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Australian Legislation

A guide to researching Australian legislation.

Explanatory Memorandum 

An Explanatory Memorandum (EM) explains the contents and purpose of a bill in plain English. It contains a clause-by-clause description of a bill. EMs came into regular use from about 1978/1982 and are kept with bills. 

If you can't find an EM online, but you think there was one, look for the hard copy EM, which will be located with its corresponding hard copy bill.

Not all states and territories in Australia use the term Explanatory Memorandum. In some jurisdictions these explanations are known as:

  • Explanatory Statement
  • Explanatory Note
  • Clause Notes

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