# Australian Federal Legislation Search (`resourceful_playbook/au-legislation-search`) Actor

Search the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au): Acts, legislative instruments, notifiable instruments and bills. Get title, ID, status (in force / repealed), making date, year, number, name history and a direct link. Filter by keyword, collection and in-force status.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/resourceful_playbook/au-legislation-search.md
- **Developed by:** [AU Data Tools](https://apify.com/resourceful_playbook) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Developer tools, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Australian Federal Legislation Search

Search the Federal Register of Legislation — every Commonwealth Act, legislative instrument and notifiable instrument — and get structured records with status, dates, name history and a direct link.

### What you get

```json
{
  "id": "C2004A03712",
  "name": "Privacy Act 1988",
  "url": "https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A03712",
  "collection": "Act",
  "status": "InForce", "isInForce": true, "isPrincipal": true,
  "makingDate": "1988-12-14T00:00:00",
  "statusHistory": [{ "status": "InForce", "start": "1988-12-14T00:00:00" }]
}
```

### Use cases

- Compliance and legal research: find every instrument touching a topic, with in-force status
- Monitor for new legislation (schedule with `madeAfter` = yesterday)
- Feed an AI legal-research agent with authoritative titles and links
- Build a dataset of repealed vs in-force instruments for analysis

### Input

| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| `query` | Words that must appear in the title |
| `collection` | Acts, legislative instruments, etc. |
| `inForceOnly` | Default on |
| `principalOnly` | Exclude amending instruments |
| `madeAfter` | ISO date floor |
| `sort` | Newest, oldest, or A-Z |
| `maxResults` | Up to 10,000 |

### Pricing

Pay only for what you use: **US$0.005 per run + US$0.001 per result** (about US$1 per 1,000 results). The free Apify plan's monthly credits cover thousands of results, so you can try it at no cost.

### Feedback

Found a bug or want a field added? Open an issue on the **Issues** tab and it will be looked at quickly.

### Notes

Uses the public Federal Register of Legislation API. Content is © Commonwealth of Australia, generally available under CC BY 4.0. Not affiliated with the Office of Parliamentary Counsel.

# Actor input Schema

## `query` (type: `string`):

Keyword(s) that must appear in the title name, e.g. 'Privacy', 'Migration', 'Cyber Security'.

## `collection` (type: `string`):

Restrict to one collection.

## `inForceOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Only titles currently in force.

## `principalOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Exclude amending instruments.

## `madeAfter` (type: `string`):

ISO date YYYY-MM-DD. Only titles registered on or after this date.

## `sort` (type: `string`):

Result order.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many titles.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "query": "Privacy",
  "collection": "",
  "inForceOnly": true,
  "principalOnly": false,
  "sort": "registered desc",
  "maxResults": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "query": "Privacy"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("resourceful_playbook/au-legislation-search").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "query": "Privacy" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("resourceful_playbook/au-legislation-search").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "query": "Privacy"
}' |
apify call resourceful_playbook/au-legislation-search --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,resourceful_playbook/au-legislation-search"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/5PQzh6vJrC3ENFtLa/builds/5Xe1aW0yeBqDQXCsJ/openapi.json