Australian Capital Territory
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

government solicitor act 1989
This consolidation has been prepared by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel’s Office
Updated as at 9 March 2000
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section
	1.	Short title
	2.	Commencement
	3.	Interpretation
	5.	Government Solicitor
	6.	Judicial notice of signatures
	7.	Certain references to be deemed to include a reference to the Government Solicitor

Australian Capital Territory

Government Solicitor Act 1989
An Act to establish a Government Solicitor for the Australian Capital Territory and for related purposes
1. 	Short title
	This Act may be cited as the Government Solicitor Act 1989.1
2.1 	Commencement
(1) 	Section 1 and this section commence on the day on which this Act is notified in the Gazette.
(2) 	The remaining provisions commence on the date of commencement of section 22 of the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 of the Commonwealth.
3. 	Interpretation
	In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—
“chief solicitor” means the person for the time being occupying, or performing the duties of, the office of Chief Solicitor in the government service;
“enactment” means—
	(a)	a law (however described or entitled) made by the Legislative Assembly under the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 of the Commonwealth;
	(b)	a law, or part of a law, that is to be taken to be an enactment by virtue of section 34 of that Act; or
	(c)	a law, or part of a law, that is to be taken to be an enactment by virtue of subsection 10 (3) of the A.C.T. Self-Government (Consequential Provisions) Act 1988 of the Commonwealth;
“relevant administrative unit” means the administrative unit to which the Chief Minister has, under paragraph 14 (b) of the Public Sector Management Act 1994, allocated responsibility for this Act.
5. 	Government Solicitor
(1) 	There is hereby established a Government Solicitor for the Australian Capital Territory.
(2) 	The Government Solicitor is a body corporate.
(3) 	The Government Solicitor may act as legal practitioner for—
	(a)	the Crown in right of the Territory;
	(b)	the Territory;
	(c)	a person suing or being sued on behalf of the Territory;
	(d)	a Minister;
	(e)	a body established by or under an enactment;
	(ea)	a company, joint venture or trust in which the Territory or a Territory entity has a controlling interest; or
	(f)	a person who—
	(i)	is a public employee; or
	(ii)	was a public employee; or
	(iii)	is or was an officer or employee of a company, joint venture or trust in which the Territory or a Territory entity has a controlling interest; or
	(g)	a person holding office under an enactment or a law of the Territory;
	(ga)	a person who is or was a trustee, director or board member of a company, joint venture or trust in which the Territory or a Territory entity has a controlling interest; or
	(h)	the government solicitor (however described) of the Commonwealth, a State, another Territory or a foreign country, by arrangement, as agent on behalf of clients of that solicitor; or
	(i)	any other person, or body, for whom the Minister requests the Government Solicitor to act;
and is, for the purposes of so acting, entitled to practise as a legal practitioner in any court and entitled to all the rights and privileges of a legal practitioner of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory who holds a current unrestricted practising certificate issued under the Legal Practitioners Act 1970.
(3A) 	Paragraph (3) (ea), subparagraphs (3) (f) (ii) and (iii) and paragraph (3) (ga) apply to a matter only if the chief solicitor decides that the Territory has an interest in the outcome of the matter.
(4) 	The chief solicitor may act personally in the name of the Government Solicitor and may also, either generally or otherwise as provided by the instrument of authorisation, by writing signed by him or her, authorise a qualified officer of the relevant administrative unit to act in the name of the Government Solicitor.
(5) 	Any act or thing done in the name of the Government Solicitor by, or under the direction or authority of—
	(a)	the chief solicitor; or
	(b)	a person authorised under subsection (4);
shall be deemed to have been done by the Government Solicitor.
(6) 	In or in respect of the doing by a person of any act or thing pursuant to an authorisation under subsection (4), the person is responsible to the chief solicitor and, through the chief solicitor, to the Minister, and shall comply with such directions (if any) as are given to him or her by the chief solicitor.
(7) 	An act or thing done or omitted to be done by a person in the name of the Government Solicitor pursuant to a direction given by the chief solicitor shall be deemed to have been done or omitted to be done, as the case may be, by the chief solicitor personally.
(8) 	The chief solicitor is, for the purposes of acting in the name of the Government Solicitor, entitled to do all things necessary or convenient and entitled to all the rights and privileges of a legal practitioner whether or not he or she is entitled to practise as a legal practitioner.
(9) 	Notwithstanding subsection (5), but subject to subsection (8)—
	(a)	the chief solicitor; or
	(b)	a person authorised pursuant to subsection (4);
is, in respect of any act or thing done or omitted to be done by him or her, or by any person at his or her direction or under his or her authority, in the name of the Government Solicitor, subject to the duties and obligations to which he or she would be subject if that act or thing had been done or omitted to be done in the course of practise by him or her as a legal practitioner.
(10) 	A copy of every authorisation under subsection (4) shall be published in the Gazette.
(11) 	In this section—
controlling interest—see Auditor-General Act 1996, section 5.
“qualified officer” means an officer who is a legal practitioner of the Supreme Court.
Territory entity—see Auditor-General Act 1996, subsection 3 (1).
6. 	Judicial notice of signatures
	All courts and tribunals, and all judges and persons acting judicially or authorised by law or consent of parties to hear, receive or examine evidence, shall take judicial notice of the signature of a person who holds, or has held, the office of chief solicitor or who is, or has been, authorised pursuant to subsection 5 (4) to act in the name of the Government Solicitor.
7. 	Certain references to be deemed to include a reference to the Government Solicitor
	In—
	(a)	any instrument under an Act of a legislative or administrative character;
	(b)	any award or other determination or order or any industrial agreement;
	(c)	any other order (whether executive, judicial or otherwise);
	(d)	any contract, agreement or arrangement;
	(e)	any pleading in, or process issued in connection with, any legal or other proceedings; or
	(f)	any other instrument;
relating to the Territory, the government of the Territory or any asset, right, liability or obligation of the Territory, a reference to the Crown Solicitor for the Commonwealth, a Deputy Crown Solicitor for the Commonwealth, the Australian Government Solicitor or a Director of Legal Services for the Commonwealth shall be construed as including a reference to the Government Solicitor.

