Accessing legislation

The NSW legislation website is the official NSW government site for online access to NSW legislation. The NSW legislation website contains the approved, up-to-date versions of legislation, making it the authoritative source of legislation for New South Wales.

Accessing legislation

The NSW Parliamentary Counsel’s Office (PCO) plays an important part in the process of making and providing access to legislation in NSW. We—

  • are the primary drafters of legislation for NSW, and
  • compile and maintain the collection of NSW legislation (both current and historical versions) that forms the basis of the legislation website, and
  • host and maintain the NSW legislation website to provide the community with access to NSW legislation.

    • Online legislation

    The NSW legislation website provides free access to NSW legislation within 2 general streams.

    The static collection, that is, PDF documents that remain unchanged because they are either:

      a) an instrument as it was on the day that it was made or enacted (As Made), or
      b) a Bill (including its explanatory note and any consultation drafts that may have been made public) as it was when it was introduced into (or amended in) Parliament.

    The dynamic collection, that is, legislation that has been made or enacted, which appears in HTML format, and—most importantly—includes any amendments that have been made to that instrument throughout its existence. Updated versions (also known as consolidated versions) of legislation are usually loaded to the website within 3 business days of their commencement.

    For users researching across NSW legislation, we offer various search options, including the status of Acts and other instruments, the status of Bills introduced into Parliament and the commencement details of NSW Acts.