Your first query

Find the Privacy Act 1988, read its section 13K, and check what Advisor reports about its status. The responses below are real, captured on 10 October 2026.

Before you begin

• A connected client (Connect a client). The examples use the Python SDK; any client works.

1. Find the title

Call resolve_reference with the name as you would write it.

{"name": "resolve_reference", "arguments": {"text": "privacy act"}}

The first candidate is the Privacy Act 1988, with its id and an in_force block. Advisor reports the title as in force, confirmed with the Federal Register on 9 October 2026:

{
  "id": "eae28dff-3ff5-48eb-af3f-38686e6f650e",
  "title": "Privacy Act 1988",
  "confidence": 0.7058823704719543,
  "in_force": { "in_force": true, "frl_status": "InForce", "confirmed_with_frl_at": "2026-10-09T16:37:46.550767Z" }
}

2. Read a provision

Call get_provision_text with the title and the section number. legislation_id accepts the id above, the title id C2004A03712, or a compilation id.

{"name": "get_provision_text", "arguments": {"legislation_id": "C2004A03712", "section_number": "13K"}}

The response carries the provision's text, its pinpoint (s 13K), and a link to its permanent address, /l/C2004A03712/compilation_104/main/sec_13k.

3. Check its status

Read the status block in the same response. Advisor reports the title as in force, and the text as coming from compilation 104 (C2026C00227), which the Federal Register listed as current on the check date:

"status": {
  "in_force": true,
  "frl_status": "InForce",
  "confirmed_with_frl_at": "2026-10-09T16:37:46.550767Z",
  "frl_link": "https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2026C00227",
  "compilation": { "register_id": "C2026C00227", "compilation_no": 104, "check_date": "2026-10-09T16:47:33.513124Z", "state": "current" }
}

The anchor block says how the text was checked: "label": "Verified", compared character for character against the authorised PDF.

Data currency: Advisor serves the text of titles that the Federal Register of Legislation records as in force. It does not return the text of a repealed, ceased or sunset title, for any date.

• A title or a served provision carries a status block (status, or in_force in a list) with in_force, frl_status and confirmed_with_frl_at: when Advisor last confirmed the status with the Federal Register.
• Served text and search hits carry a compilation block with register_id, compilation_no, check_date and state. state is one of four values:
  • current: the Federal Register's latest list names the compilation the text comes from.
  • not_current: the Federal Register lists a newer compilation. Tell the user, and use the frl_link in the response.
  • pending_compilation: amendments have commenced that are not yet compiled, so the text does not include them.
  • not_confirmed: the Federal Register lists no current compilation, or Advisor holds no record of one. Treat it as unknown.
• TITLE_NOT_IN_FORCE and COMPILATION_NOT_CURRENT are answers, not failures. Show the user the Federal Register link in the response and do not fill the gap from another source.

Check it worked

You have a provision's text, the compilation it comes from, and the date the Federal Register last confirmed it. Quote all three when you show the text to a user.

What to do if it did not

Next steps

• Errors and status codes
• get_provision_text
• Data currency and status