Statutes
A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999
The A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act) introduced the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Australia, effective from 1 July 2000. The GST is a broad-based consumption tax of 10% …
Acts Interpretation Act 1901
The Acts Interpretation Act 1901 is a foundational statute that sets out the rules for the interpretation of Commonwealth legislation. The Act provides definitions of commonly used terms, rules for …
Age Discrimination Act 2004
The Age Discrimination Act 2004 prohibits discrimination on the basis of age in employment, education, housing, and the provision of goods and services. The Act covers both young and older …
Aged Care Act 1997
The Aged Care Act 1997 established the modern framework for Commonwealth-funded aged care services in Australia. The Act governs the approval, funding, and regulation of residential aged care, home …
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006
The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act) establishes Australia’s regulatory framework for combating money laundering and terrorism financing. The Act …
Australian Citizenship Act 2007
The Australian Citizenship Act 2007 governs the acquisition, renunciation, and loss of Australian citizenship. The Act replaced the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 and modernised the citizenship …
Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986
The Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (AHRC Act) established the Australian Human Rights Commission as an independent statutory authority responsible for promoting and protecting human …
Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (ASIC Act) establishes the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) as Australia’s corporate, markets, and financial …
Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011
The Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011 provides the legislative framework for Australia to impose autonomous sanctions (that is, sanctions independent of United Nations Security Council resolutions) …
Banking Act 1959
The Banking Act 1959 is the principal legislation regulating the Australian banking sector. The Act establishes the prudential regulatory framework for authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs), …
Biosecurity Act 2015
The Biosecurity Act 2015 modernised Australia’s biosecurity legislation, replacing the Quarantine Act 1908. The Act provides a comprehensive framework for managing risks to Australia’s …
Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918
The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 is the principal legislation governing federal elections in Australia. It establishes the framework for the enrolment of voters, the conduct of elections, the …
Copyright Act 1968
The Copyright Act 1968 is the principal legislation governing copyright protection in Australia. The Act protects original literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, as well as sound recordings, …
Crimes Act 1914
The Crimes Act 1914 is one of Australia’s oldest criminal statutes, defining a range of Commonwealth criminal offences and establishing procedural rules for federal criminal investigations and …
Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth)
The Criminal Code Act 1995 created Australia’s first Commonwealth criminal code, codifying the general principles of criminal responsibility and defining Commonwealth criminal offences. The Code …
Defence Act 1903
The Defence Act 1903 is the principal legislation governing the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the organisation of defence in Australia. The Act establishes the command and control structures of …
Designs Act 2003
The Designs Act 2003 governs the registration and protection of industrial designs in Australia. A design is the overall appearance of a product resulting from its shape, configuration, pattern, or …
Disability Discrimination Act 1992
The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in various areas of public life, including employment, education, housing, access to premises, …
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) is Australia’s principal environmental legislation. The Act establishes a national framework for environmental …
Evidence Act 1995 (Cth)
The Evidence Act 1995 established a uniform code of evidence for federal courts and the courts of the Australian Capital Territory. The Act codified the rules of evidence, including the rules about …
Family Law Act 1975
The Family Law Act 1975 revolutionised Australian family law by introducing no-fault divorce through the single ground of ‘irretrievable breakdown’ of marriage, established by 12 …
Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Act 2021
The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Act 2021 merged the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia into a single court — the Federal Circuit and Family Court of …
Federal Court of Australia Act 1976
The Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 established the Federal Court of Australia as a superior court of record. The Federal Court replaced the Australian Industrial Court and the Federal Court of …
High Court of Australia Act 1979
The High Court of Australia Act 1979 established the High Court as an independent institution separate from the federal executive government. The Act gave the Court administrative autonomy, …
Income Tax Assessment Act 1997
The Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997) is the primary legislation governing the assessment of income tax in Australia, alongside the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (ITAA 1936). The 1997 Act …
Insurance Act 1973
The Insurance Act 1973 regulates the prudential aspects of the general insurance industry in Australia. The Act provides for the licensing of general insurers by APRA, imposes solvency and capital …
Judiciary Act 1903
The Judiciary Act 1903 established the High Court of Australia and conferred its original and appellate jurisdiction. The Act was one of the first statutes enacted by the Commonwealth Parliament …
Legislation Act 2003
The Legislation Act 2003 established the modern framework for the management, publication, and interpretation of Commonwealth legislation and legislative instruments. The Act replaced most of the Acts …
Life Insurance Act 1995
The Life Insurance Act 1995 regulates the prudential aspects of the life insurance industry in Australia. The Act provides for the licensing of life insurance companies by APRA, imposes capital …
Marriage Act 1961
The Marriage Act 1961 is the principal legislation governing the solemnisation and recognition of marriages in Australia. The Act establishes the legal requirements for a valid marriage, including the …
Migration Act 1958
The Migration Act 1958 is the principal legislation governing the entry, stay, and removal of non-citizens in Australia. The Act establishes the visa system, under which non-citizens must hold a valid …
National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013
The National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (NDIS Act) established the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), Australia’s landmark reform of disability support. The NDIS provides …
National Health Act 1953
The National Health Act 1953 is the principal legislation governing the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and the regulation of pharmaceuticals in Australia. The PBS, established under the Act, …
Native Title Act 1993
The Native Title Act 1993 (NTA) established the legal framework for the recognition and protection of native title in Australia, following the High Court’s landmark decision in Mabo v Queensland …
Patents Act 1990
The Patents Act 1990 governs the grant and enforcement of patents in Australia. The Act provides for two types of patents: standard patents (for inventions that are novel, involve an inventive step, …
Racial Discrimination Act 1975
The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (RDA) was Australia’s first federal anti-discrimination legislation, giving effect to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial …
Sex Discrimination Act 1984
The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (SDA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, marital status, relationship status, pregnancy, and …
Social Security Act 1991
The Social Security Act 1991 is the principal legislation governing Australia’s social security system. The Act provides for income support payments to individuals and families, including the …
Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993
The Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act) is the principal legislation regulating the superannuation industry in Australia. The Act establishes the legal framework for the operation …
Taxation Administration Act 1953
The Taxation Administration Act 1953 (TAA 1953) establishes the administrative framework for Commonwealth taxation, including the powers of the Commissioner of Taxation, the obligations of taxpayers, …
The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 — Overview
Introduction The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (63 & 64 Vict, c 12) is the supreme law of the Commonwealth of Australia. Enacted as an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament, it …
The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) — Overview
Introduction The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (the CCA) is Australia’s principal competition and consumer protection statute. Originally enacted as the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) …
The Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) — Overview
Introduction The Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) is the principal statute regulating corporations and financial markets in Australia. Enacted on 15 July 2001 and effective from 1 January 2002, the Act …
The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) — Overview
Introduction The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the FW Act) is Australia’s principal workplace relations statute. Enacted by the Rudd Labor Government and effective from 1 July 2009, the Act replaced …
The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles
Introduction The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) is Australia’s principal privacy and data protection statute. Enacted in 1988 and significantly amended in 2000 (to extend the Act to the private sector) …
Trade Marks Act 1995
The Trade Marks Act 1995 governs the registration and protection of trade marks in Australia. A trade mark is a sign used to distinguish the goods or services of one trader from those of another. The …
Work Health and Safety Act 2011
The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act) established a nationally consistent framework for work health and safety in Australia, replacing previous state-based occupational health and safety …