1. What is your research need?
Take a moment before you start researching to think about what you are trying to find.
Are you researching for an essay or trying to find a specific case?
Are you trying to find the one right answer to a specific question, such as whether euthanasia is legal in your state or territory, or are you trying to find general information on a topic, such as children’s rights?
Your Task
Work through this checklist below
Understanding types of legal resources
Different resources are useful for reading about different types of information. Legal resources can be divided into two types: primary and secondary.
Primary sources are the actual text of the law, that is, legislation and case law, as created by the parliaments and the courts.
Secondary sources are the tools that assist you in locating and understanding the relevant primary sources. They include books, journal articles, encyclopaedias, dictionaries and more.
Legal Research Methodology flowchart
Source of Law
- Primary sources
- Legislation
- Extrinsic Materials
- Explanatory Memorandum (EM)
- Second Reading Speeches
- Hansard
- Cases
- Australia
- UK
- Legislation
- Secondary sources
- Journal articles
- Textbooks
- Legal Dictionaries
- Legal Encyclopaedias
- UN materials
Tip
Need to research a topic, but don't know where to begin? Start with secondary sources. They'll explain the topic and lead you to the key cases and legislation. Check out the links on this page, then delve deeper on the secondary sources guide.
Legal dictionaries
Not sure of the definition of a legal term? Try the following online dictionaries:
- Australian Law Dictionary, 3rd edition (Oxford Reference Online)
- Encyclopaedic Australian Legal Dictionary (Lexis+ Australia)
- LexisNexis Concise Australian Legal Dictionary, 6th edition (ProQuest)
Some good print law dictionaries which you can borrow from the Library are:
- Australian Law Dictionary, 3rd edition (Oxford University Press)
- LexisNexis Concise Australian Legal Dictionary, 6th edition (LexisNexis)
- LexisNexis Australian Legal Dictionary 2nd edition (LexisNexis)
Note
The standard English dictionary used by Australian courts and government departments is the Macquarie Dictionary.
- Macquarie Dictionary, 7th edition. Online access via Credo Reference.
- Macquarie Encyclopedic Dictionary, 2nd edition. Library copies for loan.
Legal encyclopaedias
Legal encyclopaedias will give you concise information on an area of law and help clarify topics. You may also find references to key cases and articles for further readings.
- Halsbury's Laws of Australia available via Lexis+ Australia
- The Laws of Australia available via Westlaw Australia.