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Information Sheet
Finding Legislation
Legislation falls under two main forms:
- Acts or Statutes - laws that are passed by Parliament
- Subordinate Legislation, or Delegated Legislation (Regulations, Statutory Rules, By-laws, etc) - laws that are made to support an Act of Parliament; by bodies other than or given authority by Parliament.
Acts or Subordinate Legislation can be:
- Principal Acts - the Act as it was originally passed (acts as passed)
- Amendment Acts - A later Act that changes part(s) of the Principal Act. You need to view both the Principal and Amendment Act together to see how the change(s) have been incorporated into the Act.
- Reprints - the Principal and Amendment Acts form a new version of the legislation up to the date stated on the front of the printed or electronic reprinted version
To find out more about the process of making laws, try the following websites:
Legislation can be found in printed format published by the government printer. This is the only authorised version of legislation. The John and Alison Kearney Law Library hold copies of printed legislation for Commonwealth and Queensland jurisdictions. The most up-to-date version of legislation is usually found electronically although it is not recognised as the official or authorised version.
The Legislative Process
Being aware of the legislative process assists in being able to find legislation. The legislative process occurs in the following stages:
Legislative Process: |
How to Find: |
| A Bill is presented to and passed by the Parliament | STEP 1: Finding Bills |
| Principal Act or Act as Passed Act is Amended | STEP 2: Finding Legislation |
| Act is Reprinted | STEP 3: Finding Amended Legislation |
| Act is repealed | STEP 4: Finding Superseded or Repealed Legislation |
| The Updated Legislation | STEP 5: Finding the Latest Update on Legislation |
STEP 1: Finding Bills
Finding Bills in Print
It is possible to locate the different stages of a Bill as it progresses through Parliament to become an Act. To find a Bill you will need to know the jurisdiction, year it was introduced to Parliament and the name of the Bill. The John and Alison Kearney Law Library hold copies of the Commonwealth and Queensland Bills in print.
| Bills of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia: & Explanatory Memoranda | 1990 onwards held at KH/6 Current year in Law Library office |
| Bills of the Senate of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia: & Explanatory Memoranda | 1990 onwards held at KH/6 |
| Queensland. Parliament. Bills and Explanatory Notes | 1990 onwards held at KH/83.3 |
Finding Bills Electronically
To find electronic versions of the Bills try:
| BillsNet for Commonwealth Bills (1998- ) | http://www.aph.gov.au/bills/index.htm |
| Lawlex | https://ezproxy.bond.edu.au/login?url=http://research.lawlex.com.au/ |
| Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Council (1992 - ) | http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/Bills.htm |
Tracking Bills through Parliament
To track the Progress of a Bill through the Parliament, including finding the readings, second reading speech and whether it failed or became an Act try:
| BillsNet | http://www.aph.gov.au/bills/index.htm |
| Queensland Legislation Update | KH/86 |
| Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Council | http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/Bills.htm |
Finding the Second Reading Speech - Hansard
Hansard is a record of all parliamentary proceedings and can be useful to find information about interpreting legislation. The second reading speech is made by the minister to introduce the Bill for the second time. This speech will usually contain background information including what problems the legislation is designed to solve.
The John and Alison Kearney Law Library holds print versions of the Commonwealth and Queensland Hansard.
| Australia. Parliament. Parliamentary Debates House of Representatives Official Hansard: Weekly Hansard | 1901-2 onwards held at KH/5 |
| Australia. Parliament. Parliamentary Debates Senate Official Hansard: Weekly Hansard | 1901-2 onwards held at KH/5 |
| Weekly Hansard / Legislative Assembly, Queensland | 1990 onwards held at KH/83.2 |
Electronic versions of Hansard can be found at:
| Parliament of Australia Hansard (1996 - ) | http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/index.htm |
| Queensland Hansard (1990 - ) | http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Hansard |
Finding Explanatory Memoranda
Explanatory Memoranda (Explanatory Notes) explain in plain English the purpose of the Bill and what each clause means. This can be used to assist in the interpretation of the legislation. Explanatory Memoranda are located with the Bill therefore; follow the directions for finding Bills.
STEP 2: Finding Legislation
Once legislation is passed as the Principal Act, it may be amended and then published as reprints. The reprints combine the Principal Act and amendments made up to the date stated on the front of the reprint.
