War Precautions Act 1914

War Precautions Act 1914
Parliament of Australia
  • An Act to enable the Governor-General to make Regulations and Orders for the safety of the Commonwealth during the present state of war.
CitationNo. 10 of 1914
Royal assent29 October 1914
Effective4 August 1914
Repealed2 December 1920
Status: Repealed

The War Precautions Act 1914 was an Act of the Parliament of Australia which gave the Government of Australia special powers for the duration of World War I and for six months afterwards.[1]

It was held by the High Court of Australia in Farey v Burvett[2] that during wartime, the scope of the federal Government's power under Section 51(vi) of the Australian Constitution (under which the Act was passed) expands to meet the exigencies of wartime. As a result, the responsibility for defence policy lies solely with the Parliament and the Executive.[3] There were 3,442 prosecutions under the Act, almost all of which were successful.

  1. ^ War Precautions Act 1914 (Act 10). 1914., later amended by the War Precautions Act 1915 (Act 2). 1915., War Precautions Act (No. 2) 1915 (Act 39). 1915. and War Precautions Act 1916 (Act 3). 1916.
  2. ^ Farey v Burvett [1916] HCA 36, (1916) 21 CLR 433 (8 June 1916).
  3. ^ Scott 1941, pp. 642–643.