30 Finding Western Australian Legislation

Legislative Research in Western Australia (WA)

This chapter explains how to access Western Australian (WA) legislative materials and Government Gazettes. The chapter also covers how to access Western Australian Bills, Explanatory Memoranda and Hansard through the Parliament of Western Australia website.

Understanding Western Australian legislation

Western Australian legislation includes Acts of the Parliament of Western Australia and legislative instruments, known as ‘delegated legislation’ or ‘subsidiary legislation’ in WA.

The Parliamentary Counsel’s Office (PCO, Department of Justice (WA)) holds all WA legislation and subsidiary legislation (including regulations, by-laws etc.). WA legislation is available electronically through the PCO’s Western Australian Legislation website (WALW).

Acts of Parliament

In WA, an ‘Act’ is defined under section 5 of the Interpretation Act 1984 (WA). An Act means any Act or Ordinance passed by the Parliament of Western Australia, or by any Council previously having authority or power to pass laws in WA, such Act or Ordinance having been assented to, by or on behalf of Her/His Majesty.
Most Acts contain a commencement provision (usually section 2). If there is no commencement provision, the Act commences on the 28^th day after the date it receives Royal Assent (see Interpretation Act 1984 (WA) s 20). The notes section at the end of the document contains details of commencement.

Legislative instruments

Legislative instruments are a form of subsidiary legislation. A ‘legislative instrument’ is defined under section 5 of the Interpretation Act 1984 (WA) and includes any proclamation, regulation, rule, local law, by‑law, order, notice, rule of court, local or region planning scheme, resolution, or other instrument, made by the Governor of Western Australia or a Minister under an Act. Legislative instruments are regulated under the Interpretation Act 1984 (WA) (formerly called the Subordinate Legislation Act 1978 (WA)).

Acts governing Western Australian legislation

• • • Legislation Act 2021 (WA)
    • Interpretation Act 1984 (WA)

Additional Western Australian legislation that has a general effect on other legislation

• • • Criminal Investigation Act 2006 (WA)
    • Bail Act 1982 (WA)
    • Criminal Procedure Act 2004 (WA)
    • Criminal Code Act Compilation Act 1913 (WA)
    • Evidence Act 1906 (WA)
    • Sentencing Act 1995 (WA)
    • Fines, Penalties and Infringement Notices Enforcement Act 1994 (WA)
    • Civil Liberty Act 2002 (WA)

For anyone in or dealing with the public service, see also:

• • • Public Sector Management Act 1994 (WA)
    • Financial Management Act 2006 (WA)

Finding Western Australian legislation

The Legislation Act 2021 (WA) provides official status to certain electronic versions of laws that are published on the Western Australian Legislation website (WALW; www.legislation.wa.gov.au).

Since 1 July 2023, the WALW indicates an authorised version of WA legislation by adding a tick symbol on the PDF icon used to download the law.

In addition, electronic versions of Acts or subsidiary legislation, published on or after 1 July 2023, have the coat of arms of the State on the first page and the words “Official Version” appear in the footer on each page.

Versions of subsidiary legislation ‘as made’ indicate on the first page the date when they were first published on the WALW. This date replaces the date of publication in the Government Gazette for the purposes of commencement of subsidiary legislation.

From 1 July 2021, the Government Printer of Western Australia authorised commercial printing company LitSupport (TIMG) Pty Ltd to supply printed copies of WA legislation. Prior to this, printed copies of WA legislation were available for purchase from the State Law Publisher (SLP). SLP operations ceased on 30 June 2021.

AustLII – Current and historical WA legislation is also accessible through AustLII, including access to some Bills and Explanatory Memoranda. The AustLII databases are:

• Western Australian Current Acts (alphabetical listing)
• Western Australian Numbered Acts 1832-
• Western Australian Repealed Acts
• Western Australian Current Regulations
• Western Australian Repealed Regulations
• Western Australian Bills 1998-
• Western Australian Explanatory Memoranda 1999-

Western Australian Legislation website (WALW)

On the Western Australian Legislation website (WALW), each Act has its own homepage, which provides access to the current, consolidated version of the Act, as well as:

• Previous versions of the Act (includes Consolidated Versions, Reprints and the ‘As passed’ version);
• Current versions of any subsidiary legislation made under the Act;
• History of the Act (table in MS Word format), detailing assent and commencements dates, and Acts that have amended the Principal Act.

New Acts are generally added to the WALW on the working day following Royal Assent. Changes to legislation in the Acts in force and Subsidiary legislation in force collections are consolidated within two working days of the amending provision(s) commencing.

The WALW also provides links to information about legislation (Acts, Subsidiary legislation, Bills currently before Parliament and historical indexes of WA legislation since 1831) to aid understanding of the legislation itself. For additional information, see FAQs for the WALW.

