Text as at 1 May 2026

This provision has not been checked by a human. The text below was read automatically from the official PDF and has not yet been verified against it, so it may differ from the provision as published — in its wording, its numbering, or where one provision ends and the next begins. For the authorised text, see legislation.vic.gov.au.

54 Construction of references to Acts

(1)A reference in an Act or subordinate instrument to an Imperial Act shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as a reference—

(a)in the case of Acts included in any revised edition of the statutes printed by authority, to that edition;

(b)in the case of Acts not so included but included in the edition prepared under the direction of the Record Commission, to that edition; and

(c)in any other case, to a copy of the Act printed by the King's Printer or under the superintendence or authority of His Majesty's Stationery Office.

S. 54(1)(c) amended by No. 25/2023 s. 5.

(2)A reference in an Act or subordinate instrument to an Act of an Australasian State shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as a reference to a copy of the Act printed by the government printer of that Australasian State.

(2A)A document, whether made before, on or after the commencement of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994, purporting to be a copy of an Act or subordinate instrument printed by the government printer of any Australasian State is on the mere production of that document admissible as evidence thereof before all courts and persons acting judicially within Victoria.

S. 54(2A) inserted by No. 104/1994 s. 32(1).

(2B)A document made after the commencement of section 28 of the Miscellaneous Acts (Omnibus Amendments) Act 1995 purporting to be a copy of a reprint of an Act or a statutory rule printed by the Government Printer for Victoria is on the mere production of that document admissible as evidence thereof before all courts and persons acting judicially within Victoria.

S. 54(2B) inserted by No. 100/1995 s. 28(1).

(2C)A document, whether made before, on or after the commencement of section 28 of the Miscellaneous Acts (Omnibus Amendments) Act 1995, purporting to be a copy of a reprint of an Act or a statutory rule printed by the Government Printer of any Australasian State (other than Victoria) is, if the law of that State includes a provision corresponding to subsection (2B) of this section, on the mere production of that document admissible as evidence thereof before all courts and persons acting judicially within Victoria.

S. 54(2C) inserted by No. 100/1995 s. 28(1).

(3)In this section the expressions Act, Australasian State and government printer have the same meanings as they have respectively in Divisions 4 and 6 of Part III of the Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1958.

S. 54(3) amended by Nos 104/1994 s. 32(2), 100/1995 s. 28(2), 69/2009 s. 54(Sch. Pt 2 item 29).