australian office of parliamentary counsel

What australian office of parliamentary counsel does

The Australian Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) is a Commonwealth statutory agency established under the Parliamentary Counsel Act 1970 and headquartered in Forrest, Canberra. It is the Commonwealth's principal provider of legislative drafting and publishing services, responsible for drafting Bills for introduction into the Parliament and a wide range of subordinate legislation (regulations, proclamations, and other legislative instruments) for more than 70 Australian Government agencies. OPC also maintains the Federal Register of Legislation — the authorised whole-of-government website for Commonwealth legislation, established under the Legislation Act 2003 — providing comprehensive free public access to Acts, legislative instruments, and notifiable instruments.

The agency operates with three statutory office holders (First Parliamentary Counsel and two Second Parliamentary Counsel) appointed by the Governor-General, and approximately 100 staff comprising around 50 drafters (all lawyers), around 40 publishing and editorial staff, and 15 corporate services staff. Its technology platform centres on the Federal Register of Legislation, which manages the full text, lifecycle details, and inter-document relationships of Commonwealth laws, supported by standardised drafting templates and an extensive resource library including the OPC Drafting Manual, Plain English Manual, and Amending Forms Manual.

OPC's revenue model is primarily parliamentary appropriations, with no charge to agencies for tied drafting work mandated under the Legal Services Directions (covering Government Bills, regulations, Ordinances, and Governor-General instruments). Fee-for-service charges apply to non-tied legislative work, and the Federal Register of Legislation system is funded through cost-recovery annual fees from departments and agencies, with additional fees for express or peak-period registration. The training portfolio — five named courses priced between A$500 and A$900 per attendee — operates on a pay-as-you-go basis and is offered both in-person and via Microsoft Teams.

Name

australian office of parliamentary counsel

Legal name

Office of Parliamentary Counsel

Website

https://opc.gov.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1970

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Australian Office of Parliamentary Counsel is a Commonwealth statutory agency established in 1970 that drafts and publishes all Commonwealth legislation and maintains the Federal Register of Legislation for more than 70 Australian Government agencies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Legislative Drafting Services

NAICS

Public Administration (92), Legislative Bodies (92112)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Executive Office / Cabinet Secretariat (BPAIAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Government, Public Policy & Regulatory Reference (Public Administration, Regulatory Guidance) (EDAGAGAK)

Keywords

• Legislative drafting services
• Government legislation publishing
• Commonwealth legislation training
• Federal Register of Legislation
• Subordinate legislation drafting

Headquarters

HQ city

Forrest

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Tied Drafting Services: Under the Legal Services Directions, certain drafting work is tied to OPC. Agencies must use OPC for Government Bills, regulations, Ordinances and regulations of external Territories and Jervis Bay Territory, and other legislative instruments made or approved by the Governor-General. There is generally no charge to agencies for this tied work.
2. Fee for Service Drafting: Agencies may also use OPC's specialist legislative drafting services for other legislative and notifiable instruments, as well as other instruments made under legislation. OPC undertakes this work on a fee for service basis.
3. Federal Register of Legislation System: OPC recovers the costs of the Federal Register of Legislation system from departments and agencies on a cost recovery basis. An annual fee system is in place covering all standard registration, gazettal and tabling services. Additional fees apply for express or peak period registration.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Australian Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) is the Commonwealth's principal provider of legislative drafting and publishing services. OPC drafts Commonwealth Bills for introduction into Parliament and a wide range of subordinate legislation (regulations, ordinances, proclamations, legislative and notifiable instruments) for government agencies. OPC also prepares compilations of laws and maintains the Federal Register of Legislation, and offers training courses in legislative processes and drafting.

Product overview

The Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) provides a unified suite of legislative drafting and publishing services for the Commonwealth of Australia. The core offering consists of three interconnected service pillars: Drafting Services (drafting Bills and subordinate legislation), Publishing Services (compilations and Federal Register of Legislation maintenance), and Training Services. OPC maintains the Federal Register of Legislation as the authoritative source for Commonwealth laws. The training portfolio includes five named courses (Legislation Process Course, Legislative Design Course, Instruments Drafting Course 1 and 2, and Preparing Compilations for Lodgement Course) offered both in-person and virtually via Microsoft Teams. Supporting these services is an extensive resource library comprising drafting manuals, drafting directions, instrument resources, client guidance notes, and templates.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Drafting Services
• Publishing Services
• Training Services
• Federal Register of Legislation
• Legislation Process Course
• Legislative Design Course
• Instruments Drafting Course 1
• Instruments Drafting Course 2
• Preparing Compilations for Lodgement Course
• Client Advisers Service

Named customers19 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Department of the Prime Minister and CabinetcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOPC provides executive council handbook and refers agencies to Cabinet Handbook for procedures related to legislative instruments. The department oversees the Federal Executive Council process for ExCo instruments.
• Attorney-General's DepartmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOPC collaborates with the Attorney-General's Department on managing the sunsetting of legislative instruments under the Legislation Act 2003. The department provides guidance on managing sunsetting processes.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• New Zealand Parliamentary Counsel Office: New Zealand's statutory office responsible for drafting Government Bills, drafting and publishing subordinate legislation, and maintaining the New Zealand Legislation website. Directly comparable in mandate, structure (statutory office within the public service), and Westminster-system legislative context.
• Irish Office of the Parliamentary Counsel: Ireland's statutory drafting office for Government Bills and statutory instruments. Direct functional analogue to OPC, performing primary legislative drafting in a common-law Westminster system.
• UK Office of the Parliamentary Counsel: UK's central government legislative drafting office, established in 1869, performing essentially the same role for the UK Government as OPC does for the Australian Commonwealth: drafting Bills and statutory instruments, advising on legislative design, and maintaining publishing standards. Closest direct functional peer in a Westminster-system jurisdiction.
• US Office of the Legislative Counsel: US House of Representatives office that drafts legislation and amendments, providing direct legislative drafting services for members of Congress. Comparable in core function despite operating in a bicameral presidential system rather than a Westminster one.
• Victorian Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel: State-level statutory drafting and publishing office for Victoria, Australia. Performs the same drafting, publishing, and training role as OPC but for Victorian state legislation. Strong domestic functional peer within the same Australian legal system.
• NSW Parliamentary Counsel's Office: New South Wales' central legislative drafting office, responsible for drafting Bills, regulations, and maintaining the NSW legislation website. Direct Australian state-level functional peer with a comparable mandate and publishing infrastructure.
• Canadian Office of the Parliamentary Counsel (Department of Justice): Canada's central drafting service within the Department of Justice, responsible for drafting federal Acts and regulations in both official languages. Same core function as OPC, operating in another bilingual Westminster-style jurisdiction with comparable publishing responsibilities.

Others

• AustLII (Australasian Legal Information Institute): Non-profit open-access legal information provider that hosts Commonwealth, state, and territory legislation online. Referenced by OPC as an alternative access point for legislation when the Federal Register is unavailable; adjacent ecosystem participant rather than a competitor.

Regional players

• Hong Kong Department of Justice (Drafting Division): Drafting and advisory arm within the Hong Kong DOJ that drafts government Bills and subsidiary legislation in bilingual (English/Chinese) format. Functionally comparable to OPC in mandate, with additional bilingual drafting requirements.
• Singapore Attorney-General's Chambers (Legislation Division): Singapore's central legislative drafting office within the AGC, drafting Bills and subsidiary legislation for the Singapore Government. Comparable drafting function operating in another common-law Westminster-derived system.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/australian-office-of-parliamentary-counsel

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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