NOTES
1.	The Government Solicitor Act 1989 in this reprint is No. 36, 1989 amended as indicated in the Tables below.
2.	The Legislation (Republication) Act 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.  The amendments do not change the law.  Amendments made under the 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	
Government Solicitor Act 1989 	36, 1989	10 May 1989	Ss. 1 and 2:  10 May 1989
Remainder:  11 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	
Government Solicitor (Amendment) Act 1991	61, 1991	29 Oct 1991	29 Oct 1991	S. 5	
Acts Revision (Position of Crown) Act 1993	44, 1993	27 Aug 1993	27 Aug 1993 (see s. 2)	—	
(Reprinted as at 31 January 1994)	
Statute Law Revision Act 1994	26, 1994	31 May 1994	31 May 1994	—	
Public Sector Management (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 1994	38, 1994	30 June 1994	Ss. 1 and 2:  30 June 1994
Remainder:  1 July 1994 (see Gazette 1994, No. S142, p. 2)	Ss. 3, 5-12, 15 and 19	
Legal Practitioners (Consequential Amendments) Act 1997	96, 1997	1 Dec 1997	Ss. 1 and 2:  1 Dec 1997
Remainder :  1 June 1998 (see s. 2 (2))	—	
Justice and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Act 2000
	2000 No 1	9 Mar 2000	9 Mar 2000	—	

Table of Amendments
ad. = added or inserted      am. = amended     rep. = repealed      rs. = repealed and substituted

Provision	How affected

S. 3	am. Act No. 61, 1991; No. 38, 1994
S. 4	rep. Act No. 44, 1993
S. 5	am. Act No. 61, 1991; No. 26, 1994; No. 38, 1994; No. 96, 1997; 
2000 No 1 s 3 sch 
S. 8	rep. Act No. 26, 1994
Schedule	rep. Act No. 26, 1994