Australian Capital Territory

RECOVERY OF LANDS act 1929
This consolidation has been prepared by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel’s Office
Updated as at 25 May 1998
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section
	1.	Short title
	2.	Application
	3.	Method of determining leases
	4.	Warrant of ejectment
	5.	Notice of intention to apply for a warrant of ejectment
	6.	Incorporation of intention to apply for warrant with notice of determination
	7.	Notice to be left with Registrar of Court
	8.	Service of notice
	9.	Proof of service of notice
	10.	Notice by Territory or Minister
	11.	Certificate of Minister as to determination of lease to be evidence
THE SCHEDULE
Method of determining leases

An Act to provide for the Recovery of Possession of Lands upon the determination of leases
1. 	Short title
	This Act may be cited as the Recovery of Lands Act  1929.1

2. 	Application
(1)	This Act applies only in relation to Territory Land.
(2) 	This Act does not apply to a residential tenancy agreement within the meaning of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 to which that Act applies.
3. 	Method of determining leases
	Where the Territory on behalf of the Commonwealth may by virtue of any law or by virtue of any provision contained in a lease determine a lease, or where the Territory on behalf of the Commonwealth has a right of re-entry or forfeiture under any proviso or stipulation in a lease for a breach of any covenant or condition in a lease, the Territory on behalf of the Commonwealth may determine the lease by notice in writing, in accordance with Form A in the Schedule to this Act, served on the lessee, stating that the lease has been determined and requiring the lessee to deliver up possession of the land to the Territory.
4. 	Warrant of ejectment
	If, after a lease has been determined in pursuance of the last preceding section or otherwise, the lessee or any person apparently in occupation or possession of the land fails to deliver up possession thereof to the Territory within the time within which in the notice determining the lease, or, where the lease has been otherwise determined, in a notice in accordance with Form B in the Schedule to this Act, served on the lessee, the lessee is required to deliver up possession of the land, a magistrate sitting as the Magistrates Court, may, on the application of the Minister, or of any person acting in that behalf for the Minister, if in his opinion the lease has been lawfully determined, issue a warrant, in accordance with Form C in the Schedule to this Act, authorizing any member of the Police Force, within a period of not more than thirty days after the date of the warrant, to enter on the land by force and with such assistance as is necessary and deliver possession thereof to the Territory.
5. 	Notice of intention to apply for a warrant of ejectment
	Notice, in accordance with Form D in the Schedule to this Act, of the intention of the Minister or of any person acting in that behalf for the Minister, to make an application for a warrant in pursuance of the last preceding section, shall be served on the lessee not less than seven days before the time stated in the notice as the time at which the application may be made.
6. 	Incorporation of intention to apply for warrant with notice of determination
	The notice of intention to make an application for a warrant may be incorporated with the notice of determination of the lease, or the notice requiring the lessee to deliver up possession of the land, as the case requires.
7. 	Notice to be left with Registrar of Court
	The notice of the intention of the Minister to make an application for a warrant or a copy thereof, with an affidavit of service, in accordance with Form E in the Schedule to this Act duly completed endorsed thereon, shall be left with the Registrar of the Court before the date upon which the application is to be made, and the application shall be included in the list of matters to be dealt with by the court upon that day.
8. 	Service of notice
	Service of any notice under this Act shall be deemed to have been duly effected if the notice or a true copy thereof is—
	(a)	delivered to the lessee personally;
	(b)	delivered to a person apparently over the age of sixteen years, on, and apparently an occupant of, the land the subject of the lease;
	(c)	affixed in a prominent position on the land the subject of the lease; or
	(d)	posted by prepaid registered post addressed to the lessee at his last known place of abode.
9. 	Proof of service of notice
	Service of any notice under this Act may be proved by affidavit endorsed upon the notice or a copy thereof.
10. 	Notice by Territory or Minister
	Any notice that may be given by the Territory on behalf of the Commonwealth or by the Minister under this Act shall be deemed to be a notice by the Territory on behalf of the Commonwealth or by the Minister if it is signed for and on behalf of the Territory or the Minister.
11. 	Certificate of Minister as to determination of lease to be evidence
	A certificate under the hand of the Minister or of such person as the Minister directs stating that a lease has been determined shall be evidence of the determination of the lease.

