Parliamentary Counsel's Office (NSW drafting agency)

Legislation in the In Force collection is generally drafted by the NSW Parliamentary Counsel's Office (PCO), which also maintains this website. Specifically, the following are drafted by PCO:

• Bills/Acts of Parliament.
• Statutory rules within the meaning of the Interpretation Act 1987, that is, regulations, rules and by-laws that are made by the Governor or that are required to be confirmed or approved by the Governor, and court rules.
• Proclamations commencing Acts.
• Environmental Planning Instruments under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, including standard instrument orders under that Act, section 3.20.
• Other instruments that directly amend any of the above
• Some other instruments that are of a legislative nature that are included in the In Force collection. These instruments are usually orders but may also be proclamations, determinations, notices, codes etc.

However, some other instruments of a legislative nature in the In Force collection (for example, some orders, directions, notices or guidelines) may be prepared by other agencies. These instruments can be identified by information under the heading “Drafting agency” on the Status information page of the In Force version.

The identification of an agency as preparing an instrument applies to the original instrument and not to any amendments. The names of agencies are historical information and are not updated if the agency is renamed or changed.

More information about the role of PCO, working with the office and drafting practice documents is available on our corporate website.