Western Australian Acts – In force

Acts in force can be located by browsing the title of the Act (Acts > In force, A-Z). Alternatively, they can be located by using the Search functionality for ‘Acts and Subsidiary legislation’ using an exact phrase or keyword(s), such as the subject-matter of the legislation.

Western Australian Acts – As passed

The ‘as passed’ version of an Act is accessible from the Act’s homepage on the WALW, using the Versions of this Act link.
‘As passed’ Acts can also be located by browsing the title of the Act and/or year passed (Acts > As passed, A-Z or Year), if this information is known.

Western Australian Acts – Point-in-time

A point-in-time version of an Act can be accessed using the Consolidated Versions table, accessible from the Act’s homepage on the WALW, using the Versions of this Act link. The table lists currency start and end dates to indicate when the version applied.

Researching Amendments to Western Australian Acts

Reprints and consolidated versions of Acts contain amendments incorporated into the Act up to a specific point in time. Notes regarding amendments are incorporated into the body of the Principal Act in [square brackets] indicating that section of the Act has been amended/inserted or repealed, for example.

The note contains the Amending Act number, year and relevant section of the Amending Act.

Compilation table

Each reprint or consolidated version has a Compilation table at the end listing all Amending Acts and their provisions that have come into operation since the publication of the last version. The table gives the commencement date for each provision.

Uncommenced Provisions table

There may also be an Uncommenced Provisions table, which lists provisions that have not yet come into operation.

Amending Acts not listed

It may also be necessary to check if there are any recent Amending Acts that are not included in the Compilation Table in the latest consolidated version. On the WALW, under Legislation information > Acts, there are some useful lists that can help with this:

• • • Assent, commencement and ceasing information for Acts
    • Acts amended by Acts passed in the current year
    • Current year Acts showing Acts affected.

Amendments to other Acts

The Act in force version contains details of other Acts that it amends, and the amendment(s) made.

On the WALW, under Versions of this Act for each Act, the Consolidated Versions table contains a comparison document: see ‘Compare’. The document compares the version of legislation at a particular point-in-time (the “currency start” date) with the version immediately preceding it.

The comparison document uses change tracking functionality to highlight changes made to the legislation by amending legislation. It also shows editorial changes made under the Reprints Act 1984 (WA) or Legislation Act 2021 (WA) pt 3.

Finding historical Western Australian Acts

There are limited Historical Indexes of WA legislation on the WALW.

The following are other options to assist with locating historical WA Acts:

Reprinted Acts

Reprints can be accessed from the Act’s homepage on the WALW, under Versions of this Act.
A collection of official WA reprinted versions of Acts produced before 1 July 2023 is available in PDF format on the WALW.

Repealed or revoked Acts

To find historical consolidations or reprints of repealed WA Acts, go to Acts > Ceased on the WALW and browse or search to locate the Act.
Repealed Acts appear in red font making them easily identifiable. Consolidated versions and reprints of repealed Acts are available from the Act’s homepage, under Versions of this Act.
In some instances, you may need to refer to hardcopy reprints of Acts. Some WA law libraries maintain a historical print collection of WA reprinted Acts.

AustLII – historical Western Australian Acts

AustLII contains a database for locating repealed or revoked WA Acts:

• • • Western Australian Repealed Acts

Another database lists numbered Acts as passed since 1832. Acts can be searched by year or alphabetically using the initial letter of the Act title:

• • • Western Australian Numbered Acts 1832- database

Finding Western Australian subsidiary legislation

The Legislation Regulations 2023 (WA) Part 2 specifies what must, or may, be published on the Western Australian Legislation website (WALW). From 1 July 2023, the following must be published on the WALW:

• all regulations made by the Governor under an Act, and certain other regulations;
• all rules of court;
• certain rules, by-laws, orders and notices made under specified Acts;
• Imperial enactments that are part of the law of WA by virtue of WA Acts that adopted them or the Act under which they are made;
• proclamations made after 1 July 2023 that commence an Act or part of an Act;
• the Letters Patent relating to the Office of Governor of the State of Western Australia 1986.

Western Australian subsidiary legislation – In force

Most WA subsidiary legislation is now published on the WALW instead of in the Government Gazette. A collection of subsidiary legislation currently in force (including historical versions, where available) is accessible under Subsidiary legislation > In force.
AustLII contains a database for locating WA subsidiary legislation in force:

• • • Western Australian Current Regulations

Western Australian subsidiary legislation – As made

There is a collection of subsidiary legislation ‘as made’ on the WALW, under Subsidiary legislation > As made. This includes legislation published in the Government Gazette from 1990 until 30 June 2023, and on the WALW from 1 July 2023 onwards.

