Amongst other provisions, the act lowered the age of majority from 21 years to 18 years, reformed the property rights of illegitimate children, and empowered civil courts to order blood tests to determine paternity.

[1] Part II, covering the property rights of illegitimate children, has been largely repealed by the Family Law Reform Act 1987.

[2][3] Part III provides the courts with the power to compel the taking of blood tests to determine paternity of a child.

[4] Part IV, for miscellaneous and general provisions, allows for the rebuttal of legal presumptions of legitimacy or illegitimacy with evidence of probability that a person is legitimate or illegitimate.

[5] This article incorporates text published under the British Open Government Licence v3.0: