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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.


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ComLaw is undergoing planned maintenance on the 16th and 17th of January which will mean that My ComLaw changes will not be saved and the website may not always be available. Please let us know if you experience any significant performance issues outside these hours. | Report an issue


Exposure draft of Legislation Rule 2016

An exposure draft of the Legislation Rule 2016 is available for your information and comment. Please click here to download the exposure draft.

The Legislative Instruments Act 2003 will be renamed the Legislation Act 2003 (the Act) and will undergo other changes when the Acts and Instruments (Framework Reform) Act 2015 commences on or before 5 March 2016.

Among other things, the changes will require the First Parliamentary Counsel to make a rule prescribing the approved website on which registered laws and other documents are to be available to the public under section 15C of the Act as amended.

The attached draft rule meets this requirement, and deals with some other matters as permitted by the Act, including some aspects of the lodgement and registration process previously dealt with in the Legislative Instruments Regulations 2004 (which will be repealed when changes to the Act commence).

Any comments on the exposure draft can be sent to the email addresses specified in the draft. Comments should be sent no later than 5 February 2016.



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

Aged Care Act 1997
Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code - Standard 1.2.7 - Nutrition, Health and Related Claims
Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code - Standard 1.3.1 - Food Additives
Business Names Registration (Availability of Names) Determination 2015
Civil Aviation Regulations 1988
Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998
Competition and Consumer Act 2010
Corporations Act 2001
Crimes Act 1914
Criminal Code Act 1995
Disability Discrimination Act 1992
Disability Standards for Education 2005
Fair Work Act 2009
Migration Act 1958   |   Migration Regulations 1994
Migration Regulations 1994 - Specification of Eligible Education Providers and Educational Business Partners 2015 - IMMI 15/120
Migration Regulations 1994 - Specification of Occupations, a Person or Body, a Country or Countries 2015 - IMMI 15/092
Poisons Standard July 2015
Privacy Act 1988
Social Security Act 1991
Social Security (Tables for the Assessment of Work-related Impairment for Disability Support Pension) Determination 2011
Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015
Work Health and Safety Act 2011   |   Work Health and Safety Regulations 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.


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 This link will take you away from ComLaw Legislation Caselaw This link will take you away from ComLaw Gazettes More This link will take you away from ComLaw
New South Wales Parliament This link will take you away from ComLaw Legislation This link will take you away from ComLaw Caselaw This link will take you away from ComLaw Gazettes This link will take you away from ComLaw More This link will take you away from ComLaw
Victoria Parliament This link will take you away from ComLaw Legislation This link will take you away from ComLaw Caselaw This link will take you away from ComLaw Gazettes This link will take you away from ComLaw More This link will take you away from ComLaw
Queensland Parliament This link will take you away from ComLaw Legislation This link will take you away from ComLaw Caselaw This link will take you away from ComLaw Gazettes This link will take you away from ComLaw More This link will take you away from ComLaw
Western Australia Parliament This link will take you away from ComLaw Legislation This link will take you away from ComLaw Caselaw This link will take you away from ComLaw Gazettes This link will take you away from ComLaw More This link will take you away from ComLaw
South Australia Parliament This link will take you away from ComLaw Legislation This link will take you away from ComLaw Caselaw This link will take you away from ComLaw Gazettes This link will take you away from ComLaw More This link will take you away from ComLaw
Tasmania Parliament This link will take you away from ComLaw Legislation This link will take you away from ComLaw Caselaw This link will take you away from ComLaw Gazettes This link will take you away from ComLaw More This link will take you away from ComLaw
Australian Capital Territory Parliament This link will take you away from ComLaw Legislation This link will take you away from ComLaw Caselaw This link will take you away from ComLaw Gazettes This link will take you away from ComLaw More This link will take you away from ComLaw
Northern Territory Parliament This link will take you away from ComLaw Legislation This link will take you away from ComLaw Caselaw This link will take you away from ComLaw Gazettes This link will take you away from ComLaw More This link will take you away from ComLaw
Norfolk Island Parliament This link will take you away from ComLaw Legislation This link will take you away from ComLaw Caselaw This link will take you away from ComLaw Gazettes This link will take you away from ComLaw More This link will take you away from ComLaw

Many jurisdictions are working together to harmonise their legislation, and harmonised or 'model' laws have been developed and enacted on more than 80 issues. A list of the issues and associated Acts is available from the Australasian Parliamentary Counsel’s Committee website This link will take you away from ComLaw.

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 Law, Crime and Community Safety Council (LCCSC) This link will take you away from ComLaw.

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