the drafting of proposed laws for introduction into either House of the Parliament; and

the drafting of amendments of proposed laws that are being considered by either House of the Parliament; and

the drafting of delegated legislation; and

the preparing of compilations and reprints of, and information relating to, laws of the Commonwealth; and

the publishing, and the making of arrangements for the printing and publishing, of laws, and proposed laws, of the Commonwealth, compilations, and reprints of laws of the Commonwealth and information relating to laws of the Commonwealth; and

the preparing and publishing of Government Notices Gazettes, including Special and Periodic Gazettes; and

functions conferred on OPC (or on First Parliamentary Counsel) under the Legislation Act 2003 (currently these include limited editorial powers for First Parliamentary Counsel and responsibility for promoting the legal effectiveness, clarity and intelligibility of legislative instruments and notifiable instruments) and any other laws of the Commonwealth; and

[7]

with the written approval of the Minister—the provision of assistance to a foreign country in relation to the drafting, printing or publishing of laws of the country or information relating to those laws.

In addition to the three statutory office-holders of First Parliamentary Counsel and two Second Parliamentary Counsel, OPC has around 100 staff employed under the Public Service Act 1999.[5] There are approximately 50 drafters, all of whom are lawyers and who are referred to as parliamentary counsel.


In introducing the legislation establishing OPC, the Attorney-General said


OPC has around 40 publishing staff who develop and operate the Legislation Register website including managing the registration of new legislation, preparing compilations of Commonwealth legislation and providing editorial services for OPC drafted legislation. OPC continues to work on projects to make historical legislation accessible on the Legislation Register.


OPC also has 20 corporate services staff covering areas such as finance, administration, and IT services.


Under section 3 of the Parliamentary Counsel Act 1970 (Cth)[1] the functions of OPC include:

Federal Register of Legislation[edit]

The Federal Register of Legislation is the Australian Government's official register of federal legislation, run by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel. It was created by the Legislation Act 2003 incorporating the functions and responsibilities of the now-defunct ComLaw and Federal Register of Legislative Instruments. The Register provides copies of all in force and superseded federal legislation, as well as legislative instruments, Regulations, Determinations, Notifiable Instruments and Administrative Arrangement Orders from 1901 onwards.[8] Most historical legislation may be made available by request. Unedited versions of legislation taken from the Federal Register of Legislation are able to be held as "authorised versions" of such legislation, and are admissible to court.[9]

List of First Parliamentary Counsel[edit]

2021 to present: Meredith Leigh


2004 to 2021: Peter Alan Quiggin PSM, QC


1993 to 2004: Hilary Penfold PSM, QC, Centenary Medal


1986 to 1993: Ian Maclean Lindsay Turnbull QC


1981 to 1986: Geoff Kolterman Kolts OBE, QC


1977 to 1981: Bronte Clucas Quayle CB, OBE, QC, Star of Pakistan


1972 to 1977: Charles Kennedy Comans CBE, OBE, QC


1949 to 1972: John Qualtrough Ewens CMG, CBE, OBE, QC


1946 to 1949: Martin Charles Boniwell CBE


1932 to 1946: Sir George Shaw Knowles CBE, OBE, MA, LLM


1901 to 1932: Sir Robert Randolph Garran GCMG, KCMG, CMG, KC

Attorney-General's Department

Official website

Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel

Federal Register of Legislation