Legal deposit applies to all Australian publications that have been made available to the public in a print or electronic format, whether for sale or for free.

This includes:

• Print books and eBooks
• Graphic novels, comic books, and zines
• Newspapers, magazines, journals, and newsletters
• Annual reports, corporate plans, and other reports
• Government publications
• Maps
• Sheet music
• Websites

The following types of works are not required under legal deposit:

• Works that have not been made available to the public
• Works published overseas that have no Australian content or connection to Australia

Some types of publications are only collected selectively and not usually required under legal deposit. These include:

• Blank forms and labels
• Calendars and diaries
• Tarot cards and oracle cards
• Activity-based materials such as colouring books, puzzle books, and games that do not have significant text
• Training and procedure manuals, course workbooks and theses, press releases and trade advertising

Please contact us for advice if you are not sure whether your publication is required under legal deposit

Yes.

If a work was created and self-published (made available to the public by the creator) in Australia, then legal deposit applies, even if the self-publisher used a platform or service that is based outside of Australia (e.g. Amazon, Smashwords, Ingram Spark).

In Australia, legal deposit is the responsibility of the publisher. In the case of self-published works, the individual who self-published the work is the publisher and is therefore responsible for depositing a copy to the National Library of Australia.

If you are based in Australia and self-published your work using a platform or service that is based outside of Australia (e.g. Amazon, Smashwords, Ingram Spark), then your publication is required under legal deposit because you (the publisher of the work) are based in Australia.

Works published solely by organisations or individuals based entirely outside Australia do not need to be provided to the National Library of Australia under legal deposit.

However, if you are an Australian author publishing overseas or your work has significant Australian content, you may wish to offer to donate a copy to the Library. Visit the Offer us collection material page to make a donation offer.

Yes. 

All publications produced by Australian Government departments and agencies are subject to the legal deposit provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Since 2016, this Act has applied to both electronic and print publications.

Please refer to our Legal deposit for government publishers page for further information. You may also wish to watch the recording of our Legal deposit webinar for government publishers to learn more.
 

Australian publishers are required to deposit only one copy of their publications to meet their national legal deposit obligations. Duplicate copies will be discarded in accordance with our Collection Deaccessioning and Disposal policy.

If your work is published and available to the public in both print and electronic formats, we prefer to collect the electronic version via National edeposit (NED). If you deposit an electronic copy of a publication via NED, you do not need to provide a print copy of the same publication.

Please note that state or territory legal deposit obligations may also apply and may differ from those above. Please see Legal deposit in Australia for further information.

If your work is published and available to the public in print and electronic formats, we prefer to collect the electronic version via National edeposit (NED). Please note that electronic print proofs and scans that have not been made available to the public will not be accepted.

If your work is available to the public in print format only, you should deposit the print edition with us. If your work has been published in multiple print formats (e.g. hardcover, paperback, board book), we only require one format. Please provide whichever version you feel best represents the work in the way it was intended to be distributed and viewed.

For serial publications (e.g. magazines, newspapers, journals, annual reports), consistency is important. If an electronic version of the publication is available to the public, we prefer to receive electronic issues via National edeposit (NED). Once you start depositing a serial title via NED, any print holdings of that title will be closed, so it is important that you continue to deposit electronic issues and don’t switch back to depositing print copies.

New editions that have new content or extensive revisions will be accepted under legal deposit and added to the collection alongside previous editions.

To be accepted, a new edition should have one or more of the following:

• An updated edition statement on the imprint page (e.g. second edition, revised edition)
• A change of publisher
• A new ISBN
• Significant changes to the content (e.g. new chapters)

If your revised work is a reprint, the same content in a new format, or contains only minor changes or corrections, you do not need to supply a copy of the new version to the National Library of Australia.

New versions that don't have substantial updates to the original deposit are treated as duplicate copies and discarded in accordance with our Collection Deaccessioning and Disposal policy.

Yes.

State and territory libraries have their own legal deposit requirements. Please see Legal deposit in Australia for further information.

When you deposit electronically via National edeposit (NED), you can satisfy most state and territory legal deposit obligations at the same time as you satisfy your national obligations. Some states have additional requirements.

In accordance with the Copyright Act 1968, published works should be deposited within one month of publication.

However, we understand that this is not always possible. There is no expiry date on legal deposit, so your publication will be gratefully received even if it is deposited late.

If you have a back catalogue of published works to deposit, please don't hesitate to contact us for advice on the most efficient ways to supply publications in bulk and get your deposits up to date.

No.

ISBNs (International Standard Book Numbers), ISSNs (International Standard Serial Numbers) or ISMNs (International Standard Music Numbers) assist in identifying your unique publication and are encouraged, but are not needed to make a deposit. ISBNs are required to be eligible for the Australian Lending Rights Scheme.

See Services for publishers and self-publishers for further information about obtaining an international standard number for your publication.

No.

Our Prepublication Data Service (PDS) is an optional service that you can use to have a prepublication catalogue record created for your work prior to publishing. This does not replace your legal deposit requirements; therefore, you will still need to deposit a copy of your work once it has been published.

Digital publications can be deposited using National edeposit (NED). There are a lot of resources available in the About section of the NED website, including instructions to help you get started by creating a NED publisher account and making your first edeposit.

