Macquarie Street building temporarily closed for refurbishment. Read more

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitors are kindly advised that this website includes images, sounds and names of people who have passed.

All users should be aware that some topics or historical content may be culturally sensitive, offensive or distressing, and that some images may contain nudity or are of people not yet identified. Certain words, terms or descriptions may reflect the author's/creator's attitude or that of the period in which they were written, but are now considered inappropriate in today's context.

Key to library resources

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Notice

ACCESS THE COLLECTION

Temporary closure of the Macquarie Street building

The Macquarie Street building, including the Bashir Reading Room, is temporarily closed for a major refurbishment until late 2025.

During the building work, all reading room services (except study rooms and the Children’s Library), along with a temporary bookshop and cafe, are available in the Mitchell building.

To access collection material please visit the temporary Bashir Reading Room in the Mitchell building or visit the Special Collections area in the Mitchell Library Reading Room to request original material.

For more information and FAQs, visit Transforming the Macquarie Street building.

South Australia

Online resources

Access South Australian Acts and regulations, bills, parliamentary debates (Hansard) and government gazettes online.

Publication Years Website Key

Acts
(in force and repealed)

Acts
(as made)

  • Acts
  • (point in time)
  • [http://portsea.austlii.edu.au/pit/xml/sa/act/]
  • all
  •  
  • 1837+
  • 2004+

South Australian Legislation

  • AustLII
  • AustLII
  • all
  • 2003+
  • South Australian Legislation
  • AustLII
  • 2005+
  • 2002+
  • South Australian Legislation
  • AustLII
  • 1992+
  • Parliament of South Australia
South Australian Government Gazette

1839-1999

1841-1843

1999+

AustLII

Hathi Trust Digital Library

SA Government Gazette

Proceedings of the Parliament of South Australia

1882-1948 (incomplete)

Hathi Trust Digital Library

Print resources

South Australian Acts and regulations, bills, parliamentary debates (Hansard) and government gazettes available in the Library. You will need to request these resources from our stack storage.

Publication Years Call number Key
Acts
  • 1974–2007
  • 1937–1973
  • 1857–1936
  • 1851–1856
  • 1837–1850
Consolidated Acts
  • 1837–1975
    (11 volumes)
  • 1837-1936
    (9 volumes)

 

Regulations

 

Not held at the State Library
Parliamentary Debates
(Hansard)
  •  
  •  
  • 1993+
    House of Assembly
  • 1993+
    Legislative Council
Parliamentary Debates
(Hansard)
  • 1973–1993
  • 1952–1972
  • 1914–1951
  • 1896–1913
  • 1896–1901
  • 1858–1895
Government Gazettes
  • 1961–2012
  • 1839–1960

 

Proceedings of the Legislative Council of South Australia

 

1843; 1864

 

Votes and proceedings of the Legislative Council during the ... session of the year : with documents connected therewith / South Australia

 

  • 1852-1856
Proceedings of the Parliament of South Australia, with copies of documents ordered to be printed
  •  
  • 1856; 1864; 1866/67; 1870/71; 1877-1879; 1882; 1914; Index to Parliamentary Papers 1857-1915
  • 1839–1960

1857-1960

1857/58-1901

1961-

 

Glossary

Acts: The law made by parliament and often referred to as an Act of Parliament. Sometimes referred to as a statute or legislation.

As made (Acts and regulations): Acts as originally passed by parliament without amendments. Also referred to as Sessional Acts or Acts as passed.

Bills: A draft of a new Act or a draft of an amendment to alter an existing Act. Statutes or Acts of Parliament, start life as a Bill. A Bill must pass through a process of 2 readings in both upper and lower houses of Parliament before it becomes law.

Consolidated Acts: Consolidated Acts incorporate amendments made by other legislation since the original legislation was made. A consolidated Act refers to the combination of a number of Acts of Parliament into one codifying statute. This term is commonly used for electronic versions of legislation.

Government Gazettes: A gazette is an official publication for the purpose of notifying the actions and decisions of the government. All Australian governments (Commonwealth, State and Territory) publish official gazettes.

Point in time: Point in time legislative research means establishing the content of an Act at a specific point in time. Point in time Act is used interchangeably with the term Historical Act or Reprint.

Regulations: Regulations are made under the authority of an Acts. Regulations contain details necessary to carry out specific matters relating to the Act. Regulations are 'delegated' or 'subsidiary' legislation. Other delegated legislation includes rules, ordinances and by-laws.

Repealed (Act or Regulation): Refers to legislation that is no longer in force.

Legal information at the Library

This Guide has been developed by staff of the Legal Information Access Centre (LIAC), State Library of NSW. The State Library holds an extensive collection of case law, legislation and looseleaf publications.

Need to know more?

 South Australian legislation [external website]

 Parliament of South Australia [external website]

 South Australian Government [external website]

subject index

 Subject guide to South Australian Legislation [external website]

This Index covers the subject matter of principal public Acts of South Australia.

Developed by Australian Law Librarians Association - SA Division.

OFFSITE STORAGE

State Library material held at offsite storage will be available 4pm the next weekday. Find out more information about requesting from offsite storage.