Referred, Applied and Mirror Legislation as Primary Structures of National Uniform Legislation

Abstract

National uniform legislation links the federal distribution of powers achieved more than 117 years ago to the challenges and opportunities faced by Australia in an interconnected world. Over this span of time, varying and at times contradicting classifications of structures of this complex legislation have been offered. This article, firstly, examines a variety of existing classifications and, secondly, provides an analysis of national uniform legislation from the list prepared by the Parliamentary Counsel’s Committee comprising 84 sets of uniform Acts. The purpose of this examination is to provide a synthesis of an accurate classification for today. The findings indicate the predominance of three primary structures: referred, applied and mirror. The article proposes to use classification of national uniform legislation constrained to these three primary structures; this approach contributes by diminishing ambiguity and complexity surrounding the development and drafting national uniform legislation. The article offers a classification figure that accommodates variations between previous classifications and streamlines the current understanding. This figure can serve as a practical evaluation tool for policymakers, legislative drafters and legal practitioners when working through inherent ambiguity and complexity surrounding national uniform legislation.