[5]: 250 In some cases, the rules of the Imperial Parliament at Westminster were preferred: for example, the New South Wales statute provided that distance be measured according to the nearest route ordinarily used, but the Commonwealth adopted the Imperial provision of a straight line on a horizontal plane.
For example, there is a presumption at common law that parliament intends its legislation to operate only on persons and matters within its territory.
However, parliament may override the presumption and the section to give extraterritorial operation to the enactment by express words or "necessary implication".
[7] The Act, by s.15AB reversed this rule, giving courts access to a wide range of material which would otherwise have been excluded.
[8]: 12–13 Where there are conflicting common law rules, the Act sometimes gives preference to one approach.