Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

LEGISLATION ACT 2003 - SECT 3

    The object of this Act is to provide a comprehensive regime for the management of Acts and instruments by:

  (a)   establishing the Federal Register of Legislation as a permanent repository of versions (including authorised versions) of Acts, legislative instruments, notifiable instruments and compilations, together with associated documents and information; and

  (aa)   enabling the First Parliamentary Counsel to make editorial changes and some other changes in preparing compilations of Acts, legislative instruments and notifiable instruments, if those changes do not change the effect of the Acts or instruments; and

  (b)   encouraging rule - makers to undertake appropriate consultation before making legislative instruments; and

  (c)   encouraging high standards in the drafting of legislative instruments and notifiable instruments to promote their legal effectiveness, their clarity and their intelligibility to anticipated users; and

  (d)   improving public access to Acts and instruments; and

  (e)   establishing improved mechanisms for Parliamentary scrutiny of legislative instruments; and

  (ea)   automatically repealing spent legislative instruments and notifiable instruments (or provisions of those instruments) that merely provide for the amendment, repeal or commencement of Acts or other instruments; and

  (f)   establishing mechanisms to ensure that legislative instruments are periodically reviewed and, if they no longer have a continuing purpose, repealed; and

  (g)   enabling regulations to be made under this Act amending or repealing legislative instruments and notifiable instruments in some circumstances.