Compilation services

OPC prepares compilations of Acts and instruments as amended. Compilations show the full text of an Act or instrument as in force from time to time.

The Legislation Act 2003 requires compilations of Acts, legislative instruments and notifiable instruments to be prepared and registered on the Federal Register of Legislation in a range of circumstances. For example, where an amendment is made, or a provision of a legislative instrument is disallowed.

Compilations of Acts and tied instruments

If an Act or a tied instrument (regulations, Ordinances and regulations of external Territories and Jervis Bay Territory, and other legislative instruments made or approved by the Governor‑General) is amended, OPC will prepare a compilation of the amended Act or instrument so that it is ready as soon as practicable after the amendments commence. There is no charge for preparing the compilation. This is also the case for some limited categories of non‑tied instruments, such as rules of court.

Editorial Changes

Agencies can request that OPC make editorial changes to an instrument as part of, or by, preparing a new compilation (for examples, see sections 15V and 15X of the LA). Any requests for editorial changes should be emailed to OPC (lodge@legislation.gov.au) with information about what changes are sought and why the changes are desirable. Agreement is required from the First Parliamentary Counsel (FPC) that changes can and should be made. Please note that if an editorial change is required and agreed to, FPC will only approve the editorial change if the compilation is prepared by OPC.

For more information about Compilation Services or to request a quote please call (02) 6120 1350 or email lodge@legislation.gov.au

Other compilation services

OPC can prepare compilations of legislation in other circumstances on a billable basis.

By engaging OPC to prepare a compilation, an agency can take advantage of the high level of skills and accuracy of OPC’s compilers.

Circumstances in which an agency might engage OPC to prepare a compilation include:

• Compilations of non‑tied instruments: If a non‑tied instrument is amended, the responsible agency will need a compilation of the instrument as amended. OPC can be engaged to prepare the compilation, whether or not OPC drafted the instrument or the amendments of the instrument.
• Future law compilations: Sometimes, it is helpful for an agency to have a compilation of an Act or instrument as proposed to be amended by a set of amendments that have not yet been enacted or made, or that have not yet come into force. These sorts of compilations can be useful in public consultations about proposed amendments, or to help familiarise agency staff with the impact of proposed amendments to legislation that they administer. OPC can be engaged to prepare such future law compilations.

Requesting a certified copy of legislation

The Federal Register of Legislation contains authorised versions of Acts, legislative instruments and their explanatory statements and notifiable instruments.  An authorised version is always in a pdf file format and can be identified by the words ‘Authorised version’, ‘ComLaw Authoritative Act’, ‘Federal Register of Legislative Instruments’ or ‘Explanatory Statement to…[unique identifier of the instrument it relates to]’ on the electronic or printed copy. An authorised version is taken to be a reliable source of information by a court or tribunal unless proven to the contrary (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2003). Authorised versions can be downloaded and/or printed from the Register.

The Office of Parliamentary Counsel can provide you with a certified copy of a version of legislation for a fee of $715 inc GST, which includes the cost of postage and printing the legislation.. Send your request to lodge@legislation.gov.au with the following information:

• Name of the legislation
• Version of the legislation required (point in time for the version  and compilation number if available)
• Postal address to send the certified copy