Railways in Western Australia were developed in the 19th century both by the Government of Western Australia and a number of private companies.
Legislation concerning railways was passed by:[1] The oldest recorded act of Parliament in Western Australia is the Civil Court of Western Australia (1832) act, an act for establishing a Court of Civil Judicature, assented to on 10 February 1832, under the first Governor of Western Australia, James Stirling.
The first act to carry the word railway in its title was the Railways and Electric Telegraph Protection Act 1871, assented to on 12 January 1871, while the Geraldton and Northampton Railway Act 1873 was the first act to authorise the construction of a railway in Western Australia in 1873.
[1] The Railway (Coogee–Kwinana Railway) Discontinuance Act 1973, assented to on 6 June 1973, was the last railway-related act to use imperial units, the Railway (Kalgoorlie–Parkeston) Discontinuance and Land Revestment Act 1973, assented to on 6 November 1973, the first to use the metric system, as part of the overall change to the metric system in Australia.
[2][3] The acts by the Governor of Western Australia and the Western Australian Legislative Council: Acts by the Parliament of Western Australia: