I, Meredith Leigh, First Parliamentary Counsel, make the following rules.
Dated 18 February 2026
Meredith Leigh
First Parliamentary Counsel
Contents
Part 1—Preliminary
1 Name
2 Commencement
3 Authority
4 Schedules
5 Definitions
Part 2—Lodgement
6 Requirements for lodgement
7 Withdrawal of lodgement
8 Requirements for compilations
9 Compilations prepared and lodged by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel
Part 3—Registration
10 Approved website for registered material
11 Giving unique names
12 Giving name that includes year of making
13 Inserting unique identifiers
14 Alternative arrangements in the event of technical difficulties
Part 4—Keeping the Register
15 Redacting personal information
16 Removing reviewing comments
17 Events affecting the currency or accuracy of the Register
Part 5—Authorised versions
18 Authorised versions
Schedule 1—Repeals
Legislation Rule 2016
Part 1—Preliminary
1 Name
This instrument is the Legislation Rules 2026.
2 Commencement
(1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.
Commencement information
Column 1 Column 2 Column 3
Provisions Commencement Date/Details
The whole of this instrument The day after this instrument is registered. 24 February 2026
Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.
(2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.
3 Authority
This instrument is made under the Legislation Act 2003.
4 Schedules
Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.
5 Definitions
Note: A number of expressions used in this instrument are defined in the Act, including the following:
(a) approved website;
(b) authorised version;
(c) compilation;
(d) legislative instrument;
(e) notifiable instrument;
(f) responsible person.
In this instrument:
Act means the Legislation Act 2003.
Part 2—Lodgement
6 Requirements for lodgement
(1) This section is made for the purposes of paragraphs 15M(a) and 15U(d) of the Act.
Method of lodgement
(2) An instrument, compilation of an instrument or other document must be lodged for registration:
(b) using another method agreed between the First Parliamentary Counsel and the person lodging the instrument, compilation or document.
Format for lodgement
(3) An instrument, compilation of an instrument or other document must be lodged using one of the following formats:
(a) RTF, DOC or DOCX format;
(b) another format agreed between the First Parliamentary Counsel and the person lodging the instrument, compilation or document.
Conversion to other formats
(4) An instrument, compilation of an instrument or other document must be lodged in a form that can be readily converted into EPUB, HTML, and PDF formats in a way that maintains consistency in the instrument, compilation or document between the original and converted formats.
Dynamic content
(5) An instrument, compilation of an instrument or other document lodged for registration must not contain content that:
(a) is dynamic; and
(b) interferes with the accuracy of the instrument, compilation or document.
7 Withdrawal of lodgement
(1) This section is made for the purposes of paragraphs 15M(c) and 15U(e) of the Act.
(2) If an instrument, compilation of an instrument or other document has been lodged for registration but not registered, the person who lodged the instrument, compilation or document may withdraw it by:
(b) using another method agreed between the First Parliamentary Counsel and the person.
(3) If a person who lodged an instrument, compilation of an instrument or other document becomes aware that any information provided when lodging the instrument, compilation or document is incomplete or inaccurate, the person must withdraw the instrument, compilation or document under subsection (2) as soon as practicable.
8 Requirements for compilations
For the purposes of subparagraph 15U(d)(iii) of the Act, the information that must be provided for a compilation of a legislative instrument or notifiable instrument that is lodged for registration is the following:
(a) the name of the instrument;
(b) the number of the compilation;
(c) the name of the Department or agency that prepared the compilation;
(d) a key setting out any abbreviations used in any notes to the compilation;
(e) the enabling legislation for the instrument.
9 Compilations prepared and lodged by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel
For the purposes of subsection 15R(4) of the Act, section 15R of the Act does not require a compilation of a legislative instrument or notifiable instrument to be prepared and lodged for registration if:
(a) the Office of Parliamentary Counsel is required to undertake, or arrange for, the drafting of the instrument under:
(i) directions issued under section 55ZF of the Judiciary Act 1903; or
(ii) any other legislative instrument relating to the legal services of the Commonwealth; or
(b) the Office of Parliamentary Counsel prepares and lodges the compilation for registration.
