Track legislative history, commencement and future changes
Legislation history, commencement and status information
Legislation is dynamic and it is important to know how your legislation, and if relevant, provisions have changed over the years by tracking the legislative history. It is also important to check the currency of the legislation you are using, specifically whether the Act or provisions have been incorporated and come into effect.
Legislative history
Locate your Act using a reliable source and check the Notes or Endnotes section of the Act to see a chronological list of amending Acts.
Commencement details
Use legislation tables and statute annotations to check whether your legislation has commenced and whether sections of the Act have commenced.
Legislative changes
Check the current Bills Activity to find any Bills that have recently passed or may soon pass and affect your Act.
Monitoring the progress of a Bill
Bills are debated in parliament and amended accordingly. A Bill can undergo many amendments and because of this, it is important to monitor the progress of a Bill through parliament.
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How do I know if I'm looking at the latest version of an Act? If all commenced amendments have been incorporated, then you are looking at the latest version. The easiest way to know if the Act you are looking at is up to date is to use a reliable source for legislation. We recommend using the authoritative legislation website for each jurisdiction, locate your Act and check the Notes at the end of the Act to see the amendments included in the version. The Federal Register of Legislation uses an exclamation mark to alert users if not all amendments have been inoorporated. Warning! You may wish to check the current Bills activity to find any Bills that have recently passed or may soon pass and affect your Act. Bills for the current parliament are available on parliament websites. |
- Legislative WebsitesAct expected to be downloaded from these sites.
To see how each section of an Act has been amended, look to the list at the end of the Act titled 'Amendment History' or 'Table of Amendments.'
- TimeBase : online legislation research (TimeBase)Legislative History - 'Key info' box to find the 'Table of legislation' link to find information about how the Act has been amended.
Legislation Commencement
Potential Legislative Changes
Progress of a Bill - under the heading 'Bill Activity' click on the link to the jurisdiction and follow the prompts - Lawlex PremiumLegislative History - select the links 'View the History of Amendments to this Title' and 'Check for Amendments since the last Consolidation.'
Legislative Commencement
Potential Legislative Changes
Progress of a Bill - Capital Monitor (LexisNexis)Legislative Commencement
Potential Legislative Changes
Progress of a Bill
