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Australian Legislation

Authoritative Commonwealth Legislation

The Federal Register of Legislation is the authoritative Government site for federal legislation.

Acts: 1901 onwards

  • Up to Date (red tick within the picture of the map of Australia, lets you know you are looking at the most up-to-date version of the Act
  • Point in Time
  • As made

Bills: 1996 onwards

Explanatory Memorandum: 1996 onwards

Government Gazettes: 1901 onwards (Look for the 'Enables' once you click on the link 'Version History' Tab)

Delegated Legislation.

Note: If all commenced amendments have been incorporated then that is the latest version available. An exclamation symbol alerts readers if there are commenced amendments that have not been incorporated. Sometimes this happens when there are a series of amendments commencing in quick succession. Even if the legislation publisher knows that amendments will commence at some future time, they cannot incorporate them into the text of the legislation until they have commenced.

Commonwealth Legislation Databases

Subscription databases and legislation websites offer a variety of different tools to help researchers identify and analyse legislation amendments and commentary surrounding them. Some also link legislation to case law and journal article citations, looking at how courts have interpreted the legislation.