Last Updated 8 August 2016

Law databases

A large amount of public domain (available to all) legal material, including Acts of parliament and law reports can be accessed via the internet. An advantage of using the internet over printed material is that the resource is more likely to be up to date and it makes searching for information on related topics easier.

A selection of useful legal sites on the internet that contain Australian legal information include:

  • AustLII—this is the ideal starting point for Australian legal research. It provides access to cases and legislation, and to journals and an index of Australasian materials. Whilst an excellent starting point, AustLII is not an official site for legislation, and thus recent changes may not always be reflected in the legislation accessed on this site
  • the Australian Government Home Page—this site offers information from government departments and agencies, state governments and other internet sites
  • the National Library of Australia—this website provides links to government servers, legislation and policy documents, including access to Bills before Australian parliaments
  • Queensland Legislation—Queensland legislation is available in a portable document format (pdf)
  • Commonwealth Register of Legislation—Commonwealth Legislation is available in both pdf and rich text format.

Other useful internet sites about the law

While the following sites do not necessarily provide access to Acts of parliaments or common law cases, they do offer a range of legal information targeted at the general public:

  • Legal Aid Queensland—this website contains information about the law, lawyers and the legal system. It is written in easy-to-understand language and has been created so that anyone can use and understand it. Through this site, a person can also access self-help publications dealing with such issues as unfair dismissal, domestic violence and drink driving
  • Family Court and the Federal Circuit Court—these websites contain self-help kits and forms on family law matters, as well as information on these courts’ procedures and practices
  • Child Support (part of the Department of Human Services)—this website contains forms and publications for parents with legal issues regarding maintenance
  • Residential Tenancies Authority—this website provides services to tenants, lessors and agents in Queensland, and information about the services and access to forms
  • Public Trustee—this website contains information including will making, investments, enduring power of attorney, auctions and administration of estates
  • Queensland Law Society— this website contains information about finding a solicitor and legal information brochures
  • Department of Justice and Attorney-General—this website contains information on the law, mediation, guardianship and the court system
  • Caxton Legal Centre—this website provides information about its services and has links to many sources of law on the internet.