(1) For the purposes of subparagraph 15M(b)(i) of the Act, the First Parliamentary Counsel may add a unique name to an instrument or other document lodged for registration if the First Parliamentary Counsel is satisfied that the instrument or document as lodged does not have a name.
(2) For the purposes of subparagraph 15M(b)(ii) of the Act, the First Parliamentary Counsel may amend the name of an instrument or other document lodged for registration to give the instrument or document a unique name if the First Parliamentary Counsel is satisfied that the name of the instrument or document as lodged is not unique.
12 Giving name that includes year of making
For the purposes of subparagraph 15M(b)(ii) of the Act, the First Parliamentary Counsel may amend the name of an instrument or other document lodged for registration to give the instrument or document a name that includes the year of its making if the First Parliamentary Counsel is satisfied that the name of the instrument or document as lodged does not include that year.
Example: An instrument made in 2025 is lodged for registration with the name Coffee Determination. As this name does not include the year of the instrument’s making, the First Parliamentary Counsel may give the instrument a name such as Coffee Determination 2025, or if there is already an instrument with that name, Coffee Determination (No. 2) 2025 or another appropriate name.
13 Inserting unique identifiers
For the purposes of paragraph 15E(b) and subparagraph 15M(b)(iii) of the Act, before registering a document, the First Parliamentary Counsel may cause a unique identifier to be inserted into the document.
14 Alternative arrangements in the event of technical difficulties
(1) For the purposes of paragraph 15M(f) of the Act, in the event of technical difficulties, the First Parliamentary Counsel must register an Act, instrument or other document by:
(a) publishing the Act, instrument or document on the website https://www.opc.gov.au; or
(b) if that website is not publicly available—publicly displaying a hard copy of the Act, instrument or document at 28 Sydney Avenue, Forrest, in the Australian Capital Territory.
(2) As soon as practicable after the technical difficulties have ceased, the First Parliamentary Counsel must make any Act, instrument or document that was registered in accordance with subsection (1) available to the public on the approved website.
Part 4—Keeping the Register
15 Redacting personal information
For the purposes of paragraphs 15E(a) and 15M(h) of the Act, the First Parliamentary Counsel may redact any personal information (within the meaning of the Privacy Act 1988) from a document on the Federal Register of Legislation (other than an Act, a legislative instrument or a notifiable instrument) if the First Parliamentary Counsel considers it appropriate to do so.
16 Removing reviewing comments
For the purposes of paragraphs 15E(a) and 15M(h) of the Act, the First Parliamentary Counsel may remove any reviewing comments from a document on the Federal Register of Legislation (other than an Act, a legislative instrument or a notifiable instrument) if the First Parliamentary Counsel is satisfied that the inclusion of the comments in the document is an error.
Note: An example of a reviewing comment is a comment balloon included using a word processing software function.
17 Events affecting the currency or accuracy of the Register
For the purposes of paragraph 15E(a) of the Act, if a responsible person for a registered Act, legislative instrument or notifiable instrument has given notice under section 15L of the Legislation Act 2003 to the First Parliamentary Counsel of the occurrence of an event in relation to the registered Act or instrument, the First Parliamentary Counsel may require the person to provide documentary evidence of the event.
Part 5—Authorised versions
18 Authorised versions
(1) For the purposes of paragraphs 15ZA(1)(a) and (2)(a) of the Act, the format is PDF.
(2) For the purposes of subparagraph 15ZA(1)(b)(ii), paragraph 15ZA(2)(b) and subsection 15ZA(3) of the Act, the way an electronic or printed copy of a registered law or explanatory statement indicates that it is an authorised version is by including any of the following in the copy:
(a) “Authorised version”;
(b) “ComLaw Authoritative Act”;
(c) “Federal Register of Legislative Instruments”;
(d) for an explanatory statement for a legislative instrument—“Explanatory Statement to” and a reference to the unique identifier for the instrument.