Key databases
- Westlaw AUAccess to legislation, case law, commentary, journals, news and precedents that are easy to find and apply.
- Lexis AdvanceAustralian legal database including law reports, legislation, law journals, commentary and texts. Key titles include Halsbury’s Laws of Australia, Encyclopaedic Australian Legal Dictionary, CaseBase, and the Australian Law Reports (ALRs).
- LawlexLawlex provides links to authorised legislation (Bills, Acts and Regulations) in all Australian jurisdictions.
- CCH IntelliConnectResources covering Australian tax, law, accounting, human resources & industrial relations, occupational health & safety, financial planning, business management and superannuation.
- AustLII - Australasian Legal Information InstituteFree access to Australasian public legal materials. Includes primary legal materials (legislation, treaties and decisions of courts and tribunals) and secondary legal materials created by public bodies for purposes of public access (e.g. law reform and royal commission reports). Also includes a substantial collection of law journals.
- LawCite (AustLII)LawCite is a case citator which is freely available on AustLII. It will help you to locate and find a copy of a decision, see how a decision has been subsequently dealt with and find other materials such as journal articles about a decision. It will also help you to see how journal articles have been cited by other journal articles and cases.
- BarNet JadeBarNet Jade (Judgments and Decisions Enhanced) contains the full text of over 300,000 Australian decisions and legislation.
Legal research "how-to's"
What is a case citation?
A case citation is a unique identifier of a court case. It is a good way to search for a specific case. There are different types of citations, but the two most common types are:
- Medium neutral citation
- Reported case citation.
Medium neutral citation
A medium neutral citation is created by the court when its decision is handed down. It consists of the parties’ names, the year, the unique court identifier, and the judgment number. For example the citation [2003]FCA901 means it was the 901st case heard in the Federal Court of Australia in 2003.
Reported case citation
Cases that raise significant points of law or expand on our understanding of the law are reported in a law report series.
A reported case citation consists of the parties' names, the year, the law report series volume number, the abbreviation of the law report series, and the page number on which the case commences.
Using legal dictionaries and encyclopaedias
Before you search for Journal Articles you need to understand the topic you are looking for.
Legal dictionaries and encyclopaedias are a good starting point. They help you gain an overview on the legal concept you are researching.
Using these you will find the term and can gain not only an understanding of what the concept is, but also key cases that have considered this topic.
We have the following you can choose from:
- Encyclopaedic Australian Legal Dictionary (Lexis Advance Pacific)
- Halsbury's Laws of Australia (legal encyclopaedia) (Lexis Advance Pacific)
- Laws of Australia (Westlaw AU)
- Australian Law Dictionary (Oxford Reference - Law)
Using a dictionary, Look up the term frustration. We can see that frustration is a reason that a contract is terminated due to an unexpected event that fundamentally or radically changes the outcome of the contract in terms of performance or benefits.
When we run our search we know that we are looking for articles about an unexpected contract outcome, not about someone getting annoyed.
Finding a Journal Title via Citation
Law journal articles are often given using an abbreviated form of the journal title.
So how do you find out what the title of the journal is from the abbreviated form (or citation).
The best database to use is the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations.
This is a worldwide index so always make sure you have the right journal. More often than not you will be wanting the Australian jurisdiction.
You will need to know how to find the full name of a journal as the Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4 (AGLC4) states in section 5.5 (page 93) that you need to enter the full name of the journal in the citation (footnote) not the abbreviation.
Case Law
Authorised Law Reports
Note: All the current Authorised report series for all Commonwealth, Federal, and all Supreme Courts of Australian states are available on Westlaw AU.
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CLR: Commonwealth Law ReportsThe authorised law reports of the High Court of Australia
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FCR: Federal Court ReportsThe authorised law reports of the Federal Court of Australia
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NSWLR: New South Wales Law ReportsThe authorised law reports of the Supreme Court of New South Wales
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VR: Victorian ReportsThe authorised reports of the Supreme Court of Victoria
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QR: Queensland ReportsThe authorised reports of the Supreme Court of Queensland
Unauthorised Law Reports
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ALR: Australian Law Reports (Lexis Advance Pacific)Unathorised decisions of the High Court of Australia
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FLR: Federal Law Reports (Westlaw AU)Unauthorised decisions from all State and Territory Supreme Courts and Federal Circuit and Magisgtrates Courts and Federal Tribunals.
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Fam LR: Family Law Reports (Lexis Advance Pacific)Unauthorised family law decisions from the Family Law Courts and the Federal Magistrates and Circut Courts.
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A Crim R: Australian Criminal Reports (Westlaw AU)Unauthorised criminal decisions from all Federal and State Supreme Courts
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Australian Tax Cases (CCH)Unauthorised tax decisions from Federal and state courts.
Legislative materials
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Federal Register of LegislationThe Federal Register of Legislation (the Legislation Register) 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. (formally Comlaw)
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LexisNexis - Capital MonitorLexisNexis Capital Monitor provides parliamentary, political, legislative, regulatory and judicial news and information almost as soon as it is available. Coverage includes federal, state and territory Parliaments, government departments, agencies, courts and key stakeholders in public policy, including industry, associations and not-for-profits.
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NSW LegislationOfficial legislation website of NSW. The site contains authorised versions of NSW legislation (including the Gazette). It contains current and historical legislation and has advanced searching and browsing features.
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Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary DocumentsOfficial legislation website of Vic. The site contains authorised versions of Victorian legislation.
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Queensland LegislationOfficial legislation website of Qld. The site contains authorised versions of Queensland legislation.
