LibGuides: Foreign Law by Jurisdiction: Australia

Constitutional Law

Records of the Australasian Federal Conventions of the 1890s
The Records of the Australasian Federal Conventions contain key documents surrounding the founding of the Commonwealth of Australia and the drafting of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act. The records contain the transcripts from each of the conventions.
World Constitutions Illustrated - Australia
HeinOnline's World Constitutions Illustrated includes the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, other foundational legislation, historical constitutional documents, as well as scholarship and important texts related to the constitutional law in Australia.

Oxford Constitutional Law This link opens in a new window
Oxford Constitutions of the World contains fully-translated English-language versions of all of the world's constitutions, accompanied by individual commentaries and supplementary materials.

Jurisdiction: Global

Legislation

Authorized legislation: Authorized versions of Australian statutes and regulations are found on the respective legislative websites of the Commonwealth, states and territories.

Statute citators: Both JADE and AustLII contain citator tools for quickly identifying case law that cites specific legislative provisions.

Commonwealth of Australia

Federal Register of Legislation - Office of Parliamentary Counsel
Per the home page, this is the "authorised whole-of-government website for Commonwealth legislation and related documents. It contains the full text and details of the lifecycle of individual laws and the relationships between them." Contains acts, instruments, bills, gazettes, etc.

States and Territories

Queensland Legislation (Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel)
Contains:
Current consolidations as well as point-in-time versions of Queensland statutes.
Annual statutes (as passed) dating back to 1901.
Subordinate Legislation (as made) dating back to 1991.
NSW Legislation (New South Wales)
Contains:
Current consolidations as well as point-in-time versions of NSW statutes.
Annual statutes (as passed) dating back to 1824.
Subordinate Legislation (as made) dating back to 1990
South Australian Legislation (Office of Parliamentary Counsel)
Contains:
Current consolidations as well as point-in-time versions of Southern Australian statutes.
Annual statutes (as passed) dating back to 2003.
Subordinate Legislation both current consolidations and as made dating back to 2003.
Tasmanian Legislation
Contains:
Current consolidations as well as point-in-time versions of Tasmanian statutes.
Annual statutes (as passed) dating back to 1997.
Subordinate Legislation both current consolidations and as made dating back to 1997.
Victorian Legislation
Contains:
Current consolidations as well as point-in-time versions of Victorian statutes.
Annual statutes (as passed) dating back to 1996.
Subordinate Legislation both current consolidations and as made dating back to 1996.
Western Australian Legislation (Parliamentary Counsel's Office)
Contains:
Current consolidations as well as point-in-time versions of Western Australian statutes.
Annual statutes (as passed) dating back to 1832.
Subordinate Legislation both current consolidations and as made dating back to 1990.
Northern Territory Legislation (Office of the Parliamentary Counsel)
Contains:
Current consolidations as well as point-in-time versions of Northern Territory statutes.
Annual statutes (as passed) dating back to 1978.
Subordinate Legislation both current consolidations and as made dating back to 1978.
Australian Capital Territory Register
Contains current consolidations of statutes, all Acts as passed since 1989, Ordinances as passed since 1911 and subordinate laws as passed since 1914.

Legislative Materials

Commonwealth of Australia

Parliament of Australia
Legislation, and Hansard papers. Bills, explanatory memoranda, texts of parliamentary debates, and committee reports.

Case Law

AustLII, Australasian Legal Information Institute
Full-text of primary and secondary legal resources. Current for jurisprudence.
JADE (Judgment and Decisions Enhanced)
JADE is a Australian legal research platform containing Australian court and tribunal decisions. JADE also includes current consolidations and point-in-time legislation from the Commonwealth, states and territories.
Lexis+ International tab, Australia
Cases: selected federal, state and territory reported and unreported cases. Some files are not current--see Source Information note for coverage.
Westlaw, International Materials, Australia
Contains unreported judgments, Commonwealth Law Reports, Federal Court Reports, Federal Law Reports, South Australian State Reports.

Court Dockets and Records

High Court of Australia - Transcripts
Transcripts from the High Court of Australia are available on AustLII.
Coverage: ~1993 - present. Note not all transcripts are available. Database contains those selected by the High Court of Australia.
High Court of Australia - Party submissions
The High Court of Australia provides access to party submissions as filed.
Coverage: ~2010 - present.
High Court of Australia - DLS Portal
The DLS Portal provides access to dockets and filings from the High Court of Australia. Note some filings are only available for a fee.
Coverage: 2020 - present

Australian Law Research Guides

Update: A Guide to Online Research Resources for the Australian Federal Legal System with some Reference to the State Level, GlobaLex
By Petal Kinder

Australian Law in the Library

Materials will be located in B2 North (map), with call numbers beginning with KU.

Foreign Law by Jurisdiction: Australia

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Constitutional Law

Legislation

Commonwealth of Australia

States and Territories

Legislative Materials

Commonwealth of Australia

Case Law

Court Dockets and Records

Australian Law Research Guides

Australian Law in the Library