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Law Subject Guide

Find online and print resources for law

Access Queensland Legislation

Watch the Queensland Parliament's video on The Legislative Process in Queensland [3:51] for an overview of the Queensland parliamentary stages of law making.

Queensland Acts of Parliament Photo of the Queensland Constitutional Act of 1867

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

 

Current Acts

Access current Queensland reprints using the In force legislation area on the Queensland Legislation website.

 

Acts as made

Access Queensland Acts as made 1901 onwards using the Acts as Passed area on the Queensland Legislation website. Select the relevant year or alphabetical letter.

 

Queensland Legislation website help

Queensland Subordinate Legislation

Queensland subordinate legislation

Subordinate legislation is available on the Queensland Legislation website:

Queensland Legislative Research Tasks

Queensland legislative research tasks

Queensland 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 in the Legislative history > List of Legislation area for the Act, as shown below.

Screen capture of the legislative history commencement information for the Acts Interpretation Act on the Queensland website

Based on content from the Queensland Legislation website at 3 November 2023. For the latest information on Queensland Government legislation please go to https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au. Used under CC BY 4.0.

LawNow Legislation in the Lexis Advance / Lexis+ Australia database also provides this information in the Legislative History for a current Act.

Individual provisions in an Act may commence on different dates. Where an Act does not expressly provide for its commencement, it commences on the date of Royal Assent. See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954 (Qld) s 15A.

To research past legislative changes, such as when a provision was inserted or whether it has been amended, use the Queensland legislation website history notes feature:

  • Use Turn history notes on to view annotations beneath individual provisions in a reprint.
  • View a consolidated list of history notes via a reprint's Legislative history area.

Read the noted part of amending legislation to view exactly how a provision changed, or use the timeline to compare reprint versions.

Screen capture of the history notes area in a Queensland Act reprint

Based on content from the Queensland Legislation website at 23 November 2023. For the latest information on Queensland Government legislation please go to https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au. Used under CC BY 4.0.

The Queensland Legislation website generally publishes reprints consolidating recent amendments within three working days. Amendments are incorporated up until the date shown on the reprint.

Confirming a reprint includes all commenced amendments and identifying any pending or proposed future amendments are essential skills. Use the following options in an Act reprint:

  • Legislative History > expand the List of Legislation > scroll to the end of the Amending legislation list
    • check for any 'not yet proclaimed into force' notations beneath recent amending Acts
    • note any Bills listed at the end; these contain proposed amendments and will amend the Act if passed by Parliament
  • Use the 'Indicative reprints' option beneath the timeline, where available.

Read the noted provisions of the relevant amending Act or Bill to view the detail of amendments.

Access superseded versions of in force legislation in the reprint's Timeline or Legislative history > Table of Reprints area on the Queensland Legislation website. This displays the legislation as it stood during a specific past time period. The timeline provides comparisons between versions.

screen capture of the timeline in the Legislative Standards Act 1992

Based on content from the Queensland Legislation website at 23 November 2023. For the latest information on Queensland Government legislation please go to https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au. Used under CC BY 4.0.


Use the below sources to locate historical Queensland legislation, including repealed legislation (i.e. removed – no longer in force):

Information about repealed Queensland legislation is available via the Queensland Legislation website Legislative tables and Historical information links.

Further reading

Further reading

 

Photo: Queensland State Archives, Constitution Act of 1867, used under Creative Commons Public Domain.