Cocos (Keeling) Islands Legislation Amendment (Local Government, Interpretation and Other Matters) Ordinance 2025

Explanatory Statement

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories

Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act 1955

Cocos (Keeling) Islands Legislation Amendment (Local Government, Interpretation and Other Matters) Ordinance 2025

Authority

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands Legislation Amendment (Local Government, Interpretation and Other Matters) Ordinance (the Ordinance) is made under section 12 of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act 1955 which allows the Governor-General to make Ordinances for the peace, order and good government of the Territory.

Purpose

The Ordinance has 6 separate key purposes which are generally administrative in nature:

First, the Ordinance amends relevant Cocos (Keeling) Island laws to replace all references to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with references to the Sovereign. Where applicable, guidance is provided for the user to adapt the wording (e.g. of an oath or affirmation) to the name of the current Sovereign so as to ensure currency of the relevant reference.

Secondly, the Ordinance amends oaths where they appear in Cocos (Keeling) Island laws with guidance provided for the user to adapt wording allowing non-Christians to swear an oath (a solemn attestation of the truth appealing to a god) to a god other than the Christian God.

Thirdly, the Ordinance prescribes Cocos (Keeling) Islands Shire Council as a class 4 local government under the applied Local Government (Constitution) Regulations 1998 (WA)(CKI).

Fourthly, the Ordinance amends the Interpretation Ordinance 1955 (CKI) to remove the requirement to number Ordinances to adopt a modern drafting approach and to remove the administrative burden on the Department and the Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) to meet the numbering requirements for every Ordinance made under the enabling Act.

Fifthly, the Ordinance amends the Administration Ordinance 1975(CKI) to remove the use of outdated and gendered language to reflect modern drafting practices.

Lastly, the Ordinance repeals the Companies Ordinance (CKI), as that Ordinance has no practical effect in Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

Background

Sovereign References Amendments

Following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, a process was undertaken to update references to the Sovereign in Commonwealth legislation. Most references to “the Queen” or “Her Majesty” will be replaced with “the Sovereign”. The use of gender-neutral references to the Sovereign will ensure the longevity and continued relevance of the proposed amendments. In the case of oaths and affirmations, the text will be amended to make it clear that the person taking the oath or affirmation should insert the name of the current Sovereign.

Oaths Amendments

In reviewing the relevant Cocos (Keeling) Islands legislation, it was identified that many oaths are constructed so as to be exclusively available to Christians with expressions such as “So help me God!” or other references to God. These amendments will update any reference to “God” in the text of the oath to include additional text that states that a person making an oath may name a god recognised by their religion. This updated form ensures that a Christian oath remains available to Christians, but expands the availability of the oath to non-Christians with another religious faith. The previous wording was not appropriate for all members of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands community. At the 2021 Australian Census, 65.6% of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands community indicated they were of Muslim faith. These amendments will ensure the relevance and inclusivity of oaths for all residents of Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

Local Government Class Amendments

In July 2023, the WA Government amended the Local Government (Constitution) Regulations 1998 (WA) to schedule each of the Western Australian local government areas as one of four local government classes. The classification aligns with the bands determined by the WA Government’s Salaries and Allowances Tribunal (SAT). The bands are based on a number of factors including growth and development, strategic planning issues, demand and diversity of services, total expenditure, population, and staffing levels. Prior to these amendments, no local governments in WA or the IOTs were scheduled into classes. The WA Government is not able to legislate with respect to the Indian Ocean Territories generally and therefore was not able to schedule the local government areas of the Indian Ocean Territories. The Ordinance schedules the Cocos (Keeling) Shire Council as a class 4 local government for the purposes of the Local Government (Constitution) Regulations 1998 (WA) (CKI).

The classification of the local government area aligns it with the SAT Determination and the overall local government framework as amended by WA (and applied in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in accordance with the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act 1955). The classification will also enable current and future regulation amendments by the WA Government to apply in Cocos (Keeling) Islands. This includes amendments prescribing:

• the method that may be used for elections of the mayor or president;
• whether a local government district may be divided into ward; and
• requirements for recording council meetings.

