Western Australian Numbered Acts Western Australian Numbered Acts (1) In this
Act —
“action” means —
(a) any
civil proceeding in a court, whether the claim that is the subject of the
proceeding or relief sought is under a written law, at common law, in equity
or otherwise; or
(b) an
arbitration under an arbitration provision,
but does not include
proceedings for certiorari, mandamus, prohibition, habeas corpus or quo
warranto except in sections 28, 86 and 87, in which it includes
proceedings for certiorari, mandamus, prohibition or quo warranto;
“arbitral award” means the resolution
or determination by an arbitrator of a difference or matter referred to
arbitration under an arbitration provision;
“arbitration provision”
means —
(a) a
provision of an agreement to refer present or future differences to
arbitration, whether an arbitrator is named in the agreement or not; and
(b) a
provision of any written law requiring or permitting the determination of any
matter by arbitration or relating to such an arbitration;
“commencement day” means the day on
which this Act comes into operation;
“defendant” means a person against
whom an action is brought or proposed to be brought;
“extension application” means an
application under section 38, 39, 40, 41 or 42;
“future interest” means an estate in
reversion or remainder or other vested or contingent interest in property
which is yet to entitle immediate possession of the property;
“guardian” , in relation to a person
who is under 18 years of age when a cause of action accrues to the person
("person A"), means a person —
(a) who
at law has responsibility for the long-term care, welfare and development of
person A before person A reaches 18 years of age; and
(b) for
whom it is practicable, having regard to the person’s relationship with
person A, to commence an action on behalf of person A;
“guardian” , in relation to a person
with a mental disability ("person A"), means a person who —
(a) is
either a guardian of person A or the administrator of person A’s estate,
or both; and
(b) has,
under the guardianship order, the administration order, or the provisions of
the Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 , as is relevant to the
case, the function of considering the appropriateness of commencing an action
on behalf of person A,
and in this definition
the terms “administrator”, “administration order”,
“guardian” and “guardianship order” have the
respective meanings that they have in the
Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 section 3(1);
“income” includes interest on a
judgment and other interest , and includes rent, annuities and dividends, but
does not include arrears of interest secured by a mortgage and lawfully
treated as principal;
“land” includes —
(a)
corporeal hereditaments and rentcharges and any estate or interest in those
things whether freehold or leasehold and whether at law or in equity; and
(b) the
interest, pending sale of land (including incorporeal hereditaments) held on
trust for sale, of a person having an interest in the proceeds of sale,
but otherwise does not
include incorporeal hereditaments;
“mental disability” , in relation to a
person, means a disability suffered by the person (including an intellectual
disability, a psychiatric condition, an acquired brain injury or dementia) an
effect of which is that the person is unable to make reasonable judgments in
respect of matters relating to the person or the person’s property;
“mortgage” includes a charge or lien
on real or personal property for securing money or money’s worth but
does not include a possessory lien on goods nor a binding effect on the
property arising under court order to seize and sell or seize and deliver the
property;
“mortgagee” includes a person claiming
a mortgage through an original mortgagee;
“mortgagor” includes a person claiming
property subject to a mortgage through an original mortgagor;
“personal injury” includes a disease,
impairment of a person’s physical condition, and mental disability;
“personal representative” means a
person who, for the time being, is an executor or an administrator of a
deceased person’s estate;
“plaintiff” means —
(a) a
person bringing, or proposing to bring, an action; or
(b) a
person acting on behalf of a person mentioned in paragraph (a);
“principal money” , in relation to a
mortgage, means all money secured by the mortgage, including arrears of
interest lawfully treated as principal, but does not include other interest;
“rent” includes a rent service and a
rentcharge;
“rentcharge” means an annuity or other
periodical sum of money charged on or payable out of land, but does not
include a rent service or interest on a mortgage of land;
“tax” includes a fee, charge or other
impost;
“trust” has the meaning given to that
term in the Trustees Act 1962 section 6(1);
“trustee” has the meaning given to
that term in the Trustees Act 1962 section 6(1) and includes a
personal representative.
(2) In this Act a
reference to the accrual of a cause of action is a reference —
(a) to
the accrual of the cause of action to a person ("person A” ) to whom the
cause of action accrues; and
(b)
where relevant, to the accrual of the cause of action to a person through whom
person A claims.
(3) For the purposes
of this Act, a person ("person A")
claims through another person ("person B") in respect of property or a right
if person A is entitled to the property or right by, through or under person B
or by the act of person B, but a person entitled to property or a right under
a special power of appointment is not to be taken to claim through the
appointor.
(4) In this Act a
reference to a cause of action to recover land includes a reference to a right
to enter into possession of the land.
(5) In this Act, in
respect of land which is a rentcharge —
(a) a
reference to the possession of land is a reference to the receipt of the rent;
and
(b) a
reference to the time of dispossession or discontinuance of possession of land
is a reference to when rent first becomes overdue.
(6) For the purposes
of this Act —
(a)
adverse possession of land occurs when possession of the land is taken by a
person in whose favour the limitation period can run;
(b)
possession of a rentcharge occurs when possession of the land the subject of
the rentcharge is taken by a person, other than the person entitled to the
rentcharge, who does not pay the rent;
(c)
adverse possession of land as against a landlord occurs, in the case to which
section 71 applies, when a person wrongfully claiming to be entitled to
the land subject to the lease receives the rent;
(d)
adverse possession of land held by joint tenants or tenants in common,
as against a tenant ("tenant A"), occurs when another tenant
("tenant B") takes possession of more than tenant B’s share, not for the
benefit of tenant A.
(7) If an arbitration
provision is, or includes, a provision of any written law, this Act has effect
subject to the provision of the written law.