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Law Subject Guide

Find online and print resources for law

Photo of Parliament House in Canberra

Doc Searles, 2014_03_30_canberra-tour_041e, used under CC BY 2.0.

Access Federal Legislation

Federal (Commonwealth) Acts of Parliament

Access principal and amending Acts of Parliament (Statutes) on the Federal Register of Legislation website.

The Federal Register of Legislation has recently been redeveloped and some features may be subject to change.

 

Current Acts

Access current in force Commonwealth reprints on the Federal Register of Legislation website.

  • Select the Browse tab and ensure options are set as shown below:
    • Collection > Act
    • Browse by > Name (or Year/Number if known)
    • Browse for > In force

Select the alphabetical letter that the short title begins with.

  • Use the default Search option
    • select In force
    • type the short title into the Search for box eg Acts Interpretation Act
    • select to search in Name
    • filter by collection > Act
    • click on the correct linked Act title.
       

Acts as made

Access Federal Acts as made 1901 onwards using the Federal Register of Legislation website. When viewing a current Act, the 'as made' version is available via the All versions option above the Act. Alternatively, search or browse for the Act.

Federal Subordinate Legislation

Commonwealth subordinate legislation

Acts often contain provisions authorising specific bodies to create delegated (or subordinate) legislation. This often contains detailed rules or regulations for the area of law governed by the Act.

Commonwealth delegated legislation is published on the Federal Register of Legislation website.

  • To view delegated legislation made under an Act, select the Authorises option above the Act.
  • Use the Legislative instruments menu option and select Principal in force. Apply filters eg Year and Classification.
  • Select the Browse tab and ensure options are set as shown below:
    • Collection > Legislative instrument
    • Browse by > Name
    • Browse for > In force.

Select the alphabetical letter that the instrument begins with.

  • Use the default Search option
    • select In force
    • type the instrument title into the Search for box eg Family Law Regulations
    • select to search in Name
    • filter by collection > Legislative instrument
    • click on the correct linked title.

Federal Legislative Research Tasks

Federal legislative research tasks

Federal legislative research tasks

To identify when provisions of an Act commence/d:

  • read the commencement provision in the Act reprint
  • if no commencement provision exists or dates are not specified, see the commencement information noted in:
    • the Act reprint Endnotes > Legislation history area
    • LawNow Legislation in the Lexis Advance database. Select the jurisdiction > 'Current Acts' > open the correct Act > select Legislative History and refer to the 'Commencement Information' heading.

Screen capture of commencement information for the Acts Interpretation Act on the Federal Register of Legislation

Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth), used under CC BY 4.0. Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 8 January 2024. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.


Individual provisions in an Act may commence on different dates. Where an Act does not expressly provide for its commencement, it commences on the 28th day after Royal Assent. See the the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth) s 3A.

To research an Act's past legislative changes, such as when a provision was inserted or whether it has been amended:

  • access the Act's Endnotes at the end of the current reprint (you may need to expand the schedules heading)
  • view the Amendment History section > find annotations for the relevant provision/s, which summarise changes over time.

Read the associated portion of amending legislation to view exactly how a provision changed, or compare a superseded version.

Screen capture of Endnote 4 amendment history for the Acts Interpretation Act in the Federal Register of Legislation

Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth), used under CC BY 4.0. Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 8 January 2024. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.

The Federal Register of Legislation publishes new reprints quickly after amendments take effect, and notes the date up until when amendments have been incorporated. Confirming a reprint includes all commenced amendments and identifying any pending or proposed future amendments are essential skills.

The Federal Register of Legislation displays an orange dot beside legislation to indicate an unincorporated amendments status as shown below. 

screen capture of the orange unincorporated amendments status dot beside the Corporations Act


The current reprint of an Act alerts users about unincorporated amendments via an orange 'latest version' above the Act. Click on the information symbol to view further information. Refer to the text of the amending Act or Bill for exact detail of the amendments.

Screen capture of the Corporations Act on the Federal Register of Legislation showing the alert for unincorporated amendments


LawNow Legislation in Lexis Advance shows pending amendments in the Legislative History and flags Bills. Select the jurisdiction > Current Acts > open the relevant Act > Legislative History > Amendments to this Act table.

Images used under CC BY 4.0 and sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 8 January 2024. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.

To access repealed legislation on the Federal Register of Legislation website, select No longer in force from the Acts menu option.

Use the Advanced search to access superseded reprints of current Acts by selecting 'Include superseded versions' from the Status option.

Further reading

Further reading