THE SCHEDULE
	FORM A	Section 3
THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Recovery of Lands Act 1929
NOTICE OF DETERMINATION OF LEASE AND OF APPLICATION TO THE MAGISTRATES COURT FOR A WARRANT
To				of
Take notice that your lease of that piece or parcel of land known as						has been determined by the Territory on behalf of the Commonwealth in pursuance of the provisions of section 3 of the Recovery of Lands Act 1929, by reason of (a)
You are therefore hereby required to deliver up to the Territory possession of the land the subject of the said lease before the				day of			19  .
(b)  (And take further notice that if possession of the said land is not delivered up to the Territory before the said							      day of			19  , application will be made to the Magistrates Court at			at the hour of			in the		   noon on the said day or as soon thereafter as may be for the issue of a warrant under section 4 of the said Act authorizing entry to be made upon the said land and possession to be given to the Territory.)
Dated this			day of			19  .
	For and on behalf of the Territory
(a)   State grounds of determination
(b)  Omit this paragraph if it is not desired to give the notice contained therein concurrently with the notification of determination of the lease

	FORM B	Section 4
THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Recovery of Lands Act 1929
NOTICE REQUIRING LESSEE TO DELIVER UP POSSESSION OF LEASED LAND
To				of
Take notice that your lease of that piece or parcel of land known as				having been determined you are hereby required to deliver up to the Territory possession of the land the subject of the said lease before the				day of			19  .
(a)  (And take further notice that if possession of the said land is not delivered up to the Territory before the said							       day of				 19  , application will be made to the Magistrates Court at				at the hour of				       in the			noon on the said day or as soon thereafter as may be for the issue of a warrant under section 4 of the Recovery of Lands Act 1929, authorizing entry to be made upon the said land and possession to be given to the Territory)
Dated this			day of			19  .
	For and on behalf of the Territory.
(a)  Omit this paragraph if it is not desired to give the notice contained therein concurrently with the notice requiring delivery up of possession

	FORM C	Section 4
THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Recovery of Lands Act 1929
In the Magistrates Court at
WARRANT TO ENTER AND GIVE POSSESSION TO THE TERRITORY
Whereas							(hereinafter called the lessee) was a lessee from the Commonwealth of that piece or parcel of land situated at			and known as
And whereas—
(a)										 and the said lease was accordingly determined (or					 and the Territory on behalf of the Commonwealth determined the said lease)  And whereas after the determination of the said lease the said lessee failed after notice given in accordance with law on behalf of the Commonwealth to deliver up possession of the said land And whereas application to the Magistrates Court at					       has this day been made before me a					Magistrate for the issue of a warrant authorizing a member of the Police Force of the Australian Capital Territory within a period not more than thirty days after the date hereof to enter on the said land by force and with such assistance as is necessary and deliver possession thereof to the Territory: And whereas the above recited grounds for such application have been duly proved to the satisfaction of the said Court.
NOW therefore this Magistrates Court doth hereby under the powers conferred by the Recovery of Lands Act 1929 authorize and command you on any day (except on Sunday) between the hours of nine o’clock in the forenoon and four o’clock on the afternoon within a period of				days next after the date of this warrant to enter on the said land by force and with such assistance as is necessary and deliver possession thereof to the Territory and for so doing this shall be your warrant.
Given under my hand this			day of			19  .
	Magistrate sitting as Magistrates Court.
To					of
(a)  State grounds of determination of lease

	FORM D	Section 5
THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Recovery of Lands Act 1929
NOTICE OF INTENTION TO MAKE APPLICATION FOR WARRANT OF ENTRY
To				of
Whereas your lease of that piece or parcel of land known as								             has been determined (a) (by the Minister)
And whereas you have failed pursuant to notice given in accordance with the Recovery of Lands Act 1929 to deliver up possession of the said land before the				day of				19  .
Now therefore take notice that if possession of the said land is not delivered up to the Territory before the			day of			19   application will be made to the Magistrates Court at			at the hour of				in the			noon on the said day or as soon thereafter as may be for the issue of a warrant under section 4 of the said Act authorizing entry to be made upon the said land and possession to be given to the Territory.
Dated this			day of			19  .
	For and on behalf of the Minister.
(a)  Omit if unnecessary

	FORM E	Section 7
THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Recovery of Lands Act 1929
In the Magistrates Court
AFFIDAVIT OF SERVICE 
I				of				make oath and say that I served the within named lessee with a true copy of the within notice by—
	(a)	delivering the said copy to the lessee personally;
	(b)	delivering the said copy to a person apparently over the age of sixteen and apparently an occupant  of the land the subject of the within mentioned lease;
	(c)	affixing the said copy in a prominent position on the land the subject of the within mentioned lease;
	(d)	enclosing the said copy in an envelope addressed as follows:
and by affixing all necessary postage stamps to such envelope and paying all necessary fees for registration thereof and by posting such envelope at the Post Office at
on the		day of		19	at the hour of			  o’clock in the			noon.
SIGNED and sworn at				this			       day of			19	before me—

