NOTICE: This guide is currently under review, with a new guide to be launched before Semester 1, 2025. In the meantime, please direct any queries or feedback about this guide to the Library's Digital Experience via our Enquiry and Feedback form.
Legislation
Legislation is a primary legal material.
Acts & the Constitution
Legislation, Statutes, Acts, and Acts of Parliament are interchangeable words used to describe the laws made or enacted by the legislature (the Parliament).
Legislation and case law combine to create the primary sources of the law.
More detailed instructions are on the How to Source Legislation page.
How to Source Legislation
Use Legify to source Acts and The Australian Constitution.
Legify will take you to the authorised version of legislation - federal, state and territory.
Example search:
Type constitution into Legify's search box.
Select the result for the Commonwealth Constitution.
You will be redirected to the Federal Register of Legislation - the authorised source for Federal / Commonwealth legislation.
Example search:
Type Australian Consumer Law into Legify's search box.
Select the result for the
You will be redirected to the Federal Register of Legislation - the authorised source for Federal / Commonwealth legislation.
The link may take you to a superseded version of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
Select the All Versions from the activity menu located below the deep blue band and above the Act name
Select the Latest version of the Act.
Authorised source
Only quote (and reference/cite) legislation sourced from authorised sources:
Legislation is copied from the authorised sources by different databases.
The databases then add features, such as links and commentary to this legislation.
So it is still useful to learn about legislation from databases such as Lexis Advance and Westlaw AU.
However, when it comes to quoting sections of legislation, be sure that the authorised source is used.
As a Murdoch University student, you have access to the authorised version – so no excuse for citing an unauthorised version.
Source Act by Series Details
An Act's series details include the year the Act became law, and the running number of Acts for that year.
For example, Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) is Act No. 51 of 1974.
This means that this Act was the 51st Act to become law in 1974.
Federal Register of Legislation |
Western Australian Legislation |
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Source Commonwealth Acts, Subsidiary Legislation and Instruments. Search in FRoL has links to source
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Source Western Australian Acts and Subsidiary Legislation by:
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Step 1:In the Search for box, type the Act name, or words within the name From the Search in drop down menu, select Name From the Search using drop down menu, select Contains all the words Below the search box, Click Search Example: Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (Act No. 51 of 1974) Add the search words Competition and Consumer Act
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Step 1:Select > Acts > As passed
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Step 2:From the Results list, click on the relevant Act name Tip: Check the Effective date to access the current Legislative Instrument |
Step 2:Select the relevant year of the Act
Example: Bail Act 1982 (Act 86 of 1982)
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Step 3:Check that the Act is the latest version Click on the All Versions button to access all compilations and select the latest version from the list
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Step 3:Navigate to Act number Acts are in number order, starting at Act No. 1 of Year |
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Select All Versions to easily access delegated legislation (Regulations) and Bills and Explanatory Memoranda
Scroll to the bottom of the page to the As made heading Click on the link to View Originating Bill and explanatory memorandum
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Step 4:Click on the Page icon
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Select the Authorises link from the activity menu
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To view all versions of a Act, |
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Tip:To see the changes made between versions, select Versions of the Act Select the later version from the table, an open the Compare (PDF) version Use the Bookmarks to navigate through the Act to each amendment |
