Finding Legal materials

Legislation, Statutes, Acts, and Acts of Parliament are interchangeable words used to describe the laws made or enacted by the legislature (the Parliament). Acts are 'made' by the relevant Parliament. This means that they need to be passed by both Houses, and then receive royal assent - from the Governor General for Federal Acts, and the relevant Governor for State legislation. 

Searching for an Act using Google or another search tool can be problematic - Acts may have the same name but be from different jurisdictions, and Acts are are amended regularly, so it is important to make sure that you have the latest version. The best way to do this is to use the relevant authoritative site. See the Law guide for details of each Australian jurisdiction. 

The two modules below provide the basic steps to step through finding Australian Federal Legislation and, Victorian Legislation (Acts, Amending Acts and Regulations).