Interpretation Ordinance Amendments

Historically, it was considered standard practice to have numbering requirements for every Ordinance made under the enabling Act. This was necessary for printed legislation as this made it easier to manage, navigate and read large statute books. However, with the shift from print to online publication, particularly with the introduction of the Federal Register of Legislation, this approach has become outdated, placing an unnecessary burden on legislative drafters. Consequently, in reviewing the Interpretation Ordinance 1955, it was identified that a simplification of the legislative instrument making process for Cocos (Keeling) Islands was required.

Administration Ordinance Amendments

In reviewing the Administration Ordinance 1975 it was identified that the use of gendered language such as “his” (or similar reference) was exclusionary and did not reflect the modern approach of using gender-neutral language. Additionally, it was further identified that the use of the term “shall” was outdated and did not reflect modern drafting practices. Technical amendments updating these references will ensure the continued relevance and inclusivity of Cocos (Keeling) Islands legislation.

Companies Ordinance Repeal

In reviewing Cocos (Keeling) Islands legislation for references to the Sovereign, it was identified that the Companies Ordinance was still in force in Cocos (Keeling) Islands. The Companies Ordinance is a former law of the Colony of Singapore which was previously applied to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. The Territories Legislation Amendment Act 2020 extended the application of the Corporations Act 2001 to the external territories. As such, the Companies Ordinance is now defunct, as companies choose to register on the mainland and then trade on Cocos (Keeling) Islands. There are no known companies that have been registered under the Companies Ordinance. The Companies Ordinance is also difficult to find on the Federal Register of Legislation and represents a very old state of the law. Repealing this Ordinance ensures Cocos (Keeling) Islands legislation remains current and easy to access.

Summary of the Ordinance

Schedule 1 to the Ordinance provides the amendments to the specified instruments. The amendments consist of:

Schedule 2 to the Ordinance provides the repeals to the specified instrument. The amendment consists of repealing the Companies Ordinance.

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands Legislation Amendment (Local Government, Interpretation and Other Matters) Ordinance 2025 is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003 and is subject to the tabling and disallowance provisions in Division 2 of Part III of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act 1955. Those provisions are very similar to the disallowance provisions in Part 2 of Chapter 3 of the Legislation Act 2003. The Ordinance will be automatically repealed under section 48A of that Act, as it is a solely amending and repealing instrument. The Ordinance commences the day after it is registered. Details of the Ordinance are set out in Attachment A.

Consultation

The Department consulted with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PMC) in relation to the amendments to the crown references. The amendments have been drafted consistently with PMC’s amendments to primary Commonwealth legislation relating to crown references.

The Department consulted with the Administrator of Cocos (Keeling) Islands in relation to the amendments to the crown references and oaths.

The Department consulted with OPC in relation to the Administration Ordinance and Interpretation Ordinance amendments and the repeal of the Companies Ordinance. Broader consultation was not undertaken in relation to these amendments as they are of a technical nature and do not alter existing policy arrangements. This is consistent with subsection 17(1) of the Legislation Act 2003.

The Department consulted with the WA Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety (LGIRS) (formerly the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries) in relation to the local government amendments. LGIRS undertook extensive community consultation between September 2018 and March 2019 with local government authorities, stakeholders and interested persons on the proposed reforms of the Local Government Act 1995 (WA), including with the Indian Ocean Territories (IOTs) communities. LGIRS also invited comments from local governments and the wider community to inform implementation of the reforms. The consultation period ran from 10 November 2021 to 25 February 2022 and more than 200 submissions were received from local governments, peak bodies, advocacy groups and members of the public. Further information on the WA local government reform process is available at: www.dlgsc.wa.gov.au/local-government/local-government-reform.

The Local Government Amendment Act 2023 (WA) (the Act) came into effect on 18 May 2023. The Act automatically applies to the IOTs through the applied law regime, however additional legislative instruments were required to allow some elements of the local government reforms to apply as intended in the IOTs. For example, tabling of Ministerial Orders on 22 July 2025 to determine population estimates for the IOT local government areas, as well as this Ordinance which includes amendments prescribing Cocos (Keeling) Islands Shire Council as a class 4 local government. Within the scope of the broader local government reforms, the classification of the IOT shire councils (including the classification of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Shire Council as a class 4 local government) is administrative in nature only, required to give effect to the reform process being implemented by WA Government and no additional consultation was undertaken on the specific amendments made by this Ordinance. The consultation on the proposed reforms undertaken in November 2021 to February 2022 by LGIRS dealt with the substance of the changes being given effect to by this Ordinance.

