An Act to provide for the constitution of a body corporate to be known as The Trustees of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences and to define its powers, authorities, duties and functions; to vest certain property in that body corporate; and for purposes connected therewith.
long title: Am 1961 No 30, sec 2 (1) (a).
1 Name of Act and commencement
(1) This Act may be cited as the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences Act 1945.(2) This Act shall commence upon a day to be appointed by the Governor and notified by proclamation published in the Gazette.s 1: Am 1961 No 30, sec 2 (1) (b).
2 Definitions
In this Act unless the context or subject matter otherwise indicates or requires:Museum means the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences.Prescribed means prescribed by this Act or the regulations.Trustees means the trustees by this Act incorporated under the name of “The Trustees of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences”.s 2: Am 1961 No 30, sec 2 (1) (c).
3 Trustees
(1) There shall be appointed nine trustees as hereinafter provided who, subject to the control and direction of the Minister, shall carry into effect the objects and purposes of this Act, and shall have and may exercise and perform the powers, authorities, duties and functions conferred and imposed on the trustees by or under this Act.(2) The trustees are hereby constituted a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal, and may sue and be sued in its corporate name, and shall, for the purposes and subject to the provisions of this Act, be capable of purchasing, holding, granting, demising, disposing of or otherwise dealing with real and personal property and of doing all such other acts and things as bodies corporate may by law do and suffer:Provided that the trustees shall not sell, mortgage, demise or otherwise dispose of any real property without the approval of the Governor.(3) The corporate name of the trustees shall be “The Trustees of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences”.s 3: Am 1961 No 30, sec 2 (1) (d); 1987 No 201, Sch 1.
4 Appointment of trustees
(1) The trustees are to be appointed by the Governor on the nomination of the Minister.(2) The trustees must include:(a) at least 1 person who has knowledge of, or experience in, the arts or sciences, and(b) at least 1 person who has knowledge of, or experience in, education.(3) A trustee is to hold office for 3 years but is, subject to subsection (4), eligible for re-appointment.(4) A trustee is not to hold office for 4 consecutive terms.(5) On the occurrence of a vacancy in the office of a trustee otherwise than by the expiration of the trustee’s term of appointment, the Governor may, on the nomination of the Minister, appoint a person to fill the vacant office for the residue of the term of office of his or her predecessor.(5A) For the purposes of subsection (4) only, an appointment under subsection (5) does not constitute (and is taken never to have constituted) an appointment for a term of office.(6) (Repealed)s 4: Am 1987 No 201, Sch 1. Subst 1989 No 110, Sch 1. Am 2003 No 40, Sch 1.31 [1] [2].
5 Vacation of office
(1) A trustee is taken to have vacated office if the trustee:(a) dies, or(b) resigns office by instrument in writing addressed to the Governor, or(c) becomes a mentally incapacitated person, or(d) is absent from 3 consecutive meetings of the trustees without leave granted by the trustees before the expiration of 6 weeks after the last of those meetings, or(e) is removed from office by the Governor.(2) A trustee is taken to have vacated office on the day on which the trustee attains the age of 70 years.s 5: Am 1961 No 30, sec 2 (1) (e).
6 Power of Governor to remove from office
The Governor may, for any cause which appears to the Governor to be sufficient, remove any trustee from office.
7 Application of Public Sector Management Act 1988
The Public Sector Management Act 1988 (Part 8 excepted) shall not apply to the appointment of any trustee, and a trustee shall not, as such trustee, be subject to the provisions of that Act.s 7: Am 1989 No 132, Sch 2.
8 President and Deputy President
(1) The President of the Trustees shall be such trustee as the Minister nominates as President of the Trustees.(2) The trustees may nominate one of their number as Deputy President of the Trustees.(3) The President and Deputy President hold office until successors are nominated under this section or until they cease to be trustees, whichever first occurs.(4) At a meeting of the Trustees:(a) the President,(b) in the absence of the President, the Deputy President (if any), orshall preside.(c) in the absence of the President and Deputy President, another trustee elected to chair the meeting by the trustees present,s 8: Subst 1987 No 201, Sch 1.
9 Procedure, quorum etc
(1) The procedure for the calling of meetings of the trustees and the conduct of business at such meetings shall, subject to any regulations in relation thereto, be as determined by the trustees.(2) Any five trustees shall be a quorum for the purposes of any meeting of the trustees.(3)(a) Any duly convened meeting of the trustees at which a quorum is present shall be competent to transact any business of the trustees and shall have and may exercise all the powers and authorities by this Act conferred upon the trustees.(b) A decision of the majority of trustees present at a meeting of the trustees shall be the decision of the trustees.(4) The common seal shall be kept in the custody of the president or such other trustee as the trustees may determine, and shall not be affixed to any instrument or writing, except in the presence of a quorum; and the trustees in whose presence the seal is affixed shall attest by their signatures the fact and date of the seal being so affixed.(5) No act or proceeding of the trustees shall be invalidated or prejudiced by reason only of the fact that at the time when such act or proceeding was done, taken or commenced there was a vacancy in the office of any trustee or any person not qualified or ceasing to be qualified may have acted as a trustee.s 9: Am 1987 No 201, Sch 1.
