Laws (Acts / Statutes / Bills)

Laws made by Parliament (ie legislation) consist of:

• Acts (also known as statutes)
• Subordinate and delegated legislation (also known as regulations, rules, by-laws and orders, legislative instruments)
• Bills (the form taken before an Act has been passed)

Lawlex database is a portal to laws from all Australian jurisdictions. It provides access to full text Australian legislation, with associated Bill tracking, amendment and commencement information and links to related material, such as Second Reading speeches and Explanatory Memoranda.

ComLaw (Attorney-General's Department) provides online access to Commonwealth Acts, Bills (with Explanatory Memoranda), and Legislative Instruments by Department, Number, Title or Year. Migration of historical materials from SCALEplus is currently taking place.

AustLII provides access to Commonwealth numbered and consolidated Acts and Regulations. Usually not as up-to-date as ComLaw.

Federal Register of Legislative Instruments (FRLI) (Attorney-General's Department). Complete database of the images and index information of all legislative instruments in force as at, and registered after, the commencement of the Legislative Instruments Act (the Act). Explanatory Statements are provided where available.

BillsNet 1996+ (Australian Parliament) provides online access to current and old Bills and associated materials such as Explanatory Memoranda and 2nd Reading Speeches.

Bills Lists 1981 - 1995

Bills Digests (Australian Parliamentary Library) a description of new bills brought into either House, prepared for the purpose of debate. They reflect the legislation as introduced and do not canvass subsequent amendments. The Digests do not have any official legal status.

Index to Explanatory Memoranda 1901-82 (Australian Parliamentary Library) lists all items identified as Explanatory Memoranda or as Comparative Memoranda from 1901 to the end of 1982 (1st - 32nd Parliaments). From 1982, the provision of Explanatory Memoranda has been standard practice for government Bills introduced into the Commonwealth Parliament.

Federal Bills Monitor (via Capital Monitor)
From left navigation panel, choose: CANBERRA > Bills Monitor. Includes links to full-text Bills, Bill summaries, EMs and 2nd Reading Speeches.

Library holdings

Monash University Law Library holds a collection of Australian legislation.

• Commonwealth of Australia Acts, v.1 (1901) to present
  Reprinted Acts, current reprint only
• Commonwealth of Australia Statutory Rules, 1901 to present
  Reprinted Statutory Rules, current reprint only
• Bills, 1968 to present (lacks 1969)

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