The Department will inform the Cocos (Keeling) Island community of the amendments relating to the modernisation of language, oaths and local government classification of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Shire Council through a community bulletin.

Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights

A statement of compatibility with human rights for the purposes of Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 is set out at Attachment B.

Attachment A

Details of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Legislation Amendment (Local Government, Interpretation and Other Matters Ordinance 2025

Section 1 – Name

This section provides that the name of the Ordinance is the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Legislation Amendment (Local Government, Interpretation and Other Matters) Ordinance 2025.

Section 2 – Commencement

This section provides for the Ordinance to commence on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.

Section 3 – Authority

This section provides that the Ordinance is made under the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act 1955.

Section 4 – Schedules

This section provides that each instrument specified in a Schedule to the Ordinance is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable item in the Schedule concerned, and that any other item in a Schedule has effect according to its terms.

Schedule 1 – Amendments

Schedule 1 contains amendments to the Administration Ordinance 1975, the Interpretation Ordinance 1955 and the Supreme Court Ordinance 1955-1976. These amendments relate to the oath and affirmation components specified in each of those Ordinances and update references from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to references to the Sovereign generally. Schedule 1 makes additional amendments to update the use of gendered and outdated language in the Administration Ordinance 1975, prescribe the class of local government for the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Shire Council in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Applied Laws Ordinance 1992 and remove the requirement to number Ordinances in the Interpretation Ordinance 1955.

Administration Ordinance 1975

Item 1 – Subsection 5(3)

This item repeals the existing subsection and substitutes it with a subsection that has the same legal effect, but updates outdated language of “shall” to “must” and “his/him” to gender neutral terms. Substituting the whole subsection provides greater clarity and legibility of the amendment of the provision without involving multiple minor technical amendments.

Items 2 to7 – Sections 6, 7, 9 and 10

These items make minor technical amendments to all text which reference gendered language such as “his” (or similar language) or outdated drafting language such as “shall”. References to “his office”, “his appointment”, “his duties” and “his powers and functions” (in relation to the Administrator) are replaced with “the office”, “the duties of the office” and “the powers and functions of the office” (of the Administrator). Item 3 also makes an amendment to replace the term “shall” with the term “must”. These amendments reflect modern drafting practices and ensure the continued relevance and inclusivity of Cocos (Keeling) Islands legislation.

Item 8 – Schedule (oath and affirmation)

This item amends the Schedule to the Administration Ordinance 1975. This item repeals the previous oath which made reference to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and also made reference exclusively to a Christian God, and repeals the previous affirmation which made reference to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

This item replaces the oath and affirmation with an oath and affirmation that achieve the following objectives:

• provide instructive text within brackets that guide the maker of the oath or affirmation to make reference to the current Sovereign at the time of making their oath or affirmation;
• provide instructive text within brackets for the use of that Sovereign’s applicable pronoun such as ‘Him’ or ‘Her’.

For the oath, the reference to God has been amended with instructive text within brackets that guide the maker of the oath to swear by Almighty God or another god as recognised by their religion. This expands the accessibility of the oath to people who practice religions other than Christianity and who, despite their personal religious beliefs, could not make an oath that was sworn to the Christian God who does not form part of their religious belief.

Cocos (Keeling) Islands Applied Laws Ordinance 1992

Item 9 – After Part 16 of Schedule 1

This item inserts a new Part 16A into the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Applied Laws Ordinance 1992, which is the main Ordinance that provides for the modification of Western Australian (WA) law as that law applies in Cocos (Keeling) Islands. The new Part prescribes the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Shire Council as a class 4 local government for the purposes of the Local Government (Constitution) Regulations 1998 (WA)(CKI). The classification of the local government area will enable current and future regulation amendments by the WA Government to apply appropriately in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

Interpretation Ordinance 1955

Item 10 – Section 7

This item repeals section 7 of the Interpretation Ordinance 1955, which required the numbering of Ordinances made under the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act 1955. By removing the requirement to number each Ordinance, this amendment provides a modernised approach to drafting Cocos (Keeling) Islands legislation in the digital era while also removing an unnecessary administrative requirement on drafters.

