Uniting Church in Australia Act 1977

Subject to this Act – all property that, immediately before the appointed day, is vested in trustees pursuant to the Model Deed or is vested in any other person in trust for the Methodist Church (other than the property referred to in paragraph (b)); and all the property specified in Schedule III and vested in the trustees referred to in that Schedule – is on that day divested from those persons and is, by virtue of this subsection and without any conveyance or other assurance, vested in the Trust to the extent to which it was so vested in those persons and shall be held by the Trust in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

Subject to this Act, all property that, immediately before the appointed day, is vested in the Congregational Union of Tasmania or any other person in trust for the Congregational Church is, on that day, divested from that person and is, by virtue of this subsection and without any conveyance or other assurance, vested in the Trust to the extent to which it was so vested in that person and shall be held by the Trust in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

Notwithstanding subsection (2), on the appointed day, the properties specified in Schedule IV continue to be vested in the respective trustees named in that Schedule on the trusts specified in the third Schedule to the Congregational Union Incorporation Act1887, notwithstanding the repeal of that Act by this Act, except that the person officiating as the pastor of a church specified in Schedule IV need not be a member of the Congregational Church as required by Clause 4 of the Third Schedule to that Act.

Subject to this Act and to the rights referred to in subsection (5), all property that, immediately before the appointed day – is vested in any person subject to the Presbyterian Church Act 1896 and the Presbyterian Church Act 1908; or is otherwise vested in a person in trust for the Presbyterian Church or a congregation, board or committee of management, session, presbytery, committee, council, board, or other institution, organization, or section of that church – is, on the day fixed by proclamation for that purpose, divested from that person and is, by virtue of this subsection and without any conveyance or other assurance, vested in the Trust to the extent to which it was so vested in that person and shall be held by the Trust in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

The rights for the purposes of subsection (4) are all rights created or conferred by or pursuant to section 4 of, and clause 18 of the Schedule to, the Presbyterian Church of Australia Act 1971 and any other provision of that Act.

Nothing in subsection (4) vests in the Trust any property to which the Presbyterian Church continuing to function after the appointed day is or becomes entitled.

All property that becomes vested in the Trust pursuant to subsections (1), (2), and (4) is freed and discharged from all the provisions and trusts of the Model Deed, the Congregational Union Incorporation Act 1887, the Presbyterian Church Act 1896, and the Presbyterian Church Act 1908 respectively.

Subject to this Act, all property that, immediately before the appointed day, is vested in the Methodist Presbyterian and Congregational Joint Ownership Trust, a company incorporated under the Companies Act 1962, is, on that day, divested from that company and is, by virtue of this subsection and without any conveyance or other assurance, vested in the Trust to the extent to which it was so vested in that company and shall be held by the Trust in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

Subject to this Act, all property (except property previously referred to in this section) that, immediately before the appointed day, is vested in trustees on behalf of the Methodist Church, the Congregational Church, and the Presbyterian Church or any two of those churches is, on that day, divested from those trustees and is, by virtue of this subsection and without any conveyance or other assurance, vested in the Trust to the extent to which it was so vested in those trustees and shall be held by the Trust in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

Property held under the provisions of the Land Titles Act 1980 that, pursuant to this section, vests in the Trust vests in equity only and does not vest at law until the requirements of that Act have been complied with.

The vesting referred to in subsection (10) constitutes a vesting for the purposes of section 120 of the Land Titles Act 1980.

Except in relation to the trusts declared by the Model Deed, the Congregational Union Incorporation Act 1887, the Presbyterian Church Act 1896, and the Presbyterian Church Act 1908, the vesting of any of the property effected by this section is without prejudice to – a special trust; a resulting trust; a trust in favour of a donor; a trust in favour of a person other than the Uniting Churches or any one or more of them; and a reservation, mortgage, charge, encumbrance, loan, or lease that, immediately before the appointed day, affected the property vested.

In subsection (12)(a), special trust means a trust other than a trust for the general purposes of the Methodist Church, the Congregational Church, or the Presbyterian Church.

It is not necessary for a lessee to make an attornment to the Trust of land vested in it by this section.