Subject guides: Legislation: Researching legislation

Official sources of legislation

Online versions of legislation are freely accessible via the official Government websites, as provided for each jurisdiction on this guide. These sites are updated regularly but always check the currency of the version of legislation you have.

Print copies of legislation for all Australian jurisdictions are held on level 1 of the Law Library but are often not current, as many jurisdictions have ceased print versions.

Legislation databases

Use the legal databases below to find and update legislation and extrinsic materials.

Lawlex
Provides access to full-text Australian legislation on official Government websites, with associated Bill tracking, amendment and commencement information and links to related material, such as second reading speeches. Title, Keyword, or Subject searches available. A good first step for finding Australian legislation.
LawNow (Lexis Advance)
Acts, subordinate legislation, and Bills from all Australian jurisdictions as published by LexisNexis. Also contains assent and commencement information, current Acts by subject, keywords in titles and defined terms.
LexisNexis Capital Monitor
Capital Monitor provides parliamentary, political, legislative, regulatory and judicial news and information.

Open access sources of legislation

AustLII
Unofficial source for legislation, useful for full-text searching, but check currency on official government websites.
JADE
Legislation in JADE gives you the current text and section-by-section identification of cases citing the relevant provision. This feature requires Professional access which is available to students by completing this form.
Legify
Legify is an index of Australian Commonwealth Acts and Regulations. While it does not contain full text of legislation, it is useful as a quick tool for searching for accurate titles and currency of Australian legislation.

Learn how to use Lexis Advance

Discover how to navigate Lexis Advance by viewing the videos below: