Library guides: Legal Research Skills: Secondary sources

What are secondary sources?

Secondary sources are those that evaluate, explain or define the law and include:

Dictionaries: define key terms
Encyclopaedias: provide an overview of a legal topic
Books: discuss and analyse legal topics or issues
Commentary: update and comment on legal topics
Journal articles: provide original research and scholarly analysis of the law

It is often best to use secondary sources at the beginning of your research to get a good overview of your legal topic. Secondary sources will also reference the key primary materials.

Key databases for secondary sources

Westlaw AU This link opens in a new window
Provides Australian case law (including the case citator KeyCite), legislation, journals and commentary (including the encyclopaedia 'Laws of Australia').
Lexis+ (Australia) This link opens in a new window
Lexis+ is replacing Lexis Advance in early 2024.
To be used exclusively for academic research only.

Provides Australian case law (including the CaseBase case citator), legislation, journals, commentary (including a comprehensive legal dictionary & the Halsbury's legal encyclopaedia), and practical guidance modules. Some international content (NZ, UK, US, Canada & Hong Kong) is also included.

View the Lexis+ Introductory Guide or Help pages to get started.
CCH iKnowConnect This link opens in a new window
Provides subject-specific Australian commentary, legislation and case law, with particular strengths in commercial, competition & consumer, contract, corporations, employment, family, IP, commercial property, taxation, and torts law.
To learn more about using CCH iKnowConnect, attend free live webinars run by CCH staff or read the training guides.
Note: SCU does not currently have access to the personalisation features such as saving favourites, shortcuts, email alerts, folders or search history.
InfoRMIT This link opens in a new window
Search across all full-text and abstract/index databases, or select AGIS Plus Text and Australian Public Affairs Full Text for a more focused search. AGIS includes over 140 law journals in all subject areas, indexed from 1975.
AustLII This link opens in a new window
Freely available Australian database containing full-text secondary sources across all subject areas, including journals, law reform papers and and subject specific collections.
Select Journals and scholarship

Australian Legal Research Skills ebook

Legal research skills: an Australian law guide
Publication Date: 2023
A freely available open access textbook created by librarians from Southern Cross University, Queensland University of Technology, University of Queensland, James Cook University, University of Southern Queensland, Charles Darwin University and Deakin University.

Finding books in the library

Type author, title or keywords into the library collections search box below:

This short video demonstrates how to find a copy of a particular textbook.

Tutorial: Updating the law using secondary sources

Complete this tutorial to learn about the different types of secondary sources that can you update the law. Click at the bottom-right corner to expand to full size.