Authorised Legislation in TimeBase
What is Authorised Electronic Legislation?
Authorised electronic legislation is:
-
an authorised electronic version of legislation; or
-
a printed copy of an authorised electronic version of legislation that has been printed directly from an authorised electronic version of legislation.
To be authorised, the source (which is usually the Parliamentary Counsel’s office in each jurisdiction) must be the authorised electronic publisher. Not all jurisdictions have authorised electronic legislation.
Authorised electronic legislation can usually be relied upon for submissions and in court, however, each court and each jurisdiction has their own rules about authorised electronic copies so you are advised to check the court rules for the court and jurisdiction in which you are presenting. Specific judges may also have their own opinions about submissions presented within their courtroom and the use of online legislation.
TimeBase and Authorised Legislation
TimeBase holds copies of legislation as published on official government websites, and has links to those websites.
If the government website is the authorised publisher, then that means TimeBase holds a copy of the authorised legislation.
To find out which government websites that TimeBase sources material from that are authorised publishers, please see the list below.
For information on currency and coverage for specific jurisdictions see Currency and Coverage.
Government websites sourced by TimeBase
Commonwealth - https://www.legislation.gov.au/
From 1 January 2005, under section 20 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 (Cth), the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments (FRLI) was established as the authorised online repository for electronic versions of Commonwealth legislative instruments and related materials.
Authoritative text is always in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format and is stamped with the document’s unique FRLI ID on every page. Relevant records are always identified with a distinctive ‘tick’ logo and you will see two variations of it.
If you do not see the authoritative logo, or if you access the text in a format other than PDF, then the material is not authoritative and it may not have been subject to the same quality checks as authoritative material.
ACT - http://www.legislation.act.gov.au/default.asp
ACT legislation was authorised only when viewed electronically on this web site or when the copy was printed by the government printer. Extra security is necessary to make sure the documents that are downloaded are true copies of ACT legislation. The ACT Parliamentary Counsel’s Office (PCO), the office that drafts and publishes ACT legislation, has implemented measures to provide this security.
ACT Government had provided this through a Verisign SSL Certificate on the website and a unique digital signature on each authorised document.
Since 12 September 2001, every current republication has been published in authorised PDF format on the ACT legislation register under the Legislation Act 2001 (ACT). Each of these PDF’s bear a digital signature approved by the ACT Government which indicates the consolidation is authoritative.
NSW - http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/
Section 45C (5) of the Interpretation Act 1987 enables the Parliamentary Counsel to certify the form of legislation that is correct - in the case of New South Wales, the New South Wales Parliamentary Counsel's Office has certified that all forms of HTML legislation in the "In Force" database and all forms of "As Made" Legislation in PDF format after 2000 are an authorised electronic version.
Nothing on the NT Register of Legislation Database is currently electronically authorised.
QLD - http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/OQPChome.htm
Under new section 10A of the Legislative Standards Act 1992 and some related amendments, the Parliamentary Counsel can now officially authorise electronic legislation, including Bills and reprints. The amendments were included in the Treasury and Trade and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2013 and came into effect on 23 September 2013.
Legislation on the website is now authorised by the Parliamentary Counsel as follows:
-
all 2013 Bills and legislation passed or as made; and
- all current reprints (Current Legislation menu tab).
The authority statement ‘Authorised by the Parliamentary Counsel’ appears under the copyright statement at the end of the document. Under the Evidence Act 1977 (Qld), a document purporting to be so authorised is taken to be a correct copy until the contrary is proved.
SA - http://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/index.aspx
Nothing on the SA Legislation Website is currently electronically authorised.
TAS - http://www.thelaw.tas.gov.au/index.w3p
Nothing on the TAS Legislation Website is currently electronically authorised.
VIC - http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/
An authorised electronic version of legislation is an electronic version of legislation published on the Victorian Legislation Website that is authorised by the Chief Parliamentary Counsel.
An electronic version of legislation published on the Victorian Legislation Website is an authorised electronic version if:
-
it is in the format authorised by the Chief Parliamentary Counsel;
-
the words "Authorised Version" appear at the beginning of the version;
-
the words "Authorised by the Chief Parliamentary Counsel" appear at the foot of each page of the version.
Unlike, other electronic versions of legislation that are available from the Victorian Legislation Website, under section 64 of the Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984, and from 1 January 2011, an authorised electronic version, or a hard copy print of that version, has the same evidentiary value as a hard copy Act or Statutory Rule printed by the Victorian Government Printer.
WA - http://www.slp.wa.gov.au/legislation/statutes.nsf/default.html
Nothing on the WA State Law Publisher website is currently electronically authorised