Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitors are kindly advised that this website includes images, sounds and names of people who have passed.
All users should be aware that some topics or historical content may be culturally sensitive, offensive or distressing, and that some images may contain nudity or are of people not yet identified. Certain words, terms or descriptions may reflect the author's/creator's attitude or that of the period in which they were written, but are now considered inappropriate in today's context.
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In the Library (or anywhere with a Library card for NSW residents) |
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Only in the Library |
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Publicly available |
An Act (of Parliament) is "a Bill which has passed all three readings in each House of Parliament, received Royal Assent and become law" (from NSW Parliament glossary of terms.) Acts are also known as Statutes.
Regulations are made under the authority of an Act. They set out the administrative detail that will operate under an act of Parliament. The regulations may be referred to as statutory rules or statutory instruments. They are in force under a particular Act, e.g. the National Parks and Wildlife Regulation is in force under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974.
Other forms of subordinate legislation are rules, by-laws, orders and local government laws or ordinances.
Online
In Print
The Library holds selected copies of historical acts. They could be in form of a published book or bound together as pamphlets, e.g.
Find Acts or Bills by searching our catalogue with the name of an Act or Bill followed by the year, e.g. Navigation Act 1872. You will find three items in the Library collection.
Use the 'ERESOURCES: Exclude' filter if there are too many results.
The law governs our lives from the day we are born to the day we die. So where do our laws come from?
This 10 minute video explains how parliaments make law, explaining the process of a Bill to an Act, how legislation changes over time, why the Commonwealth makes some laws and the states others, and delegated legislation such as regulations.
Developed by the Legal Information Access Centre (LIAC), State Library of NSW. Also available in captioned format.
