The Law Handbook 2024

Chapter 1.1: Where our laws come from 11 Many Acts (and regulations and ordinances) have had changes made to them. The period within which changes (called amendments) have occurred will sometimes be indicated in the date in the Act’s title; for example, Family Law Act 1975–1977 (Cth). To find an up-to-date Act, regulation or ordinance you can search the parliamentary statute books or online for the various amendments, or a consolidated version of the Act, or use reprints. It is very important to make sure that the copy of an Act you are referring to is up-to-date. Copies of any Act, regulation or local law can be found on the internet. Some websites that publish legislation require you to subscribe to view the content. These subscriptions are expensive for the occasional user. Government sites may not be updated as quickly as subscription sites, but they are free and extremely useful for most purposes. The following websites provide information and legislation: • The Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII): www.austlii.edu.au This site provides free access to a broad range of legislation and cases from across Australia. It is an excellent starting point. • Commonwealth information: www.australia. gov.au This site provides a great deal of interesting and useful information about government services and policies, not just legislation, and is a useful starting point for links to government agencies. • Commonwealth legislation and parliamentary documents: www.legislation.gov.au This site provides access to current and historical Commonwealth Bills, Acts and regulations. • Federal Legislation Register: www.legislation. gov.au This site provides low- or no-cost access to the law (particularly legislation) for the community. • Victoria Online: www.vic.gov.au This site provides information about local, state and federal governments. • Victorian legislation and parliamentary documents: www.legislation.vic.gov.au This site provides access to current and historical Victorian Bills, Acts and regulations. • Local councils: Most councils have their own websites. To find your local council’s website, visit https:// knowyourcouncil.vic.gov.au. • Australian Commonwealth Government: www.australia.gov.au This site provides access to a wide range of Australian Government publications. Alternatively, if you wish to find an Act or other parliament-made law, visit one of the libraries listed under ‘Libraries’, below. Also, the Law Library of Victoria has produced a video on how to find current legislation; to view, visit www.lawlibrary.vic.gov.au/legal-research/videos . Finding common law Law reports contain the more important cases decided by the courts. There are many different law reports, each one reporting decisions of different courts in different states and countries. When a reported case is referred to in this book, a traditionally accepted shorthand reference is used (e.g. Commonwealth v Anderson (1960) 105 CLR 303; [1961] ALR 354). This shorthand reference tells us that: • the person commencing the action is the Commonwealth Government and the person defending the action is Anderson; • the decision was handed down in 1960; • this case was reported in volume 105 of the Commonwealth Law Reports (CLR) on page 303; • this case was reported in the 1961 volume of the Australian Law Reports (ALR) on page 354. For each case, most law reports contain the names of the parties to the dispute, a summary of the facts involved, a summary of the court’s decisions (called the ‘headnote’), the judges’ word-for-word written judgments, and the order of the court. If you are looking for cases on a particular topic (as opposed to a particular case) you can use the Australian Legal Monthly Digest or Australian Current Law (both are available online, but you may have to pay a fee). These books are arranged under topics and list relevant cases and where to find them. Most courts have websites where you can access recent decisions and other useful information. Useful court websites include: • High Court of Australia: www.hcourt.gov.au; • Federal Court of Australia: www.fedcourt.gov. au; • Supreme Court of Victoria: www.supremecourt. vic.gov.au;