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Standards & Patents: Definitions

A guide to Australian and international standards and patents

What is a standard?

 "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 in the way it was intended." (Standards Australia).

Standards documents include:

  • Australian Standards

  • International Standards and Joint Standards

  • Codes

  • Specifications

  • Handbooks

  • Guidelines

Quick link to Australian Standards

Access from the Databases page (look under Standards Australia), or link directly to Australian Standards

  • Download or print current / draft Australian Standards & Handbooks free of charge
  • Downloaded standards will expire after 48 hours
  • Superseded standards are not always available
  • International Standards abstracts only can also be searched in this database

Measuring tape

We acknowledge the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of the nation and acknowledge Traditional Owners of the lands where our staff and students, live, learn and work.Acknowledgement of Country

Creative Commons Licence
Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International License. Content from this Guide should be attributed to James Cook University Library. This does not apply to images, third party material (seek permission from the original owner) or any logos or insignia belonging to JCU or other bodies, which remain All Rights Reserved.

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