10 Officers and employees
(1) The Governor may, under and subject to the Public Sector Management Act 1988, appoint and employ such officers and employees as may be necessary for the purposes of this Act.(2) The officers and employees so appointed or employed shall be subject to the Public Sector Management Act 1988 during their tenure of office or employment.s 10: Am 1989 No 132, Sch 2.
11 Property vested in trustees
(1) Subject to this Act and the regulations the trustees shall have the control and management of all property vested in the trustees.(2) All real and personal property and all right and interest therein which at the commencement of this Act is vested in or held by any person in trust for or on behalf of or for the purposes of the Sydney Technological Museum or any of its branches shall vest in and belong to the trustees for the purposes of this Act.All property vested in the trustees by the operation of this subsection shall be held by them subject to the conditions or trusts on which it was held immediately before such vesting.
12 Power to accept gifts etc
(1) The trustees shall have power to acquire by gift, bequest or devise, any property for any of the purposes of this Act, and to agree to the condition of any such gift, bequest or devise.(2) The rule of law relating to perpetuities shall not apply to any condition of a gift, bequest or devise to which the trustees have agreed.(3) Nothing contained in the Stamp Duties Act 1920 or in any Act amending that Act, whether passed before or after the commencement of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences Act 1961, shall apply to any real or personal property of any nature or kind whatsoever comprised in any gift, bequest or devise made or to be made to the Museum or the trustees.s 12: Am 1961 No 30, sec 2 (1) (f).
13 Branches
The trustees may establish, maintain and control branches of the Museum within New South Wales and may delegate to any officers or employees of such branches such powers and duties as the trustees may by resolution determine:Provided that the Governor on the recommendation of the Trust may appoint advisory committees to assist the Trust and its officers in respect to such branch museums.
14 Objects and functions of trustees
The trustees shall have the following objects and may exercise any or all of the following functions:(a) the control and management of the Museum,(b) the maintenance and administration of the Museum in such manner as will effectively minister to the needs and demands of the community in any or all branches of applied science and art and the development of industry by:(i) the display of selected objects arranged to illustrate the industrial advance of civilisation and the development of inventions and manufactures,(ii) the promotion of craftsmanship and artistic taste by illustrating the history and development of the applied arts,(iii) lectures, broadcasts, films, publications and other educational means,(iv) scientific research, or(v) any other means necessary or desirable for the development of the natural resources and manufacturing industries of New South Wales.
15 Statutory endowment
For the purpose of providing a statutory endowment for the purchase of specimens of applied science and art and other requirements of a museum of technology and applied science, including expenses incurred in or out of New South Wales relative to or incidental to investigations or inquiries for or on behalf of the Museum but exclusive of payment of salaries of officers and employees and working expenses of the Museum there shall be paid by the Treasurer to the trustees an annual endowment of two thousand dollars or such larger amount as Parliament approves. Such endowment shall be paid by four equal quarterly instalments on the first day of January, April, July and October in each year.Any moneys payable by the Treasurer under this section shall be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament.s 15: Am 1961 No 30, sec 2 (1) (g).
16 Annual report
The trustees shall as soon as practicable and not more than three months after the thirty-first day of December in each year cause a report of its work and activities during the year ending on that date to be prepared and forwarded to the Minister for presentation to Parliament.
17 Financial year of the trustees
The financial year of the trustees shall be:(a) where no period is prescribed as referred to in paragraph (b)—the year commencing on 1 July, or(b) the period prescribed for the purposes of this section.s 17: Subst 1983 No 153, Sch 2.
18 Regulations
(1) The Governor may, upon the recommendation of the trustees, make regulations not inconsistent with this Act, for and with respect to:(a) the general management and control of the Museum and its branches,(b) for regulating the conduct of the proceedings of the trustees, including the times, places and conduct of their meetings,(c) the admission (including charges therefor) or exclusion of the public or any person to or from the Museum and its branches or any part thereof,(d) the conditions upon which exhibits or specimens may be borrowed by any person, and(e) generally for carrying out the purposes of this Act.(2) (Repealed)(3) The regulations may impose a penalty not exceeding 0.5 penalty unit for any breach thereof.(4) Proceedings for an offence against the regulations are to be dealt with summarily before a Local Court.s 18: Am 1961 No 30, sec 2 (1) (h); 1987 No 48, Sch 32; 1989 No 132, Sch 2; 1992 No 112, Sch 1; 2001 No 121, Sch 2.154.
19 Savings, transitional and other provisions
Schedule 1 has effect.s 19: Ins 1985 No 231, Sch 31.
Schedule 1 Savings, transitional and other provisions
(Section 19)
1 References to Museum of Technology and Applied Science
A reference in any other Act or any instrument or document of any kind to the Museum of Technology and Applied Science shall be read as a reference to the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences.
sch 1: Ins 1985 No 231, Sch 31.