A Guide to Legal Research in the ACT
This factsheet distinguishes between legislation and case law and provides instructions on how to access the relevant resources.
Summary
Key takeaways
Outlines how to research law in the ACT
Explains the difference between legislation and case law; federal law and ACT law
Explains the meaning of “jurisdiction”, “case law” and “precedent”
Introduces the ACT Legislation Register and explains how to read legislation, including different versions, table of contents and explanatory statements
Explains how to find case law in AustLII, Jade and ACAT’s database and how to use the different search functions
Key actions
Visit: The ACT Legislation Register for ACT’s laws, regulations and subordinate legislation
Visit: The Federal Register of Legislation for Australia-wide laws
Visit: AustLII’s case and statute law database
Visit: The Jade Browser
Visit: ACAT’s Decisions page
Visit: Google Scholar for books, journal articles and other academic literature
Visit: The Australian Law Reform Commission Publications page to read Inquiry reports, information sheets and the ALRC Reform Journal
Visit: The Parliament of Australia’s Hansard page for transcripts and parliamentary debates