Finding Legislation - In Print
Find the Act in a Statute Annotator and check to see if there is a reprint for the legislation. A statute annotator tells the date the legislation commenced, number and year of the legislation, when it passed, the latest reprint available, and any amendments made since the last reprint.
| Commonwealth statutes annotations | KH/18 |
| Queensland legislation annotations | KH/86 |
The John and Alison Law Library holds print copies of Commonwealth and Queensland legislation and reprints.
| Australia. Parliament. Acts of the parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia: passed during the year, Bound Volumes (1901 - ) | KH/16 |
| Queensland. Parliament. Acts of the parliament of Queensland passed during the year: Bound Volumes (1874 - ) | KH/85 |
Finding Legislation - Electronically
Commonwealth Legislation is available from:
Queensland Legislation is available from:
Finding Legislation - on a topic
To find legislation by topic, it is most useful to use a secondary resource such as a textbook, looseleaf service or a legal encyclopedia. Try the following:
| Wicks subject index to Commonwealth legislation | KH/18 |
| Queensland Legislation Annotations | KH/86 |
| LAWLEX - contains an electronic subject index to locate legislation for all jurisdictions in Australia | https://ezproxy.bond.edu.au/login?url=http://research.lawlex.com.au/ |
Finding Legislation - Commentary About
To find commentary about legislation, you can search for journal articles that discuss the issues. Access Electronic Resources (including Journal Databases) online. Try the following to start:
| AGIS PLUS Text (Attorney Generals Information Service) | |
| APAIS (Australian Public Affairs Information Service) | Lexis |
Finding Legislation - cases that discuss legislation
Annotation services can be used to find cases that discuss legislation. An annotator can be:
- Statute Annotator - outlines amendments made to a piece of legislation
- Case Annotator - covers cases that have considered specific sections of that legislation
The John and Alison Kearney Law Library provides access to the following:
| AustLII To find cases that consider an Act or a specific section of an Act you can use the [Noteup] function to display all cases that refer to this section. |
http://www.austlii.edu.au |
| Casebase Use the focus search and enter the act name or section of the act into the Statutes search box. |
CaseBase via LexisNexis AU |
| Queensland legislation case annotations Available in print and electronically |
via LexisNexis AU |
| Australian Current Law: Reporter Find the table of legislation considered by the court |
REF K/2/.K1 AUSC |
STEP 3: Finding Amended Legislation
An Act can be amended to reflect changes from the original legislation. To find out the changes, you need to be able to find the amendments.
To Find Amended Legislation in Print:
- Find the legislation in the latest edition of a statute annotator. A statute annotator tells of any amendments made since the last reprint.
- Commonwealth statutes annotations at KH/18
- Queensland legislation update at KH/86
- Search for the Amendments by the section number that was amended.
E.g.: s.24 of the Reserve Bank Act 1959 (Cwth) was amended by 1992 (no. 193)
s.30 section 24 of the Reserve Bank Act 1959 (Cwth) was amended by section 30 of the 193rd piece of legislation in 1992. - To find the amending Acts, use the chronological acts. These editions of the Acts are arranged in order of the number of the Act in the year it was passed by Parliament.
- Australia. Parliament. Acts of the parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia: passed during the year, Bound Volumes (1901 - ) at KH/16
- Queensland. Parliament. Acts of the parliament of Queensland passed during the year: Bound Volumes (1874 - ) at KH/85
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 for all amendments.
- Read the changes in conjunction with the Principal Act.
To Find Amended Legislation Electronically:
Use Lawlex and search by the title of the legislation to find amendments.
STEP 4: Finding Superseded or Repealed Legislation
If you need to find an old or out-of-date version of legislation you will need to locate superseded reprints or repealed reprints.
Commonwealth
- Go to ComLaw
- Click on Browse Databases
- Scroll down the page to Commonwealth and Territory Historical Legislation
- Choose Historical Commonwealth Acts and select the Act by the letter.
Queensland
- Go to the Queensland legislation website
- Click on Legislative Data
- Select Information about Repealed Queensland Legislation and select the Act by the letter
STEP 5: Finding the Latest Update on Legislation
Australian Current Law contains the most recent information about legislation for each Australian jurisdiction.
1. Use Australian Current Law Legislation found at:
REF K/2/.K1/ AUSC or LexisNexis AU
2. Look at both: · the latest Consolidated Tables and Index · the latest monthly issue published since the last Consolidated Tables and Index was published.
3. View the table of legislation that you wish to check on updates for:
Table: |
Use to Find: |
| Table of Proclaimed Legislation | Commencement dates of Acts |
| Table of Acts Passed | New Acts passed by Parliament |
| Table of Amended Acts | If a specific Act has recently been amended |
| Table of Parliamentary Bills | What Bills have been presented to Parliament |
| Table of Reprinted Acts | If a specific Act has been reprinted recently. |
| Table of Regulations and Rules Made and Amended | If a new regulation/rule has been made or if an existing one has been amended. |
| Table of reprinted regulations/rules | If a regulation/rule has been reprinted |
| Table of Miscellaneous Orders/Notices | If a new miscellaneous order, notice, or by-law has been made. |
4. Locate the legislation by jurisdiction then name
5. Check the Abbreviation List at the front of the issue to find out they mean.
6. If the table refers to a month issue and subject classification, turn to that months issue and the subject classification forms the number at the top of each page. Aged Care Act.. FEB - 380 (FEB the monthly issue, 380 the subject classification)
7. To find the full text of the changes to the legislation, consult the relevant legislation.