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Legislation - Primary source

What is legislation and why do you use it?

"Legislation consists of Acts of Parliament and subordinate (or delegated) legislation made under Acts of Parliament. The term legislation can refer to a single law (also known as a statute) or a collection of laws. Members of the Parliament are referred to as legislators, persons who make laws. Collectively they constitute a legislature, a body that makes laws."

Office of Parliamentary Council, 2019, Understanding legislation

Sign up for an account through the Federal Register of Legislation to receive email notifications regarding updates or changes to Commonwealth law.


The legislative process

Flip the cards in the following interactive to learn about the legislative process.

See this information sheet from the Parliament of Australia for more information on making laws.

Where can I find Australian legislation?

Lawlex: Searches State, Territory and Commonwealth legislation websites, which links to associated legislative material such as bills, subordinate legislation, second reading speeches and gazette notices.

South Australian Legislation: Includes information about the making, commencement, operation, variation or cessation of legislation and other instruments made under legislation.

Subject Index to South Australian Legislation: A freely available website providing a subject index to SA Acts and links to the SA Legislation website.

Federal Register of Legislation: Contains legislation of the Commonwealth and non-self governing territories, including Bills, explanatory memorandas (plain English version of the bill) plus the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments (including regulations and statutory rules).

AustLII: A freely available database containing full text legislation.

Lexis Advance: Contains legal publications relating to Australia and New Zealand, including case reports, legislation, and analytical material. Select Advance search > Legislation.

Want to know more? Go to the interactive tutorial guiding you through some key sources of Australian legislation.

Where can I find legislation in jurisdictions other than Australia?

How do I reference an Australian Act of Parliament?

Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC) referencing example
Example Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) s 3
Element Title Year Jurisdiction Pinpoint
Rule 3.1.1 3.1.2 3.1.3 3.1.4—3.1.7

The correct reference for this Act is:  

Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) s 3

Example adapted from the AGLC4 Guide. For more information please consult the the fourth edition of the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC4). See page 67 for how to reference legislative materials.

Where can I find parliamentary debates and second reading speeches?

Hansard is the official report of the debates and proceedings of Parliament, including second reading speeches. They are published shortly after the chamber or committee proceedings have ended. See below for links to the Commonwealth of Australia and the state Hansard reports:

Where can I find government publications?