FEATURE ARTICLE -
Issue 61 Articles, Issue 61: April 2013
Accessing printed copies of Queensland legislation
Commercial provider LitSupport Pty Ltd has been contracted by the Queensland Government Chief Procurement Officer (on behalf of the Government) to provide a print-on-demand service for all Queensland legislation and instruments. This significant change in the way printed copies of authorised Queensland legislation, Bills and information about legislation may be accessed follows the closure of GoPrint, SDS Publications and the Queensland Government eBookshop.
On the Queensland legislation website, the pages for Bills and explanatory notes, current legislation, Acts as passed and subordinate legislation as made now include an additional column, Purchase, containing a shopping basket icon. When clicked, the icon transfers the user to the LitSupport website to purchase a commercially printed copy of the selected document. ‘Printed by the government printer’ will appear on the back page of printed copies.
If the user clicks on an icon on the Bills or subordinate legislation as made page, the list of documents available to purchase from the LitSupport website includes any associated explanatory notes and regulatory impact statement. Users are then able to select which of the listed documents they wish to purchase.
While other pages, such as that for repealed legislation, do not include this icon, printed copies of documents from these pages can still be purchased from LitSupport. Further information about obtaining commercially printed copies of these documents is available by clicking on the Purchase menu tab at the top of each webpage.
Users can also click the Purchase menu tab to read general information about printing documents on the legislation website.
Any queries about the purchase of commercially printed copies of legislation should be directed to LitSupport as the commercial provider of this service via its website at www.litsupport.com.au , by email qld_gov@litsupport.com.au or by phone (07) 3223 9200 .
Authorisation of legislation
A significant change is also underway to enhance the accessibility of authorised Queensland legislation and support those members of the legal profession who increasingly rely on online resources in their work. All legislation on the Queensland legislation website, including reprints, will be progressively authorised by Queensland’s Parliamentary Counsel. All 2013 legislation and current reprints on the website are already authorised, with the Parliamentary Counsel progressively authorising pre-2013 legislation.
Under section 46A of the Evidence Act 1977 (Qld), legislation authorised by the Parliamentary Counsel is taken to be a correct copy of the legislation until the contrary is proved. This means that copies of authorised legislation downloaded or printed from the Queensland legislation website will have the same evidentiary value as hardcopies of legislation printed by the Government Printer.
To check if a particular document is authorised, simply go to its final page. Each authorised document on the website includes the statement, ‘Authorised by the Parliamentary Counsel’, under the copyright statement on that page. Unauthorised historical reprints will continue to carry the warning note, ‘WarningâThis reprint is not an authorised copy’, on the front cover.
Other changes to Queensland legislation and the Queensland legislation website
From early 2013, reprints of legislation are dated as at the date of their latest change rather than being numbered. The cover page, ‘Information about this reprint’ page (which follows the cover page) and the endnotes have been revised for these reprints. Links to current reprints can now be found on the Queensland legislation website under the renamed Current Legislation menu tab.
For Bills introduced to Parliament from 2013, the 3rd reading version of any Bills amended during the consideration in detail stage will be published on the Queensland legislation website. Both stages of the Bill can be found under the Bills menu tab at the top of each webpage . Incorporated amendments will be marked with a change bar, giving website users timely access to an updated version of a Bill as passed and a means of rapidly identifying any changes Parliament made before passing a Bill. Please note that Bills introduced before 2013 appear on the website with the accepted amendments only.
To make information on the Queensland legislation website more accessible to users requiring online reading support, the website now features BrowseAloud. BrowseAloud is a free service which can assist users with dyslexia, mild visual impairments or English as their second language by reading aloud the text of webpages and PDF documents in a human-sounding voice.
Further information and feedback
Further information about these and other changes to the Queensland legislation website is available from the Website news link on the website’s homepage. Users can also subscribe to the free email notification service via the Subscriber alerts link on the right of the homepage.
OQPC had the pleasure of recently hosting the Australian Law Librarians’ Association (Queensland Division) for a discussion of these changes (please see attached photos), and is available to discuss them with interested members of the legal profession and their staff. For more information, please contact Robyn Morrison, Principal Manager, Legislation Services, on (07) 3237 0091. We also welcome your feedback via the Feedback link on the right of the Queensland legislation website homepage.