As you deposit each of your electronic publications, the NED platform will guide you through a step-by-step process, where you will be asked to enter information about the publication you are depositing. We encourage you to include as much detail as possible to make sure your publication is easily discoverable when searched for. If in doubt, try to make sure that the information you enter matches the information on the publication itself.

Books and other standalone publications should be sent to:

Legal Deposit
National Library of Australia
Canberra ACT 2600

Newspapers, magazines, and other ongoing publications should be sent to:

Australian Serials
National Library of Australia
Canberra ACT 2600

Please include your name and contact details on the envelope or on a note within the package for our records. There is no standard form that needs to be completed when depositing by post.

If you wish, you may deliver your publication to the National Library of Australia in person. Please bring your work to our Main Reading Room during standard opening hours and staff will ask you to complete a simple form to deposit your publication.

Legal deposit applies to Australian websites that are available to the public. We automatically archive published websites that we determine should be included in the national collection. We do not collect web material that is password protected or behind a paywall.

If there are any difficulties harvesting your public website, we may contact you directly. You can find further information in our Notice to publisher of online material.

Archived websites are made available to the public through the Australian Web Archive in Trove and allow future researchers to see content that could otherwise change or disappear over time.

Find out more about Web archiving.

With a high volume of materials being deposited, we are unable to acknowledge receipt of each new print publication added to the collection. If your publication is required under legal deposit and aligns with our Collection Development Policy, it will appear in our online catalogue and Trove within approximately three months of your date of deposit.

While you will not receive a personalised acknowledgment of your print deposit, each new print item added to the national collection under legal deposit since 12 August 2024 includes the following acknowledgment in the catalogue record: A copy has been contributed to the Library through legal deposit.

If you make an electronic deposit via National edeposit (NED), you'll get an automatic acknowledgement, and the catalogue record will usually be discoverable in the National Library catalogue and Trove within approximately 48 hours. Please note that large, complex, or numerous deposits may take longer to be processed. Normal processing times can be up to six weeks.

Print publications take longer to process and usually appear in the National Library catalogue and Trove within approximately three months of receipt at the Library.
 

You can find your publication in our catalogue by doing a keyword search for the title or the author’s name. You can use these tips on how to search our catalogue effectively.

If you deposit electronically via National edeposit (NED), you will be prompted to select Access conditions for each of your electronic publications at the time of depositing. Your selected access conditions will determine how and where readers are able to access your publication and prevent unauthorised sharing or copying.

Print publications can be accessed in the Library’s Main Reading Room. Readers can request access to these items using the National Library catalogue.

A publication is any text-based work that has been published. 

Published refers to the act of making content, such as a book, article, report, or other work, available to the public, typically in a printed or digital format. This is often done through a publishing company, a media outlet, or via online platforms and websites. 

Once a work is published, it is generally accessible for viewing, reading, or purchasing by the public.

For the purposes of legal deposit in Australia, a publisher is any person or organisation that makes text-based works available to the public in a print or electronic format, for sale or for free.

This includes commercial publishers, independent and small press publishers, and government publishers at Commonwealth, State and Local Government level. It also includes schools, societies, organisations, clubs, churches, associations, and private individuals (self-publishers).

Please note that legal deposit requirements apply to all self-publishers in Australia, even those using an overseas-based online publishing platform (e.g. Amazon, Smashwords, Ingram Spark).

Publishing is the act of making a work available to the public, for sale or for free, in a print or digital format. While this can be done by traditional publishing companies (e.g. Allen & Unwin, HarperCollins), many people and organisations choose to publish their own works. When an individual makes their own written work available to the public, this is referred to as self-publishing.

Printing is the act of manufacturing print copies of text-based works. Printers may assist with formatting, but do not create the content of the work, or make the work available to the public. 

Distributing is the act of making works that have already been published more broadly available. Distributors purchase existing publications directly from publishers to be sold in online or physical stores, often across different regions or countries.

Some self-publishers, traditional publishing companies, and other organisations use external services to assist with printing and distributing their publications. Legal deposit is always the responsibility of the publisher or self-publisher, not any other involved parties.

A serial is any ongoing publication that is produced on a regular basis with no fixed end date. Common examples of serial publications include magazines, journals, newspapers, newsletters, and annual reports.

A monograph is a publication that is complete in one part/volume or a pre-determined and finite number of parts/volumes. The most common example of a monograph is a book; however, other examples include books in series, standalone reports, and policy papers.

Although legal deposit is a provision of the Copyright Act 1968, it is entirely separate to other aspects of Australian copyright law and the Australian Lending Right Schemes (ELR/PLR).

Copyright is managed by the Attorney General's Department. If you need information about Australian copyright law, please see copyright on the Attorney-General's Department website.

The Australian Lending Right Schemes (ELR/PLR) are managed by the Office of the Arts. If you need information about the schemes, including eligibility requirements and how to apply, please see Australian Lending Right Schemes (ELR/PLR).
 

There is a lot of information including detailed instructions, videos, and other useful resources available in the About section of the National edeposit (NED) website.

If you have questions that are not answered here or on the NED website, please contact your assigned NED member library. This will usually be the state or territory library of the state or territory in which your work was published, or the National Library of Australia if you represent a Commonwealth agency or your work was published overseas.

If you have questions about legal deposit that are not answered here, please don’t hesitate to contact us.