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Guide to Online Legal Research

Finding bills on parliament websites

  1. Go to the relevant parliament website (links listed below).
  2. Locate the link to Bills on the home page (or locate the advanced search form).
  3. Enter details about the Bill, or enter keywords if searching by topic.
  4. Navigate to the relevant Bill.
  1. Go to the Parliament of Australia homepage.
  2. Click on the Bills tab.
  3. Select the link to either Bills of the current Parliament or Bills of previous Parliaments (depending on date of course).
  4. Scroll through the list, then click on the link to the relevant Bill title.

OR

  1. Go to the Parliament of Australia homepage.
  2. Click on the Advanced Search (Parlinfo) link at the top of the page.
  3. Click on the Advanced Search/Browse tab.
  4. Enter title of Bill in the Search box.
  5. Check in the box/es next to the relevant option under Bills and Legislation.
  6. Click on Search.
  7. Results list will be displayed.
  1. Go to the NSW Parliament webpage.
  2. Click on the link toAdvanced Search at the top of the page.
  3. Select the Bills radio button.
  4. In the General terms box, enter keyword/s relating to the subject of the Bill.
  5. Alternatively, if you know the exact name of the Bill, enter the title in the Bill Title search box.
  6. Choose the appropriate option from the Status box, i.e. Assented.
  7. Click on Search.

Browsing for Bills, EMs and 2nd reading speeches in LawNow

Please go to the database Lexis Advance Research to access this title. Instructions on how to use LawNow can be found in this video.

Finding bills on LawOne

  1. Go to LawOne.
  2. Click on the Browse link in the LawOne toolbar.
  3. Click on the link to the relevant jurisdiction.
  4. Select relevant option from the list under the Bills column, i.e. Current.
  5. Select year from the Year select: calendar icon.
  6. A list of Bills for that year will be displayed in alphabetical order.
  7. Click on link to the title of the required Bill.
  8. The full text of the Bill should be displayed.
  9. To see progress of the Bill, click on the show bill progress icon (the red 3 bar icon).
  10. Click on the i Key Info icon to see legislative activity information, links to full text of the Bill, 2nd Reading Speech and Explanatory memorandum (if available).
  1. Go to LawOne.
  2. Click on the Browse link in the LawOne toolbar.
  3. Click on the link to the relevant jurisdiction.
  4. Select relevant option from the list under the Bills column, i.e. Current.
  5. Bills will be displayed alphabetically by title.
  6. Click on the relevant letter in the Starts with: alphabetical list.
  7. A list of Bills will be displayed in alphabetical order.
  8. Click on link to the title of the required Bill.
  9. To see progress of the Bill, click on the show bill progress icon (the red 3 bar icon).
  10. Click on the i Key Info icon to see legislative activity information, links to full text of the Bill, 2nd Reading Speech and Explanatory memorandum (if available).
  1. Go to LawOne.
  2. Click on the Browse link in the LawOne toolbar.
  3. Click on the link to the relevant jurisdiction.
  4. In the Bills column, select by Subject.
  5. Click on the link to the relevant subject in the left pane.
  6. To select a specific topic area under a subject, click on the + sign next to the relevant subject and then select relevant topic/s.
  7. A list of relevant Bills will be displayed in alphabetical order.
  8. Click on the link to the title of the required Bill.
  9. To see progress of the Bill, click on the show bill progress icon (the red 3 bar icon).
  10. Click on the i Key Info icon to see legislative activity information, links to full text of the Bill, 2nd Reading Speech and Explanatory memorandum (if available).
  1. Go to LawOne.
  2. Click on Search in the LawOne toolbar, and then select Go to Advanced mode (top right of the page)
  3. Enter keyword/s or phrase in the Search terms box.
  4. Select search type by checking the relevant radio button, i.e. Exact phrase.
  5. Restrict search to a section of the legislation if required, i.e. All Headings.
  6. Select Jurisdiction/s.
  7. Select Bill under Type of legislation.
  8. Select Status by clicking on available options.
  9. If required, select a Subject by clicking on the drop down list and then on relevant subject heading. To select a more specific subject area, click on the + sign next to the main Subject and then select a specific area from sub headings. (Note: a check tick will appear next to multiple selections).
  10. Click on Search.
  11. Results list will be displayed.

Finding bills on AustLII

  1. Go to AustLII.
  2. Click on the link to the relevant jurisdiction under the red toolbar, i.e. CTH (Commonwealth).
  3. Click on the link to the relevant AustLII Database, i.e. Cth Legislation.
  4. Click on the relevant link, i.e. Commonwealth Bills, 1967-.
  5. Click on the relevant year, and then scroll through the list of Bills.
  6. Click on link to the required Bill.
  1. Go to AustLII.
  2. Click on the link to the relevant jurisdiction under the red toolbar, i.e. NSW.
  3. Click on the link to the relevant AustLII Database, i.e. NSW Legislation.
  4. Click on the relevant link, i.e. NSW Bills 1979-.
  5. Select the relevant letter and then scroll through the list of bills.
  6. Click on link to the required Bill.
  1. Go to AustLII.
  2. Click on the link to Advanced Search (under the drop down arrow next to the search box).
  3. Select a search method by clicking on the relevant tab, i.e. Boolean Query.
  4. In the Enter your search box, enter keyword/s or phrase.
  5. In the Select the database(s) to search..., click on Show all (to show all databases in the list).
  6. All databases are selected by default, so first deselect all databases by clicking on the arrow at the top of the list.
  7. Scroll through and select the relevant option/s from the list, i.e. New South Wales: Bills. (Note: you can search across multiple databases by checking the box/es next to each database name).
  8. Click on Advanced Search (at bottom of list).