NOTES
1.	The Recovery of Lands Act 1929 (a) as shown in this reprint comprises Act No. 1, 1929 amended as indicated in the Tables below.
	Citation of Laws—The Self-Government (Citation of Laws) Act 1989  (No. 21, 1989) altered the citation of most Ordinances so that after Self-Government day they are to be cited as Acts.  That Act also affects references in ACT laws to Commonwealth Acts.
2.	The Legislation (Republication) Act 1996 (No. 51, 1996) authorises the Parliamentary Counsel in preparing a law for republication, to make certain editorial and other formal amendments in accordance with current legislative drafting practice.  Those amendments make no change in the law.  Amendments made pursuant to that Act do not appear in the Table of Amendments but details may be obtained on request from the Parliamentary Counsel’s Office.
Table 1
Table of Ordinances
Ordinance	Number  
and year	Date of 
notification 
in Gazette	Date of 
commencement	Application, saving or transitional provisions	

Recovery of Lands  Ordinance 1929	1, 1929	14 Feb 1929	14 Feb 1929		
Recovery of Lands Ordinance 1930	3, 1930	27 Mar 1930	27 Mar 1930	—	
Seat of Government (Administration) Ordinance 1930	5, 1930	1 May 1930	1 May 1930	—	
Ordinances Revision Ordinance 1937	27, 1937	23 Dec 1937	23 Dec 1937	—	
Magistrates Court 
Ordinance 1985	67, 1985	19 Dec 1985	1 Feb 1986 (see Gazette 1986, No. G3, p. 265)	—	
Self-Government (Consequential  Amendments) 
Ordinance 1989	38, 1989	10 May 1989	Ss. 1 and 2: 10 May 1989 (see s. 2 (2) and Gazette 1989, No. S164)
	—	
Self-Government day 11 May 1989

Table 2
Table of Acts
Act	Number  
and year	Date of 
notification 
in Gazette	Date of 
commencement	Application, saving or transitional provisions	

Magistrates and Coroner’s Courts (Registrar) Act 1991
	44, 1991	20 Sept  1991
	Ss. 1 and 2: 20 Sept 1991 Remainder: 25 Sept 1991 (see s. 2 (2) and Gazette 1991, No. S103, p. 2)	—	
(Reprinted as at 31 October 1991)	
Residential Tenancies (Consequential Provisions) Act 1998	4, 1998	25 May 1998	25 May 1998 (see s. 2)	—	
(a)	The Recovery of Lands Act 1929 was also amended by the Seat of Government (Designation) Ordinance 1938 (No. 25, 1938) as amended by the Ordinances Revision Ordinances 1938 and 1959 (No. 35, 1938 and No. 21, 1959).
	Section 2 of the Seat of Government (Designation) Ordinance 1938, as amended, provides as follows:
	   “2.  Where, in any Ordinance, not being an Ordinance specified in the Schedule to this Ordinance, or in any regulation or rule made under an Ordinance, the words ‘Territory for the Seat of Government’ or ‘Territory for the Seat of Government of the Commonwealth’ or ‘Territory for the Seat of Government of the Commonwealth of Australia’ or ‘Federal Capital Territory’ appear, the Ordinance, regulation or rule (as the case may be) is amended by omitting those words and inserting in their stead the words ‘Australian Capital Territory’.”
	The amendments have been incorporated in this reprint but do not appear in the Table of Amendments.
Table of Amendments
ad. = added or inserted      am. = amended     rep. = repealed      rs. = repealed and substituted

Provision	How affected

S. 2	rep. No. 5, 1930
	ad. No. 38, 1989
	am. Act No. 4, 1998
S. 3	am. No. 5, 1930; No. 27, 1937; No. 38, 1989
S. 4	am. No. 5, 1930; No. 67, 1985; No. 38, 1989
S. 5	am. No. 27, 1937
S. 7	am. No. 27, 1937; Act No. 44, 1991
S. 10	am. No. 27, 1937; No. 38, 1989
S. 11	am. No. 27, 1937
The Schedule	am. No. 3, 1930; No. 27, 1937; No. 67, 1985; No. 38, 1989