Item 11 – Paragraph 8(1)(b)

This item is a consequential amendment to the repeal of section 7 (by item 10 above). This item provides that an Ordinance may be cited by its short title, name or, if previously numbered under section 7, by reference to the secular year in which it was made and its number. The intended outcome of this change is to ensure that Ordinances can be cited by their short title or name or, if they were made before these amendments were made, the number given to the Ordinance under former section 7. It is important that referring to extant numbered Ordinances remains a valid citation for Ordinances made before these amendments, which is most useful for extant materials referring to those references.

Item 12 – Subsection 8(3)

This item replaces the text “Queen’s” with the text “Sovereign’s”. This ensures that the text of the provision remains current, even as the Sovereign changes over time, and is consistent with the amendments made to the Administration Ordinance 1975.

Item 13 – Paragraph 8A(a)

This item inserts ‘or name’ after ‘title’ in the paragraph. This allows for the name of another Ordinance to be cited in addition to its short title or, if the law was previously numbered, its secular year and number (in accordance with paragraph 8A(b)). This is consistent with the amendments to sections 7 and 8 described above.

Item 14 – Section 16

This item repeals section 16 and substitutes it with a new section which provides for how regulations and rules, including rules of court, are cited. The new section provides that regulations and rules may be cited by their name or, if they were numbered as mentioned in former subsection 16(1) of the Interpretation Ordinance 1955, by reference to the secular year in which notice of their making was published and their number. The intended effect of this change is twofold: (1) to remove the requirement to number all regulations and rules made under Cocos (Keeling) Islands Ordinances (consistently with the removal of the numbering requirement for Ordinances) and (2) to ensure that existing references to numbered regulations and rules remain valid.

Items 15 – Paragraph 19(1)(b)

This item replaces the text “Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, or a part of those forces” with the text “the Sovereign’s armed forces, or a part of those forces”. This ensures that the text of the provision remains current, even as the Sovereign changes over time, and is consistent with the amendments made to the Administration Ordinance 1975.

Supreme Court Ordinance 1955-1976

Item 16 – Section 1

This item omits the date range “1955-1976” from short title of the Supreme Court Ordinance and simplifies it to “1955” to be consistent with current drafting practices for naming legislation. It is also consistent with the short title of the Supreme Court Ordinance as it was originally made in 1955.

Item 17 – The Schedule (oath and affirmation)

This item amends the Schedule to the Supreme Court Ordinance 1955-1976. This item repeals the previous oath which made reference to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and also made reference exclusively to a Christian God, and repeals the previous affirmation which made reference to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

This item replaces the oath and affirmation with an oath and an affirmation that achieve the following objectives:

• provide instructive text within brackets that guide the maker of the oath or affirmation to make reference to the current sovereign at the time of making their oath or affirmation;
• provide instructive text within brackets for the use of that Sovereign’s applicable pronouns such as ‘Him’ or ‘Her’.

For the oath, the reference to God has been amended with instructive text within brackets that guide the maker of the oath to swear by Almighty God or another god as recognised by their religion. This expands the accessibility of the oath to people who practice religions other than Christianity who, despite their personal religious beliefs, could not make an oath that was sworn to the Christian God who does not form part of their religious belief.

Schedule 2 – Repeals

Companies Ordinance

Item 1 – The whole of the Ordinance

This item repeals the Companies Ordinance (CKI) because it has no current effect.

Attachment B

Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights

Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011

Cocos (Keeling) Islands Legislation Amendment (Local Government, Interpretation and Other Matters) Ordinance 2025

This Disallowable Legislative Instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

Overview

The amendments made by the Ordinance are generally of an administrative nature. These amendments include:

Human rights implications

The amendments to the oaths have positive human rights implications by engaging with Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which recognises the freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The amendments achieve this through expanding the accessibility of the oaths to allow for the maker of an oath to insert a god recognised by their religion. This means that the maker of an oath is no longer restricted to swearing an oath to only the Christian God, which may not reflect their beliefs. The option to make an affirmation, which contains no religious language, remains available to any person, regardless of their beliefs. The expansion of the oaths to allow a person to insert a god of their choosing is particularly impactful to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, which have a significant Muslim population.

The other amendments made by the Ordinance do not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms.

Conclusion

The Ordinance is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights concerns.