 This was land that the Australian Government had acquired under either the Closer Settlement Acts, Murrumbidgee Irrigation Act, or was available as a part of general disposal under the Crown Lands Consolidation Act.Ex-servicemen were required to apply for such land via completion of appropriate paperwork and if successful a soldier could gain additional financial assistance for the purpose of clearing, fencing, drainage, water supply and other improvement of the land as well as for the erection of buildings and the purchase of stock, seeds, implements, plants and similar material necessary for the occupation and development of the land.By 1917 the state government saw fit to enact the Returned Soldiers Settlement (Amendment) Act, which broadened the definition of returned soldiers to include those who had not enlisted in Australia and those who had not served overseas, as well as providing for potential further categories of soldiers.