| --- |
| license: cc-by-4.0 |
| language: |
| - en |
| tags: |
| - law |
| - legislation |
| - australia |
| - akn |
| - xml |
| - akoma-ntoso |
| pretty_name: lex-au — Commonwealth Acts as AKN 3.0 XML |
| --- |
| |
| # lex-au |
|
|
| **Commonwealth Acts as Akoma Ntoso 3.0 XML** — open civic infrastructure for Australian legislative data. |
|
|
| Australia's [legislation.gov.au](https://legislation.gov.au) provides DOCX and PDF downloads but no structured XML, no section-level addressing, and no AKN. This dataset fills that gap for Commonwealth Acts in force. |
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| **Version: v0.5.2** — 12 Acts, published 2026-07-01. Source code and CLI at [github.com/cchew/lex-au](https://github.com/cchew/lex-au). |
|
|
| ## Versions |
|
|
| - **v0.5.2** — 2026-07-01: Added Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 (12 Acts). |
| - **v0.5.0** — 2026-06-27: Navigator prerequisites — `<blockList>`/`<item>`, `<date>`, subsidiary legislation support, amendment history (`<lifecycle>`, `<temporalData>`, `<passiveModifications>`), `<quotedStructure>`, `<figure>`/`<img>`, `<rref>` range references. 225 tests. AKN compliance ~91-100% of applicable elements. |
| - **v0.4.0** — 2026-06-26: AKN semantic layer — `<term>`/`<def>`/`<TLCTerm>`, FRBR completeness (country/subtype/number/name/prescriptive/authoritative), `<longTitle>`, `<classification>/<keyword>`, `<preamble>`/`<formula>`, `<quantity>` (penalty units/imprisonment/deadlines), `<role>`/`<TLCRole>`, `<authorialNote>` eIds, `<noteRef>`. 11 Acts. AKN compliance ~68-72%. |
| - **v0.3.0** — 2026-06-23: Schedule clause hierarchy, DOCX tables, notes/examples/penalties, 4th nesting level `(A)(B)(C)`, extended `<ref>` patterns. 11 Acts. |
| - **v0.2.0** — 2026-06-22: Intra-section hierarchy, `<ref>` cross-references, `<preface>`/TOC, schedules, multi-volume Acts, ISO FRBRdate. 11 Acts. |
| - **v0.1.0** — 2026-06-19: Structural skeleton (part/division/section, basic FRBR). 8 Acts. |
|
|
| ## What's in this dataset |
|
|
| Each Act is a single AKN 3.0 XML file with: |
|
|
| - FRBR URIs (`/akn/au/act/{year}/{slug}/aus/{comp_id}`) |
| - Structural hierarchy: parts, divisions, subdivisions, sections |
| - Intra-section hierarchy: `<subsection>`, `<paragraph>`, `<subparagraph>` with nested eIds (e.g. `sec-6__subsec-1__para-a`) |
| - `<ref>` elements for same-Act section/subsection references and cross-Act FRBR URIs |
| - `<preface>` with `<toc>`/`<tocItem>` and compilation notices |
| - Schedules as `<attachments><attachment><hcontainer name="schedule">` |
| - `<term refersTo="#term-X">` and `<def>` in definition sections; `<TLCTerm>` registry in `<references>` |
| - `<quantity refersTo="#penaltyUnit|#custodialSentence|#deadline">` for penalty units, imprisonment terms, and statutory deadlines |
| - `<role refersTo="#commissioner|#minister|...">` for known Commonwealth officeholders; `<TLCRole>` registry |
| - FRBR completeness: `FRBRcountry`, `FRBRsubtype`, `FRBRnumber`, `FRBRname`, `FRBRprescriptive`, `FRBRauthoritative` |
| - `<date>` elements for statutory dates and time expressions |
| - `<blockList>`/`<item>` for unnumbered list structures |
| - `<lifecycle>`, `<temporalData>`, `<passiveModifications>` populated from Endnote 3-4 amendment history |
| - `<quotedStructure>` for single-provision amendment inserts; `<figure>`/`<img>` for embedded images; `<rref>` for section range references |
| - Corpus index at `index.json`; parse report per Act in `reports/` |
|
|
| ## Current corpus (v0.5.2) |
|
|
| | Act | Year | Compilation | |
| |---|---|---| |
| | Acts Interpretation Act | 1901 | C2026C00117 | |
| | National Health Act | 1953 | C2026C00164 | |
| | Freedom of Information Act | 1982 | C2026C00020 | |
| | Privacy Act | 1988 | C2026C00227 | |
| | Therapeutic Goods Act | 1989 | C2025C00525 | |
| | Social Security Act | 1991 | C2026C00160 | |
| | Criminal Code Act | 1995 | C2026C00098 | |
| | Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act | 1993 | C2026C00212 | |
| | Income Tax Assessment Act | 1997 | C2026C00218 | |
| | Corporations Act | 2001 | C2026C00058 | |
| | Fair Work Act | 2009 | C2026C00141 | |
| | National Disability Insurance Scheme Act | 2013 | C2026C00181 | |
|
|
| ## Known limits |
|
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| - `<ref>` cross-references are pattern-matched; nested or unusual citation forms may be missed. |
| - Role dictionary is global, not Act-specific; "the Minister" refers to different ministers in different Acts. |
| - `<noteRef>` injection handles `[note N]` bracket markers only; superscript and `(note N)` patterns are not handled. |
|
|
| ## Licence |
|
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| CC BY 4.0. Source legislation is Crown copyright — Commonwealth of Australia; reproduction permitted for non-commercial and research purposes under the [PSI Framework](https://www.legislation.gov.au/Help/Copyright). |
|
|
| ## Related |
|
|
| - [github.com/cchew/lex-au](https://github.com/cchew/lex-au) — source code and CLI |
| - [Open Australian Legal Corpus](https://huggingface.co/datasets/umarbutler/open-australian-legal-corpus) — complementary plain-text corpus |
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|
