About legislationLegislation is law made by Parliament and bodies authorised by Parliament. Researching legislation is an integral part of law study. Legislation is cited with the abbreviated jurisdiction in parentheses after the short title. For example:
To understand the structure of statutes, view the Federal Register of Legislation's Structure of a law. The glossary assists with understanding legislative terminology.
This guide focuses on Commonwealth and Queensland legislation. The Federal Register of Legislation links to legislative websites for other Australian jurisdictions.
Key resources for researching Queensland and Commonwealth legislation, and related materials, are listed below.
Printed legislation was traditionally the sole authorised (official) version. However, legislative amendments mean government legislation websites now publish authorised Acts online. These are generally in PDF format, identified with a logo and/or statement.
Background secondary source research identifies legislation relevant to an area of law. For example, legal encyclopedias, looseleaf commentary services and textbooks include analysis of, or references to, key legislative provisions. Government legislation websites provide options to search by keyword and the below resources are also helpful.