1. Freely available sources of legal information

2. Overview Cases Legislation
How cases are published — unreported and reported cases
Interpreting case citations
Finding cases
Tracking cases
Legislation
Parliamentary process
Finding current legislation
Finding Bills, explanatory notes and speeches
Interpreting legislation
Law reform

3. Unreported v reported decisions
Decisions, or cases, are first published in unreported format
Unreported decisions use a medium neutral citation style
Significant cases may be reported at a later date
A decision is reported when it is published in a law report series
Each court/jurisdiction has an authorised report
Authorised reports are approved by the court prior to publishing
Example: Royall v The Queen was heard across a number of days in the High Court 1990/91, and initially published in unreported format. Eventually it was published in the Commonwealth Law Reports — the authorised report series of the High Court.

4. Interpreting case citations
Unreported Royall v R [1991] HCA 27
Party names
Year
Court abbreviation
Judgment number
Reported Royall v R (1991) 172 CLR 378
Party names
Year
Volume Number
Report abbreviation
Commencing page number

5. Finding a case
Many unreported decisions are freely available on the web, while most reported decisions are only available via subscription services.
Two Australian websites offer comprehensive coverage of unreported decisions.
Jade — 
AustLII — 
Both services provide good coverage of unreported decisions published by Australian courts.
See our video 🎥 Searching for Case Law on AustLII

6. Finding a case — browsing
AustLII and Jade allow you to browse and find cases. To find Royall v R [1991] HCA 27 in AustLII, select your (1) jurisdiction, (2) court, (3) year, and (4) citation. 1 2 3 4

7. Tracking cases — case citators
Case citators are specialist tools used in legal research which provide researchers with new search options.
Case citators also provide information about the case:
status of the case (is the case still good law?)
subsequent judicial treatment
parallel citations (which version to cite?)
journal articles that comment on the case.

8. Case citators
Lawcite (via Austlii) — 
CaseTrace (via Jade) —
Unlike commercial case citators, don’t tell you if a case is still good law
Can be used to find judicial consideration of legislation

9. Parliamentary process

10. Locating current Acts
Government websites contain authorised versions of legislation
Commonwealth legislation — Federal Register of Legislation —
Queensland legislation — OQPC website —
There are a number of free websites that collect legislation from all Australian jurisdictions
AustLII — 
Lawlex —
Legify — 
See our video 🎥 Search for Legislation and parliamentary materials on AustLII

11. Parliamentary material — Bills
A Bill is the draft of the legislation that was introduced into Parliament for consideration
A Bill may be amended while before Parliament before it is passed
Copies of Bills can be access from:
Parliamentary websites
Government legislation websites

12. Interpreting legislation
Extrinsic material: useful to have recourse to documents evidencing the context within which the legislation was made.
Material before Parliament
Law reform reports (if a law reform inquire has led to legislative changes)
Government policy / Public consultation

13. Explanatory speech (2nd reading speech)
In Queensland, the explanatory speech is a speech by the Minister introducing the Bill before Parliament explaining the reason why the Bill is being introduced and what it is hoped to achieve
In most other jurisdictions in Australia this is called the ‘second reading speech’ and takes place on the second reading of the Bill.
Terminology depends on stage of the parliamentary process when speech given
Current procedure in Qld is for the speech to be given on introduction of the Bill
Prior to August 2011, the speech was given in Qld at the second reading stage
Where: Parliamentary websites

14. Explanatory note (explanatory memorandum)
The explanatory note is a plain English explanation of each clause of the Bill. It provides more detail on what each clause of the Bill is intended to achieve.
Different terminology for different jurisdictions
Cth and most state jurisdictions = Explanatory Memorandum
Qld = Explanatory Note
Only mandatory in Qld from 1990
Where: Most parliamentary websites, usually located with the Bill.

15. Law reform Law Reform Commissions are independent bodies
Usually one in each jurisdiction
Reports often available electronically on law reform websites or via AustLII
Reports provide:
Comprehensive analysis of present law
Extensive examination of law reform proposals
Where: Australasian Law Reform Library —  

16. Further resources and getting help
State Library — Encourage your students to become members of the State Library. Members receive greater access to legal databases.
Go to
Select ‘Search databases’
Select ‘Law’
UQ Guides
Legal Research Guide — 
Law Online Tutorial — 
Cyberschool – Legal Studies & Criminology —  students/schools/legal_studies
Specialised guides —

17. Any questions?