Commentary on Sections of the Act Part 4 – Miscellaneous and General Section 99 - General interpretation
201.Section 99 provides interpretations and definitions of terms and references used in the Act. It also provides for definitions in the 1996 Act to apply where the defined term is used in this Act, unless the term is given a different meaning in this Act, in which case this Act’s definition applies (subsections (6) and (7)). As a result, various terms in the Act bear the 1996 Act’s meaning (for example, ‘school’ and ‘parent’).
202.Amongst other things, this section provides that for the purposes of the Act, a local authority is responsible for a child or young person if he or she is “in the area of” the local authority. The 1996 Act meaning of “in the area of” a local authority applies (section 95 amends the partial definition of that term in section 579 of the 1996 Act).