A new format of legislation was introduced on 1 January
2000. Changes to legislative drafting style have also been made since
1997, and are ongoing. To the extent permitted by section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989, all legislation
reprinted after 1 January 2000 is in the new format for legislation
and reflects current drafting practice at the time of the reprint.
•omission
of unnecessary referential words (such as “of this
section”
and “of this Act”
)
-
•typeface and type size (Times Roman, generally in 11.5
point)
•layout of provisions, including:
-
•format of definitions (eg, the defined term now appears in bold type,
without quotation marks)
•format
of dates (eg, a date formerly expressed as “the
1st day of January 1999”
is now expressed as “1 January 1999”
)
-
•position of the date of assent (it now appears on the front page
of each Act)
•punctuation (eg, colons
are not used after definitions)
•Parts
numbered with roman numerals are replaced with arabic numerals,
and all cross-references are changed accordingly
•case and appearance of letters and words, including:
•format of headings (eg, headings where each word formerly appeared
with an initial capital letter followed by small capital letters are
amended so that the heading appears in bold, with only the first word
(and any proper nouns) appearing with an initial capital letter)
-
•small capital letters in section and subsection references
are now
capital letters
•schedules
are renumbered (eg, Schedule 1 replaces First Schedule),
and all cross-references are changed accordingly
•running heads (the information that appears at the top of each
page)
•format of two-column schedules of consequential
amendments, and schedules
of repeals (eg, they are rearranged into alphabetical order, rather
than chronological).