Finding historical Western Australian subsidiary legislation

On the WALW, there is a list of WA subsidiary legislation that has ceased to be in force. There are also Historical Indexes of WA subsidiary legislation ordered by year since 2000.

Finding repealed or revoked Western Australian subsidiary legislation

Repealed WA subsidiary legislation is accessible under Subsidiary legislation > Ceased on the WALW. The subsidiary legislation appears in red font.
Repealed WA subsidiary legislation can also be found by searching under Subsidiary legislation > In force and Ceased, which lists both subsidiary legislation in force and subsidiary legislation that has been repealed, has expired or has otherwise ceased to be in force (where available). Repealed subsidiary legislation appear in red font making it easily identifiable.

AustLII contains a useful database for locating repealed or revoked WA subsidiary legislation:

• • • Western Australian Repealed Regulations

Finding Bills & Extrinsic Materials

Bills and extrinsic materials, such as Explanatory Memoranda, Hansard and Second Reading speeches, are critical to effective legislative research and the interpretation of Acts.
The Parliament of Western Australia website contains a Glossary of Parliamentary Terms & Language to assist with researching Bills.

Finding Bills

Bills that have been considered in the current Parliament of Western Australia are accessible on the WA Parliament website, under Parliamentary Business, then Current Parliament.
Bills indicate whether they originated in the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council, and their current status of progress.
AustLII also includes a database for locating Western Australian Bills from 1998 to 2001:

• • • Western Australian Bills 1998-

Finding historical Bills

All Bills that have been considered by the Parliament of Western Australia since 1997 (35th Parliament) are accessible under Parliamentary Business, then All Bills, on the WA Parliament website.
The search functionality is quite limited but it is possible to search by keyword, then sort by Name, Date introduced or filter to Private Members Bills.

Finding extrinsic materials (Explanatory Memoranda and Second Reading speeches)

In Western Australia, Explanatory Memoranda were rarely published prior to 2000. They are now compulsory with all Bills.
Under section 19 of the Interpretation Act 1984 (WA), extrinsic materials may be used to aid in the interpretation of provisions of legislation.
On the WA Parliament website, the homepage for each Bill contains its number, long title, assent status and a copy of the Bill as introduced. Details and dates are given relating to the Bill’s progression through the Legislature.
For each Bill introduced in Parliament since August 2000, there are links to PDF files of the Explanatory Memorandum and Second Reading speech. Links are also provided to Acts amended by that Bill.

AustLII provides a database for locating Western Australian Explanatory Memoranda from 1999 to 2021:

• • • Western Australian Explanatory Memoranda 1999-

Explanatory Memoranda for Bills (pre-2001)

Where available, Explanatory Memoranda for Bills pre-2001 can be located on the Western Australian Parliament Library website.
Consolidated Acts between the years 1832-1958 do not generally have Explanatory Memoranda or Second Reading speeches.
On the Parliament Library website, Bills are listed alphabetically with an abbreviated note indicating the type of documentation available, such as EM (Explanatory Memorandum), EN (Explanatory Note) or 2nd RS (Second Reading Speech). The webpage provides a legend explaining the abbreviations used.
AustLII provides access to some Western Australian Explanatory Memoranda from 1999 to 2001:

• • • Western Australian Explanatory Memoranda 1999-

Finding Hansard

Hansard is the official record of parliamentary debates and committee transcripts for all proceedings in the Western Australian Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly, located under Parliamentary Business on the WA Parliament website.

• Advanced search covers the time period from August 2000.
• The Hansard archive covers 1870–June 2000.

Finding Parliamentary Committee Reports

Bills are also considered by various Committees during their passage through Parliament, after the Second Reading of the Bill. Examples include Select Committees, Standing Committees and Legislation Committees. These Committees publish reports making recommendations for amendments to the Bill, which can provide insights into the background to a Bill, areas of debate or disagreement and policy issues arising. There are two locations to search on the WA Parliament website:

• Current Parliamentary Committees – Reports (search by date, Committee or Inquiry name)
• Parliamentary Committee reports tabled since 1990 (alphabetical order)

Finding Western Australian Government Gazettes

From 1 April 2021, the Western Australian Government Gazettes (including historical versions since 1836) are published only on the WA Legislation website (WALW).  Electronic versions of the Gazette were given official status in the Interpretation Act 1984 (WA) s 5, as amended by the Legislation Act 2021 (WA) s 48(2).

From 1 July 2023, under the Legislation Act 2021 (WA) most subsidiary legislation is published on WALW instead of in the Gazette.^[1]

The Department of the Premier and Cabinet continues to receive notices and compile the Government Gazettes.