Before ParliamentDemocracy & Government Introduced in the House of Representatives, 25 Jun 2026

Clean-up would fix 41 laws and delete 106 old ones

This is a clean-up of the federal law books. It fixes typos, wrong pointers to other laws and dead rules. It also removes old Acts that have done their job.

Official name: Statute Update Bill 2026

Who it affects

• Most Australians: Nothing changes in daily life. The laws just become easier to read and use.
• People asking a government agency to fix their personal records: You could send your request by email or other ways the law already allows, as well as by post.
• Veterans: Old rules about past pension rises are removed. The government says no current rate or payment changes.
• Lawyers, courts and public servants: Wrong pointers and dead rules are cleaned out, so the law is clearer to use.

Federal laws collect old errors

Australia has thousands of federal laws. Over time they collect errors. A law might point to a section that was deleted years ago. A rule might have run out but still sit on the books.

Every so often the government passes a bill to tidy this up. This one was brought in by the Attorney-General, Michelle Rowland. She is the minister for the law. Government departments sent in the problems they had found. The Attorney-General's Department, the federal department for law, pulled them together.

The bill has two parts. Part 1 fixes 41 Acts. Part 2 deletes 106 Acts. The government wrote notes to explain the bill. They say the changes make either no difference to what the law means, or only a small one.

Errors fixed across government

Part 1 is sorted by government department. Most fixes are tiny. Some laws pointed to the wrong section number. Some had a colon where a full stop should be. One law had two parts both numbered (2).

The main election law, from 1918, gets many small fixes. Times like "o'clock in the afternoon" become "pm". Some mentions of a "registered party" become "registered political party". That is the term the law explains. The word "equalize" in the Water Act is changed to the Australian spelling.

Changes you might notice

A few fixes touch real processes. Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, you can ask an agency to fix personal details it holds about you.

Right now the wording says to post your request or hand it in at an office. The office address is worked out under a rule that was deleted in 2010. The bill lets you send it in any of the ways the Act already allows for other requests. That includes email.

A family court mix-up is fixed too. In 2021 the Federal Circuit Court was merged into the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. That is a national court for family cases and smaller federal cases. Some laws still used the old name. The bill updates them.

Several laws mention a Western Australian health law that was scrapped in 2024. These include laws on Medicare, My Health Records, drugs in sport and online gambling. My Health Records is the national online record of your health. The bill updates them. They will point to Western Australia's new law for signing up doctors and psychologists.

Under the law on safety at sea, the bill makes one point clear. An inspector can only give an order when two conditions are both met.

It also tidies how the media and phone watchdog approves radio operator exams.

Expired rules removed

Some rules had an end date and have already run out. The bill deletes them. One let a minister approve dealing in old plastic explosives that were not marked for tracing. It stopped working on 25 August 2022.

Another was a special part of the law on rating films and other material. It dealt with banned material in First Nations communities in the Northern Territory. First Nations means Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It ended on 17 July 2022. The bill removes it from the Act.

There was a one-off payment for workers with intellectual disability. It was for people who worked in Australian Disability Enterprises. These are businesses that give jobs to people with disability. The scheme ended on 31 December 2018. The bill removes the rules about those payments from the tax, welfare and veterans laws. It also deletes the scheme's own Act.

Old discounts on import tax are removed too. One was for second-hand cars and applied before 2018.

Old rules for veterans

The veterans' laws had old rules about pension rises from 1 July 2000. They also had rules about rises linked to prices from 2013. Those rules did their job years ago.

The bill deletes them. The government's notes say this does not change any current pension or payment rate. They say it does not change how payments rise with prices. It does not undo any past payment.

106 old Acts deleted

Many Acts exist only to change other Acts. Once those changes are made, the Act that made them has nothing left to do.

Part 2 deletes 106 Acts like this. They range from farm chemical and pest laws to wine and wool laws.

The bill says deleting them does not undo anything done under them. Any rights or debts people already had stay in place. Any rules that still matter keep working. That includes rules for moving from old laws to new ones.

Waiting in the House

Most changes would start 28 days after the bill becomes law. One change from the Treasury, the main money department, starts later. It starts on the next 1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 October after that.

A bill becomes law when the Governor-General signs it. The Governor-General is the King's representative in Australia.

The House of Representatives passed the bill on 2 July 2026. That is the house of Parliament where the government sits. The Senate passed it on 10 September 2026. But the Senate added four changes put forward by the Liberal and National parties. The House was told about these on 14 September 2026. The House now has to agree to the Senate's changes before the bill can become law.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum

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