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Commonwealth act
This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.
This Act is the companion piece to the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 — the main law that overhauled how the Commonwealth government makes and manages legislative instruments (i.e., rules, regulations, and other legally binding documents made by ministers, departments, or agencies under the authority of an Act of Parliament).
Think of it this way: when a big new law comes into force and changes the rules of the game, you need a "housekeeping" law to:
That's exactly what this Act does. It has two main jobs:
These are "bridge" rules that manage the changeover from the old system to the new one. For example:
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Direct links to the current provisions in Legislative Instruments (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2003.
Zoe has indexed the source text for search and analysis. Use the official register for the original document and download formats.
View on official registerSourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
This is the "find and replace" part of the Act. It amends 21 other Commonwealth Acts to bring them in line with the new legislative instruments framework. The Acts updated span a huge range of subject matter, including:
Primarily government agencies, ministers, and legal practitioners who draft, register, or work with Commonwealth legislative instruments. Indirectly, it affects anyone whose rights or obligations are shaped by Commonwealth regulations and rules — which is essentially all Australians.
Without this Act, switching to the new legislative instruments system would have left dozens of other laws out of step — creating legal uncertainty about whether old instruments were still valid and whether references in existing laws still made sense. This Act ensures the transition is seamless and legally sound.