Australian legislation research guide

This guide will help you find information about Commonwealth and State/Territory law, both at the National Library and online.

It will help you:

  • Understand the Australian legal system
  • Find an Act of Parliament (legislation)
  • Find bills (draft legislation)
  • Find explanatory memoranda (plain language summaries of bills or regulations)
  • Find subordinate legislation, including regulations, by-laws, and local government laws

See the individual sections of this guide for more detailed information on each topic, including links to key resources.

To find information about law reports and court records, see our Law reports and court records research guide.

Selected resources

Some general legal resources listed below may help get you started with your research.

Available in the Library

  • Laying Down the Law / Chatswood, New South Wales : LexisNexis, 2021 – an online publication available from within the National Library building only.
  • Nemes and Coss’ effective legal research / by Bruce Bott and Ruth Tabolt-Stokes. Chatswood, NSW : LexisNexis, 2021 – an online publication available from within the National Library building only.
  • A practical guide to legal research / by Jay Sanderson, Drossos Stamboulakis, Kim Kelly. Sydney, NSW : Thomson Reuters (Professional) Australia Ltd, 2021
  • Australian current law: legislation. Sydney: Butterworths, 1972+ – lists new legislation under broad subject headings.
  • The Laws of Australia (Online). Sydney: Thomson Legal & Regulatory – available online via Westlaw AU. This work gives detailed access to laws and relevant law cases. Westlaw AU is an online database available from within the National Library building only.

Available online anywhere

  • The Australian Capital Territory Law Handbook – freely available online via AustLII. Similar law handbooks exist for all states and territories and are freely available online e.g. The law handbook: your practical guide to the law in NSW. Law handbooks are generally divided into chapters, each covering a topic (such as Children, Immigration, Health, etc.) and refer to relevant sections of Acts and regulation.
  • AustLII – a free database of Australasian primary legal materials (legislation, treaties and decisions of courts and tribunals) and secondary legal materials such as law reform reports and law journals.
  • Lawlex – a website including a free keyword search function with links to the official legislation websites.
  • Legify – a website which takes you directly to an authoritative version of Australian legislation (Commonwealth, states and territories).
Photo of Old Parliament House, Canberra, with pink blossoms on surrounding trees

William James Mildenhall, Parliament House, Canberra, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-141452790

William James Mildenhall, Parliament House, Canberra, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-141452790

Key resource

GovPubs : the Australian Government Publications Guide is a key resource for locating selected types of Australian government publications, including legislation. These include:

  • Acts, ordinances and statutes
  • Bills
  • Budget papers
  • Explanatory memoranda
  • Gazettes
  • Government directories
  • Notice papers
  • Parliamentary debates (Hansard)
  • Parliamentary handbooks
  • Parliamentary papers
  • Standing orders
  • Subordinate legislation/regulations
  • Votes and proceedings/journals

GovPubs is no longer actively maintained. However, it contains a wealth of information including historical definitions for each type of publication. You can also use GovPubs to track changes to series titles for legislation and locate resources in the Library or online. To begin your search in GovPubs, go to the menu on the homepage and select 'browse by publication'.

Disclaimer

Staff at the National Library of Australia are not able to provide legal advice.

Every effort is made to provide accurate and relevant information, but this does not constitute qualified legal advice.

In this guide

Books on Australian legislation

Books on legal research. Image: National Library of Australia

The legal system

Legislation, also known as statutes or Acts of Parliament, is the written law made by Parliament. In any year the Parliament may vote on new Acts of Parliament to create new laws or vote to change, or amend, older Acts of Parliament. 

Research guide
Black and white photo of a white building surrounded by trees and roads

R. C. Strangman, Canberra buildings, West Block, 1930s, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140358666

Commonwealth legislation

The Federal Register of Legislation (the Legislation Register) is the authorised whole-of-government website for Commonwealth legislation and related documents.

Research guide
Canberra coat of arms

William James Mildenhall, Canberra Coat of Arms, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-141452193

Australian Capital Territory (ACT) legislation

From 1911 until self-government in May 1989, the laws of the Australian Capital Territory were made by Acts of the federal Parliament or by ordinances made by the Governor-General. From 1974 to 1986 these ordinances were passed after consultation with the House of Assembly and Legislative Assembly.

Research guide
black and white photo of old buildings with old cars in the street out the front

Fairfax Corporation, New South Wales State Parliament House with automobiles parked outside, Sydney, ca. 1930, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-162790401

Other states and territories legislation

The printed collections at the National Library contain substantial collections of older legislation in print, though these may not be complete sets. 

Research guide
Black tile
Bills and explanatory memoranda

A bill is a proposal for a law or a change to an existing law. A Commonwealth bill can be introduced into either house of Parliament, unless it is a money bill which must be introduced in the lower house.

Research guide
Blue tile
Subordinate legislation

Regulations are the most common form of subordinate legislation. These are the guidelines that dictate how the provisions of a specific Act are applied.

Research guide
Page published: 04 Jul 2022

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