Key Statutory Interpretation Acts
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Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth) (Lawlex)"This Act is like a dictionary and manual to use when reading and interpreting Commonwealth Acts and instruments made under Commonwealth Acts." (Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth) s 1A). Section 15AB provides for the use of 'extrinsic material in the interpretation of an Act'.
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Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW) (Lawlex)Section 34 provides for the use of 'extrinsic material in the interpretation of Acts and statutory rules'.
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Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984 (Vic) (Lawlex)Section 35 provides that ... 'In the interpretation of a provision of an Act or subordinate instrument .... 35(b) consideration may be given to any matter or document that is relevant including but not limited to:...'
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Acts Interpretation Act 1954 No. 3 (QLD) (Lawlex)Section 14B states that..., "Subject to subsection (2), in the interpretation of a provision of an Act, consideration may be given to extrinsic material capable of assisting in the interpretation..."
Bills Digests
Bills Digests are written by the parliamentary library. They provide a timely and independent perspective on legislation. They are written to assist members of Parliament in their consideration of Bills. The digests provide a plain English summary of Bills and detail their purpose, background and main provisions complementing the legislative material provided by the Government.
Queensland does not have a bills digest.
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Vic Bills Research BriefsBill Briefs are found with other research papers.
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NSW Legislation Review DigestDigests of comments on Bills by Parliamentary Committees.
Explanatory Memoranda (EM)
Explanatory Memoranda (EM) explain the contents and purpose of a bill in plain English. Explanatory Memoranda contain a clause by clause description of a bill.
In the Federal Parliament Commonwealth Explanatory Memoranda came into regular use from about 1978/1982 and are kept with bills. Explanatory Statements have been issued for Commonwealth Regulations since 1993.
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NSW Bills with Explanatory NotesIn NSW the Explanatory Memorandum is called an Explanatory Note
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VIC Bills with Explanatory MemorandaExplanatory memoranda for Bills in Victoria are only available online from 2003.
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Qld Bills with Explanatory NoteBills and their accompanying EN's can be browsed by year or title.
Research Papers
The Parliamentary Libraries prepare papers on legislation before the Parliament and on major issues of interest to members. Papers cover a broad range of subject areas including law, politics, government, environment, economics and social issues
Law Reform
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Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC)The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) undertakes research, and provides recommendations to reform the law, on topics selected by the Attorney-General of Australia. This website provides access information about all ALRC inquiries since the Commission was established in 1975.
Secondary Sources
- InformitLarge collection of multiple Australian research databases in the education, research and business sectors. Includes full text, indexes and abstracts to journals, books, conference proceedings and other research material. Please note: All Informit collections and archives are now available from this main search platform.
AGIS Plus Text now cannot be directly searched. Use the main search box and when you get your results, filter to AGIS Plus Text via the filter on the left hand side. - HeinOnlineLarge image based legal research database. Includes full text Law journals, US statutory materials, US supreme court reports, and state and federal case law coverage.
- Legal SourceIndex and full text database of scholarly law journals. The collection is international in coverage and includes book reviews and case citations.
Key Australian Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
- Halsbury's Laws of AustraliaHalsbury's Laws of Australia is a comprehensive legal encyclopaedia written in a clear, concise form covering all Australian law.
- Encyclopaedic Australian Legal Dictionary (Lexis Advance Pacific)Contains over 25,000 definitions covering every subject area of law. Terms are supported by Australian legislative and judicial authority, wherever it exists.
- Laws of AustraliaThe Laws of Australia encyclopaedia (TLA) is a complete library of legal principles covering over 320 topics and every Australian jurisdiction.
- Australian Encyclopaedia of Forms & Precedents (Lexis Advance Pacific)The Australian Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents contains over 4,000 legal precedents and forms in more than 90 subject areas, covering all Australian jurisdictions in plain English. Most titles in the Encyclopaedia contain authoritative, practical commentary called Introductory Notes.
- Australian Legal Words & Phrases (Lexis Advance Pacific)An excellent reference tool, this work provides a comprehensive listing of over 100,000 words and phrases which have either been defined in legislation or judicially interpreted.
Criminology Library Guide
- Oxford Reference - LawA collection of books and reference material covering a range of major topics in the field of law.
- Legal Scholarship NetworkLSN is a component of the Social Science Research Network (SSRN). It includes papers and ejournals from law research centres and schools. Examples include the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property & Competition Law Research Paper Series, the Aust National University College of Law Legal Studies Research Paper Series, Notre Dame Law School Legal Studies Research Paper Series, and the Harvard Law School, Public Law & Legal Theory Research Paper Series.
- Kluwer ArbitrationFull text materials in the field of international commercial arbitration. Includes conventions, legislation, rules, case law, and commentary.
- Oxford Handbooks OnlineEssays that review current research and the latest thinking in a range major topics including law. Handbook articles offer a thorough introduction to major topics and provide cutting-edge debates by scholars.
- ProQuest Criminal Justice DatabaseA comprehensive database supporting research on crime, its causes and impacts, legal and social implications, as well as litigation and crime trends. Includes international scholarly journals, correctional and law enforcement trade publications, crime reports, and crime blogs.
- Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full TextA leading full-text database for criminal justice and criminology research. It contains full text for many important journals and magazines related to forensic sciences, corrections, policing, criminal law and investigation, history of crime, and substance abuse and addiction.
Abbreviations and AGLC4
Find the meaning of law journal and law report abbreviations, for example:
- ALJ - Australian Law Journal
- QB - Law Reports, Queen's Bench
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Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC4)(University of Melbourne Law Review, 2018). This links to the PDF version of the AGLC4 from the Melbourne University Law Review website.
