There are six main stages in the development of an Australian Standard:

• Project Proposal
• Project Kick-Off
• Drafting
• Public Comment
• Ballot
• Publication

Any proposal to develop, revise or amend an Australian Standard® comes from the Australian community. The proposal is required to go through Standards Australia's project prioritisation and selection process.

For further information on the proposal process, please refer to Submitting a Proposal.

Once a proposal has been approved, it is assigned to a technical committee. Standards Australia reviews the constitution of all technical committees before commencing any new project work.

Standards Australia then holds a kick-off meeting with the technical committee to introduce the project. The committee discusses the approved project scope (and what is out of scope), drafting tasks, timeframes, and means of monitoring project progress.

In this stage working groups provide the technical content to write the standard. These working groups report to the technical committee on the scope and timeliness of the work.
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• Simplified Drafting Template
• Simplified Drafting Template FAQs

The opportunity to comment on a draft standard allows the community to review the content and direction of the document prior to its completion. Drafts are available to the public for comment for nine weeks.

All comments from the public are considered in detail by the technical committee and, if necessary, further drafting is undertaken.

View the current list of drafts available for public comment (via comment.standards.org.au )

In some cases, the committee may propose to combine public comment and approval (ballot) of the standard. This depends on the extent and complexity of the proposals, and  the level of consultation and review needed.

Download the Public Comment Portal Help Guide

Prior to publication, the committee votes on the final draft. Committee members may vote affirmatively (with or without comment) or negatively. To be considered, negative votes must be accompanied by technical substantiation.

For the standard to be published, consensus must be reached in accordance with our standardisation guides.

The standard is ready for publication once final approval is given by, or on behalf of, the Standards Development and Accreditation Committee (SDAC).