Age of Majority Act 1973 (Tas)

Age of Majority Act 1973

An Act to amend the law relating to the age of majority and to the time when a particular age is attained, to provide for matters incidental thereto, and to amend certain enactments [Royal Assent 27 June 1973]

Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:

1. Short title and commencement (1) This Act may be cited as the Age of Majority Act 1973 . (2) This Act shall commence on a day to be fixed by proclamation.

2. Interpretation In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears – appointed day means the day fixed pursuant to section 1 (2) ; enactment means – (a) an Act or a provision of an Act; and (b) an Imperial Act that applies in the State or a provision of such an Imperial Act – and includes a regulation, rule, by-law, order, proclamation, or other document made or issued in the exercise of a power conferred by an Act, or by an Imperial Act, or by such a provision; instrument means a document of whatever nature (not being an enactment, or a law of the Commonwealth, or a document made or having effect under such a law); laws of the State means the laws in force in the State for the time being, whether written or unwritten, and documents made or having effect under those laws, but does not include a law of the Commonwealth or a document made or having effect under such a law.

3. Age of majority (1) Subject to this section and to section 6 , for all the purposes of the laws of the State – (a) a person who, on or after the appointed day, attains the age of 18 years shall be deemed to attain full age and full capacity on attaining that age; and (b) a person who, on the appointed day, is of or over the age of 18 years but under the age of 21 years shall be deemed to have attained full age and full capacity on that day. (2) Subsection (1) applies and has effect, in the absence of a definition or of an indication of a contrary intention, for the purposes of the construction of the expressions "majority", "full age", "adult", "full capacity", "sui juris", and similar expressions, and the expressions "infant", "infancy", "minor", "minority", and similar expressions in – (a) an enactment, whether passed or made before, on, or after the appointed day; and (b) an instrument executed or made on or after that day. (3) This section does not affect a reference in an enactment or instrument to an age expressed in years. (4) This section does not affect any deficiency of juristic competence or capacity that is attributable to insanity, or mental infirmity, or any other factor distinct from age.