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How to read legislation

Explore the law: an A-Z of key jargon

What lawmakers need to know

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Historic Gazettes from 1 July 2002

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ComLaw has the most complete and up-to-date collection of Commonwealth legislation and includes notices from the Commonwealth Government Notices Gazette from 1 October 2012.

ComLaw Help Desk. The ComLaw Help Desk telephone service will no longer be available from 27 May 2013. The Help Desk email service will continue to provide assistance. -UPDATED 21 MAY 2013

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Looking for information on recent changes in the law? New and amended laws on ComLaw that are attracting significant community interest right now include:

The Constitution

Aged Care Act 1997

Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989

Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988

Competition and Consumer Act 2010

Corporations Act 2001 | Corporations Regulations 2001

Crimes Act 1914

Customs Act 1901 | Customs Regulations 1926

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

Fair Work Act 2009

Family Law Act 1975 | Family Law Rules 2004

Income Tax Assessment Act 1997

Migration Act 1958 | Migration Regulations 1994

National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009

Personal Property and Securities Act 2009

Poisons Standard 2012

Social Security Act 1991

Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 | Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Regulations 1994

Work Health and Safety Act 2011

For more information on what’s new, go to the Find It Fast bar now at the top of every page. You can also use Advanced Search to locate all the laws that come into force on particular day.

Some laws are more significant than others, in that they set out enduring legal principles and frameworks that affect a large part of the Australian community. Among the most significant laws on ComLaw are:

The Constitution	Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997
Administrative Arrangements Order	Freedom of Information Act 1982
Acts Interpretation Act 1901	Income Tax Assessment Act 1936
Acts Publication Act 1905	High Court Rules 2004
Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977	Legislative Instruments Act 2003
Archives Act 1983	Legislative Instruments Regulations 2004
Australian Information Commissioner Act 2010	Long Service Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act 1976
Bankruptcy Act 1966	Maternity Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act 1973
Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997	Migration Agents Regulations 1998
Criminal Code Act 1995	Privacy Act 1988
Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956	Public Service Act 1999
Customs (Prohibited Exports) Regulations 1958	Racial Discrimination Act 1975
Deed to Establish an Occupational Superannuation Scheme for Commonwealth Employees and Certain Other Persons (the Public Sector Superannuation Scheme)	Sex Discrimination Act 1984
Disability Discrimination Act 1992	Superannuation (PSSAP) Trust Deed
Evidence Act 1995	Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986
Federal Court Rules 2011

To find one of the many other titles available on ComLaw, use the Find It Fast bar now at the top of every page.

Choose a category for tips on what something is and where to find it on ComLaw and beyond.

Acts	Court and tribunal documents	Orders
Administrative Arrangements Orders	Declarations	Ordinances
Agreements	Deeds including trust deeds	Permissions and permits
Airworthiness Directives	Delegations	Plans
Annual reports	Designations	Prerogative instruments
Applied Law Compilations	Directions	Principles
Approvals	Disallowable instruments	Proclamations
Arrangements	Exemptions	Recognition
Australian Design Rules	Explanatory Memorandums (EMs)	Regulatory Impact Statements
Authorisations and Authority	Explanatory Statements (ESs)	Regulations
Bills	Gazettes	Rules
By-laws	Guides and Guidelines	Rulings
Certificates	Instructions	Schemes
Charters	Legislative instruments (LIs)	Select Legislative instruments (SLIs)
Chief Executive Instructions (CEIs)	Legislation tables	Specifications
Codes including Codes of Practices	Licences	Standards
Commencement instruments	Letters patent	Statutes
Commonwealth Reserved Laws	Measures	Statutory Rules
Consents	Notices and notifications	Tariff concession orders
Constitution, The		Treaties

To browse the categories for which tips are available, go to Explore the law: an A-Z of key jargon.

Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry	Foreign Affairs and Trade
Attorney-General's	Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief
Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy	Health and Ageing
Courts	Human Services
Defence	Immigration and Citizenship
Department of Parliamentary Services	Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education
Department of the House of Representatives	Infrastructure and Transport
Department of the Senate	Prime Minister and Cabinet
Education, Employment and Workplace Relations	Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport
Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs	Resources, Energy and Tourism
Finance and Deregulation	Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities
	Treasury
	Veterans' Affairs

Australia's ten Territories are home to over half a million Australians. Each territory has different legal origins, and a different relationship with the Australian Government. Choose the territory you are interested in for details of its laws and governance:

Ashmore and Cartier Islands	Coral Sea Islands
Australian Antarctic Territory	Heard and McDonald Islands
Australian Capital Territory (ACT)	Jervis Bay Territory
Christmas Island*	Norfolk Island
Cocos (Keeling) Islands*	Northern Territory (NT)

In the past, the Australian Government has also administered territory in Nauru, New Guinea and Papua. These territories have since become the independent nations of Nauru and of Papua New Guinea.

For more information about how Australia acquired its external territories - that is, all territories except the ACT, the NT and Jervis Bay Territory - please see Alan Kerr's book A Federation In These Seas This link will take you away from ComLaw .

*these two territories are jointly administered and are also known as the Indian Ocean Territories (IOTs)

ComLaw contains a huge amount of current and historical information - but it does not cover ALL sources of Australian law. To browse other sources of Australian law, choose the jurisdiction and type of information that interests you:

Commonwealth of Australia	Parliament	Legislation	Caselaw	Gazettes	More
New South Wales	Parliament	Legislation	Caselaw	Gazettes	More
Victoria	Parliament	Legislation	Caselaw	Gazettes	More
Queensland	Parliament	Legislation	Caselaw	Gazettes	More
Western Australia	Parliament	Legislation	Caselaw	Gazettes	More
South Australia	Parliament	Legislation	Caselaw	Gazettes	More
Tasmania	Parliament	Legislation	Caselaw	Gazettes	More
Australian Capital Territory	Parliament	Legislation	Caselaw	Gazettes	More
Northern Territory	Parliament	Legislation	Caselaw	Gazettes	More
Norfolk Island	Parliament	Legislation	Caselaw	Gazettes	More

Many jurisdictions are working together to harmonise their legislation, and harmonised or 'model' laws have been developed and enacted on more than 60 issues. Work is continuing on other issues through bodies including the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) This link will take you away from ComLaw and the Standing Council on Law and Justice (SCLJ, formerly known as the Standing Committee on Attorneys-General or SCAG) .