About authorised legislation and this website

Legislation authorised by the Parliamentary Counsel

All Bills, Acts as passed, subordinate legislation (SL) as made and reprints published on this website from 2013 are authorised by the Parliamentary Counsel under the Legislative Standards Act 1992.

All authorised legislation has an authority statement—‘Authorised by the Parliamentary Counsel’—that can be found either at the end of the legislation with the copyright (2013–2015) or in the footer of each page (after 2015).

Before 2013, only hard copies of legislation and reprints printed by the Government Printer were authorised versions i.e. although the electronic versions of those documents were published on this website, they were not authorised.

This is clear for unauthorised historical reprints which have a warning note on the front cover—‘This reprint is not an authorised copy’.

For more information about the effect of authorisation—

• for Acts as passed, subordinate legislation as made and reprints, see the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, sections 14B and 14G, and the Evidence Act 1977, sections 43 and 46A

• for Bills, see the Evidence Act 1977, section 47.

Backcaptured legislation

The backcaptured copies of legislation available on this website for years up to mid-1991 are also authorised versions of the legislation. These versions have been reproduced by scanning authorised annual volumes.

Other authorised legislative documents on this website

Explanatory notes and regulatory impact statements published on this website are also authorised by the Parliamentary Counsel though they do not have an authority statement.