 No. 11, 1905 23 Nov 1905
Representation Act 1938 No. 9, 1938 30 June 1938
Representation Act 1964 No. 97, 1964 18 Nov 1964
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2.-S. 7-For copies of the certificates of the Chief Electoral Officer
published pursuant to this section, see Gazette 1911, p. 2113; 1921, p. 1249;
1926, p. 1072; 1933, p. 1607; 1947, p. 3475; 1954, p. 3247; 1962, p. 114;
1967, p. 4528; and 1972, No. 92A, p. 1.
3.-S. 9-Section 4 of the Representation Act 1964 provides as follows:-
''4. (1) The last determination made by the Chief Electoral Officer before
the commencement of this Act under section nine of the Principal Act of the
number of members of the House of Representatives to be chosen in the several
States shall not have effect.
''(2) Forthwith after the commencement of this Act, the Chief Electoral
Officer shall make a determination of the number of members of the House of
Representatives to be chosen in the several States in the manner provided by
section ten of the Principal Act as amended by this Act.''