What is a Register ID?

• There are a number of different types of ID numbers on the Register. A title ID is the ID given to the Principal or first version of a title. These numbers have an A (Acts), L (LIs), N (Nis) , Q (Prerogative instruments, Constitution, AAOs and NI legislation) or G (Gazettes) following the year in the ID number. For example, the Title ID for the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 is C1901A00002. A compilation ID is the ID of a particular subsequent version of a title. These numbers have a C following the year in the ID number. For example Compilation No 36 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 is C2019C00028 and Compilation No 37 of that Act is C2023C00213.

How do I search for legislation by Register ID ?

• To search by Register ID you can enter the ID into the ‘Search for’ field, change the ‘Search in’ field to ‘ID’ and leave the default in the ‘Search using’ field as ‘Register ID’, then click on ‘Open title’. Searching for a title ID will take you to the text page of the latest version of the title. Searching for a compilation ID will take you to a particular version of a title.

Where can I get further information on how to use search, browse and advanced search?

• For information on browse, search and advanced search see https://www.legislation.gov.au/help-and-resources/using-the-legislation-register/how-to-use-browse-search-and-advanced-search.

Where can I find the explanatory statement for a legislative instrument?

• An explanatory statement or ES is a document that sets out how a legislative instrument is expected to operate and details about individual provisions. An explanatory statement is registered along with a legislative instrument and is therefore associated with the “As made” version of a legislative instrument. The explanatory statement for new legislative instruments can be viewed by changing the View document dropdown from “Legislative instrument” to “Explanatory statement”. You can also access Word and PDF copies of a legislative instrument’s explanatory statement by navigating to the Download tab.

• If there are no options to view or download an explanatory statement for the legislative instrument you are interested in, you may be looking at a later version of that instrument. To see the explanatory statement you will need to navigate to the “As made” version of that instrument.

• There are two ways you can do this:

1. Go to All versions and select the “As made” version of the instrument; or

2. Edit the url and change the date range to ‘asmade’. For example, by updating https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2014L00870/2024-01-23/text to https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2014L00870/asmade/text.

Where can I find all Bills and Explanatory Memoranda (EM) for a particular year?

• The best place to find a list of all Bills and Explanatory Memoranda (EM) for a particular year is the Australian Parliament House (APH) website. The authoritative source for Bills, EMs and associated documents, including information about their passage through Parliament, is the Parliament of Australia Bills page at https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation. For historic Bills and EMs pre 1997 not available on this page you can search APH Parlinfo database at https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/.

• Explanatory Memoranda  to accompany every government Bill introduced into the Parliament have been produced since 1983 and they are usually available on both the APH Bills page and the APH Parlinfo database. For the earlier years of 1901 to 1982 there is an online Index to Explanatory Memoranda that was produced by the Parliamentary Library that will tell you if an EM or similar document was produced for a Bill.

• The Federal Register of Legislation (FRL) no longer publishes copies of all the Bills and EMs for each year.   For Acts between 1997 to 2023 you will find a link to a page with a copy of the Bill as first introduced and the initial EM on the Register. For Acts published from 2024 onwards the Register will have a link to the APH website Bills page,  with a full history of the Bill, at the bottom of the all versions page for each Act. Copies of Bills before they become an Act and Bills that are not passed by Parliament are not available on FRL.

Where can I find the Bill and EM of an Act published on the Register?

• The Federal Register of Legislation has copies of the first reading of each Bill and the initial EM as introduced into Parliament for Acts published on the Register from about 1997 to 2023. The Bill and EM, if available, can be found at the bottom of the all version tab for each Act under the heading ‘Originating Bill and Explanatory Memorandum’.  For Acts published from about 1997 up to the end of 2023 a link takes you to a separate Bills page on the Register that has a short description of the Bill, a link to the Parliament House website and copies of the first reading Bill and the initial EM if available. For Acts published from 2024 onwards a link will take you directly to the Bills page on the Parliament House website.

How do I create a link to the latest version, superseded version or the series page for legislation?

• There are generally three options for linking to legislation: 

• To create a link you can copy the URL of the page you are viewing. It is recommended to link to the text page of the latest version (which will always link to the latest version) such as https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A00467 or https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A00467/latest/text. if required you can link to a superseded version of a title by copying the URL from that version’s page. Note that a superseded version always has the start date of the compilation in the URL. For example https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2005B01098/2020-06-12/text.

• You can also link to other pages for the title such as the Details, Authorises, Interactions, Downloads or All versions pages. For legislative instruments you can link to the Explanatory statement found on the as made version page under the View Document drop down. For example https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2011L00287/asmade/text/explanatory-statement.

• Further information on linking is available at https://www.legislation.gov.au/help-and-resources/using-the-legislation-register/linking-and-downloads.

 How do I browse for legislation by letters of the Alphabet

• To browse for legislation by letters of the Alphabet:

  • Go to the Browse tab on the Quick search found on the Home page

  • Select the legislation you would like to browse for from the ‘Collection’ drop down

  • In the ‘Browse by’ drop down select ‘Name’

  • In the ‘Browse for’ drop down, choose from ‘In force’, ‘No longer in force’ or ‘All’ to select both In force and No longer in force titles

  • Select the letter of the alphabet you would like to browse for

• Once you have selected a letter to browse by you will be directed to your results. You can use the Advanced search options to further refine your results. For example if you would like to search by the first two or more letters, you can put additional letters in the ‘Search for’ field. You can also apply further filters or change the filters if you like to search a different collection or refine your search.

• Further information on Browse, Search and Advanced Search  is available at https://www.legislation.gov.au/help-and-resources/using-the-legislation-register/how-to-use-browse-search-and-advanced-search .