LegislationOn this page you will find some basic information on searching for legislation. For more information, please contact Heidi Savilla, the Liaison Librarian for Law and Legal Studies. Types of legislation Bills are the draft form of Acts that are introduced into parliament and debated on. Bills are usually accompanied by an explanatory memorandum which outlines the purpose of the bill and is useful in interpreting legislation. Sessional Acts are the historical or original version of an Act as it was passed in a particular ‘session’ of parliament. Consolidated Acts are the most recent version of an Act. It takes the sessional version and incorporates any amendments that have been made over time. Delegated or Subordinate Legislation is made by persons or bodies to whom parliament has delegated power to make law. This is done by an enabling Act which specifies the nature of laws which can be made. Delegated legislation includes regulations, court rules, by-laws, ordinances, instruments or determinations. How to find legislationIn the Library The Law Library has many Bills, Acts and Delegated legislation in print. These are located in the northern (newer) wing of the Law Library – turn left from the corridor. The legislation is ordered by… Jurisdiction - with Commonwealth legislation first followed by the States and Territories and then other countries Type of legislation - with the bills first, followed by Acts and delegated legislation
To find legislation, simply head to the correct jurisdiction and find the section for the type of material you are after Bills | Look at the House in which the Bill was first introduced - usually the lower House Look for the relevant year Look for the title of the Bill - listed alphabetically
| Sessional Acts | If you know the year and number of the Act... If you don't know the number of the Act, look at the front of the volume for the relevant year - this will have an alphabetical index where you can look for the title of the Act. | | Consolidated Acts | These are ordered alphabetically – just grab the volume that covers the title of the Act you are interested in | | Delegated legislation | These are ordered similarly to Consolidated Acts |
OnlineLinks to legislation online are given on the Law Library’s Legislation and legislative materials ONLINE webpage. To find the legislation you are after, simply… - Click on the relevant jurisdiction - Commonwealth, South Australia, etc
- Look for the type of legislation you are interested in - consolidated Act, bill, etc
- Click on one of the source links provided - this will usually take you to an alphabetical list where you can easily browse for the legislation you are after
How to search for legislation on a subjectThere are a number of resources you can use to find legislation on a particular topic... AustLII | AustLII is a free website which allows you to search for Australian legislation by keywords. To search for legislation... | Government and parliament websites | Each Australian jurisdiction has a legislation website that can be easily searched by keywords. You can find links to these websites from the Law Library’s Legislation and legislative materials ONLINE webpage. | LawLex | LawLex is another great website which allows you to search for legislation from throughout Australia by subject. You can either: | Subject indexes | Some jurisdictions also provide a subject index to their legislation. Links to these indexes can be found from the Law Library’s Legislation and legislative materials ONLINE webpage. The Wicks subject index to Commonwealth legislation is only available in print behind the Law Information Desk. | Textbooks | Textbooks are a great resource to find references to legislation. Use the Library catalogue to find books on the area of law you are interested in. | | Legal encyclopaedias | Legal encyclopaedias are another great source which provide references to legislation. See here for information on using legal encyclopaedias. |
How to find cases about an Act If you would like to find cases that refer to or discuss a particular Act, try using one of these resources... CaseBase | Click on the red Cases tab at the top of the screen Type the name of the Act into the References to Legislation search box (towards the bottom of the screen) If you want cases on a particular section, add w/p and then the section
| AustLII | Find the Act you are interested in (see above) Click on the Noteup link - this will provide links to cases that refer to that Act If you want cases on a particular section, link through to that section and then click on Noteup
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Need more help? Not sure how to plan your research? Click here for some handy ideas... Not sure how to use particular databases? Click here for some brief 'how to' guides... Want some specific advice? Contact Heidi, the Law and Legal Studies Liaison Librarian, on 8201 2577 or email heidi.savilla@flinders.edu.au | 