Guide to Australian manufacturing standards, accounting standards, food code, building code and design rules
This research guide explains what constitutes a standard, and identifies and differentiates between a range of standards and other documentation produced by Standards Australia and other agencies locally and internationally.
It also identifies what is held in State Library Victoria's collection about standards and how to access material through the Library’s catalogue and electronic resources. To request items from the collection held in storage, sign up as a member. If you are a Victorian resident, you can also access many of our subscribed online resources with your membership. Further information and access points are provided to other agencies and gateways where applicable.
A standard is a published document which sets out specifications and procedures designed to ensure that a material, product, method or service is fit for its purpose and consistently performs the way it is intended to.
A standard is a means of establishing a common language for manufacturers and producers in defining quality and safety criteria and which can be communicated to users or consumers. Products made or manufactured to an identified or acknowledged standard help to define/determine the acceptability of a product for its designed use.
Standards ensure products manufactured in one country can be sold and used in another, they reduce international trade barriers and increase the size of potential markets.
Standards impact on all aspects of our everyday lives and ensure consistency in quality and performance of the goods and services used by consumers, such as safety switches, seat belts, bathroom fittings, traffic lights, and electrical installations
Standards can be a range of different types of guidance documents, including:
What are the differences between a regulation, code of practice or a standard?
An Australian standard is a national consensus standard which, in itself, is voluntary, but may be adopted into law via a regulation.
A regulation is an instrument which contains the mandatory obligations under the law. Failure to comply with the letter of a regulation constitutes an offence. In some instances, some Australian standards are given the status of a regulation.
A code of practice is a non-mandatory evidentiary document. In other words, compliance with a code of practice is only one way of showing that you are meeting your obligations under a particular regulation.
