Legislation is the process of preparing and enacting laws. Section 51 of the Australian Constitution gives the Australian Parliament the power to make the laws that govern society in Australia.
A Bill is a proposal to parliament for a new law or a change to an existing one.
Making a law in the Australian Parliamentary Education Office available at https://www.peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/how-parliament-works/bills-and-laws/making-a-law-in-the-australian-parliament/ . This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Commonwealth Resources
Locating up to date Acts |
Federal Register of Legislation - Acts from 1901 - present TimeBase - Acts from 1998 - present Lawlex - Acts from 1901 - present |
Locating point in time Acts |
TimeBase - offers a point in time service for some Commonwealth legislation, and is grouped by subject category Federal Register of Legislation - limited point in time service for historical versions of Acts from 1901 - present |
Locating Acts as made | Federal Register of Legislation Tables contains the Acts Table 1901 + (an alphabetical and chronological consolidated list of all Acts passed and how they were affected by later legislation. (Very useful for historical research); annual Acts Tables 1993 +; Repealed Acts Tables 1998 + |
Legislative history | LawNow on Lexis Advance provides detailed information about the history of Acts and subordinate legislation including assents, commencement information and amendment information. |
Queensland Resources
Queensland | The Queensland Legislation website is the authoritative source for Queensland legislation |
Other State Resources
Australian Capital Territory | The ACT Legislation Register in the authorised source for Australian Capital Territory legislation |
New South Wales |
On the NSW Legislation website you can:
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Northern Territory | The Northern Territory Legislation website is the authoritative source for Northern Territory Legislation |
Tasmania | The Tasmanian Legislation website is the authoritative source for Tasmanian legislation |
South Australia | The South Australian Legislation website is the authoritative source for South Australian legislation |
Victoria | The Victorian Legislation website is the authoritative source for Victorian legislation |
Western Australia | The Western Australian Legislation website by the Parliamentary Council Office is the authoritative source for Western Australian legislation |
AustLII publishes public legal information, including primary legal materials (legislation, treaties and decisions of courts and tribunals) as well as secondary legal materials created by public bodies for purposes of public access (law reform and royal commission reports for example). It also includes a substantial collection of law journals.
From the AustLII home page, you can click on a jurisdiction and 'drill down' until you find the relevant legislation.
Alternatively, you can search AustLII using the search box on the home page (an 'Advanced Search' option is also available).
Legify is an index of Australian Commonwealth Acts and Regulations. While it does not contain full text of legislation, it is useful as a quick tool for searching for accurate titles and currency of Australian legislation.
Lawlex gives you access to full-text Australian legislation, with associated Bill tracking, amendment & commencement information and related extrinsic materials.
You can also browse legislation; deselect all the jurisdictions and then select the jurisdiction you are researching. Then select the category and if necessary a sub category.
The Federal Register of Legislation has the most complete and up-to-date collection of Commonwealth legislation and includes notices from the Commonwealth Government Notices Gazette from 1 October 2012.
What's New lists everything recently published to the Federal Register of Legislation within the last:
You can also register for My Account to stay up to date on Commonwealth law.
Use the Help link if you require more information about how to use the site.
Federal Register of Legislation Legislation Tables contains the Acts Table 1901+ (an alphabetical and chronological consolidated list of all Acts passed and how affected by later legislation. Very useful for historical research); annual Acts Tables 1993+; Repealed Acts Tables 1988+.
TimeBase offers a point in time service for some Commonwealth legislation, and are grouped by subject category. It is really useful it you want to find, track and monitor legislative changes.
Legislative material is available via parliamentary websites. This material includes bills, acts, regulations, statutory rules, explanatory notes etc.