The declaratory statement in the Basis of Union is modelled on the 1879 Declaratory Act of the United Presbyterian Church in Scotland, as well as the 1882 Declaratory Act of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria. However, while the Declaratory Act of 1882 mentions examples of possible points of doctrine on which liberty of opinion is allowed - such as the interpretation of the "six days" in the Genesis creation narrative - the declaratory statement in the Basis of Union provides no such example.