Service standards

We welcome respectful and courteous feedback on our performance in achieving the standards outlined in this Client Service Charter

Accessibility

The Office of Parliamentary Counsel aims to make information on this website accessible to all users.

Alternative text or alt-text is a short textual description of an image that is not visible on the face of a document. It is included to assist users of legislation, particularly vision impaired users, who use screen readers to understand the content of images. From 2022, alt-text has been included in all images in primary and delegated legislation drafted by OPC. OPC is working on including alt-text in previously published documents.

This website is a dynamic website, and the documents published are the work of a number of different external authors and agencies. Some of these documents may have accessibility issues, or contain material that is inherently difficult to present in an accessible format, such as maps and diagrams.

Most legislation is displayed on the title page Text tab in HTML format. Downloads from the website are usually offered in a choice of file formats (pdf, doc and ePub)

Large documents that exceed 600 pages in size may be split into multiple volumes to keep download sizes and times manageable.

Where information is in a format that is not accessible, or for any other accessibility difficulties, please contact us for assistance.

Copyright

Most of the content on the Legislation Register can be freely used under a Creative Commons licence.

With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, and where otherwise noted, all content on the Federal Register of Legislation (the Legislation Register) is provided under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (the CC BY 4.0 licence).

This licence allows you to share (copy and redistribute in any medium or format) and to adapt (remix, transform, and build upon) content for any purpose, even commercially.

Content can be reused freely subject to the following conditions:

• you provide a link to the relevant pages on the Legislation Register or, if multiple pages are involved, a link to the Legislation Register home page; and

• you attribute the content to the Federal Register of Legislation, provide a link to the CC licence, and indicate if any changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests we endorse you or your use.

The details of the relevant licence conditions and the legal code (the full licence) are available on the Creative Commons website.

Attributing content

Content from the Legislation Register must be attributed using a set of words that include a reference to the Federal Register of Legislation as the source.

If the content has been changed you must use:

"Based on content from the Federal Register of Legislation at [full date of download]. For the latest information on Australian Government legislation please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au."

If the content has been not been changed you must use:

"Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at [full date of download]. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au."

Third-party copyright

Where material is identified as the copyright of a third party, the copyright owner's permission to reuse it is required. Note that using any material without the copyright owner's permission may breach the Copyright Act 1968.

Disclaimer

This website is managed by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) for the purpose of providing information free of charge for the benefit of the public. OPC recommends that users exercise their own skill and care with respect to use of this website and carefully evaluate the relevance of the material for their purposes.

This website is not a substitute for independent legal advice and users should obtain appropriate advice relevant to their particular circumstances.

Links to external websites

OPC takes reasonable care in linking to other websites but has no direct control over the content, or the changes that may occur to the content on those sites. It is the responsibility of the user to make their own decisions about the accuracy, currency, reliability and correctness of information contained in linked external websites.

Links to external websites do not constitute an endorsement or a recommendation of any material on those sites or of any third party products or services offered by, from or through those sites. Users of links provided by this website are responsible for being aware of which organisation is hosting the website they visit.

Other important information

Every effort is made to provide uninterrupted access to this website but this cannot be guaranteed. Any planned outages will be notified on the website home page. If there are issues outside of notified outages please contact us.

Privacy

The Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) collects and handles personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 and relevant guidelines.

This privacy policy applies to personal information that may be collected by or on behalf of OPC as part of managing the website.

OPC is bound by the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles within the Act in relation to the handling, use and management of personal information.

This website contains links to other websites. OPC is not responsible for the privacy practices of other websites so it is important to consult the privacy policy of those websites for information on their policy.

Personal information

OPC only collects personal information, such as email addresses, where that information is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, performing one or more of OPC's functions or activities. OPC may collect this personal information in a variety of ways, including online (through our website, as well as email), over the telephone and by fax.

Use and disclosure of personal information

When personal information is collected, it will only be used for the purpose(s) for which it was provided and for related, internal management purposes. Personal information will not be disclosed to anyone else unless:

• you consent to or expect disclosure of your personal information

• disclosure is necessary for the enforcement of the criminal law or for the protection of public revenue

• disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the life or health of a person, or

• disclosure is required or authorised by law

To request access to the personal information that OPC holds about you, and to request that we correct the information if it is incorrect please contact OPC.

Registered users of My Account, can opt out of further contact with OPC on a temporary or permanent basis by updating their My Account profile.

Accessing our services

Your computer needs to meet certain requirements to access all of our services.

Minimum browser requirements

Using the latest internet browser on your computer helps improve your security. In order to access all Register online services, you will need to use one of the following browsers:

• Microsoft Edge

• Mozilla Firefox

• Google Chrome

• Apple Safari

The most current major version of the browser and one version prior are supported. These browsers have been tested and confirmed to work with our online services.

Browser settings

Your browser must allow HTTPS* (TLS) connections and have Cookies and JavaScript enabled. Most browsers will already have these features turned on and you should not need to change these settings.

Cookies

To improve your experience on our site, we use "cookies". Cookies are an industry standard and most major websites use them.

A cookie is a small text file that our site may place on your computer as a tool to remember your preferences. We use cookies to measure how you use the website so we can update and improve it based on your needs.

You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. However, if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website.

Website analytics

Our website uses a range of analytics services which send website traffic data to servers offshore.

These services do not identify individual users or associate your IP address with any other data held by the company for other purposes.

We use reports provided by analytics providers to help us understand website traffic and web-page usage.

By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you for the purposes set out above.

You can opt out of analytics if you disable or refuse the cookie or disable JavaScript.

More information

For concerns about OPC's personal information handling practices or to access personal information held by OPC please contact OPC. Further assistance and information on privacy is also available from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).