Legislation Act 2003

To encourage high standards in the drafting of legislative instruments and notifiable instruments, the First Parliamentary Counsel must cause steps to be taken to promote the legal effectiveness, clarity, and intelligibility to anticipated users, of legislative instruments and notifiable instruments.

The steps referred to in subsection (1) may include, but are not limited to:

undertaking or supervising the drafting of legislative instruments and notifiable instruments; and

scrutinising preliminary drafts of legislative instruments and notifiable instruments; and

providing advice concerning the drafting of legislative instruments and notifiable instruments; and

providing training in drafting and matters related to drafting to officers and employees of Departments or other agencies; and

arranging the temporary secondment to Departments or other agencies of APS employees performing duties in the Office of Parliamentary Counsel; and

providing drafting precedents to officers and employees of Departments or other agencies.

The First Parliamentary Counsel must also cause steps to be taken:

to prevent the use of gender‑specific language in legislative instruments and notifiable instruments in circumstances where it is not necessary to identify persons by their sex; and

to advise rule‑makers for registered legislative instruments or notifiable instruments if those instruments use gender‑specific language in those circumstances; and

to notify both Houses of the Parliament about any occasion when a rule‑maker is advised under paragraph (b).