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Legislation

Bills

Research legislation at Murdoch University Library

Bills by title

Parliament of Australia

Commonwealth bills from 1996 onwards can be found on the Parliament of Australia website:

  1. In the top menu, select "ParlInfo"
  2. Select the "Guided Search" tab
  3. Select "Documents relating to a Bill"
  4. In the "Enter search text" box, enter the subject of the Bill e.g., if you are searching for the Crimes Act Amendment (Forensic Procedures), just search for forensic procedures.
  5. Fill out the date range fields if necessary
  6. Press "Search"
  7. Select the relevant Bill from the results list
  8. On the left hand side of the screen, select the "Bill home page" link
  9. Select "Bills Digest" for the summary, purpose, background and impact of the Bill

Federal Register of Legislation

Commonwealth Bills from 1996 onward can also be found on the Federal Register of Legislation:

  1. On the Federal Register of Legislation home page, type the name of the legislation in the "Search for" box
  2. Select "Search"
  3. Click on the link to the Act to open the Act's title page
  4. Select the "All versions" tab on the top right of the title page
  5. Scroll down to the "As made" heading and click on the date range below this heading
  6. This will open the "As made" version of the document, which will include the Bill and explanatory memoranda.

Legify

Use Legify to find the relevant Bill.

Federal Register of Legislation

  1. In the Federal Register of Legislation select the "All Versions" link from the activity menu
  2. Scroll to the bottom of the page to the "As made" heading to access the Bill and Explanatory Memorandum links

Hansard

See the extrinsic materials section for more information on searching for Hansard:

Print

Printed copies of Commonwealth Bills prior to 1996 can be found at the Honourable Michael Murray Law Library. For more information, see the Bills (Australia. Parliament) Library Search record:

Parliament of Western Australia

Commonwealth bills from 1997 onwards can be found on the Parliament of Western Australia website:

Browse the A-Z list and select your required bill.

Hansard

See the extrinsic materials section of the Legislation guide for information on searching for Hansard:

Print

Printed copies of Western Australian Bills prior to 1997 can be found at stack 38 of the Honourable Michael Murray Law Library. For more information, see the Bills (Western Australia. Parliament) Library Search record.

Parliamentary progress of a bill

Information on the parliamentary progress of a Commonwealth bill from 1970 onwards can be found in Commonwealth Committee Reports on the Parliament of Australia website:

  1. Under the "Bills and Legislation" menu, select "Committees"
  2. Select "More options" immediately below the search box
  3. Add the details you know into these fields
  4. Select "Search"
  5. Select the title of the relevant result to open the Public Hearings page
  6. Select "Report" menu located on the right of screen.

Information on the parliamentary progress of a Western Australian bill from 1997 onwards can be found on the Access the Committees page on the Parliament of Western Australia website: