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State and territory legislation and government
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All users should be aware that some topics or historical content may be culturally sensitive, offensive or distressing, and that some images may contain nudity or are of people not yet identified.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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Visit the Library |
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Freely accessible eresource |
Western Australia
Online resources
Access West Australian Acts and regulations, bills, explanatory memoranda (EMs), parliamentary debates (Hansard) and government gazettes online.
| Publication | Years | Website | Key |
| Acts (in force and repealed) | all | State Law Publisher, WA |  |
| Regulations (in force and repealed) | all | State Law Publisher, WA | |
| Index to WA legislation | all | State Law Publisher, WA | |
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| Hansard | 1996+ | Parliament of Western Australia | |
| Hansard archive | 1870–1995 | Parliament of Western Australia | |
| Government Gazette | 1998+ | State Law Publisher, WA | |
| Index Government Gazette | 1927+ | State Law Publisher, WA | |
Print resources
West Australian Acts and regulations, bills, explanatory memoranda (EMs), parliamentary debates (Hansard) and government gazettes held by the Library. You will need to request these resources from our stack storage.
| Publication | Years | Call number | Key |
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| Reprinted Acts | 1939–1969 | TQ043405 Offsite storage |
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| Regulations | Not held at the State Library | ||
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Glossary
Acts (Statutes): 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 (Statutes): 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.
Explanatory Memoranda: The Explanatory Memorandum provides an explanation about the purpose of the bill.
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.
- Find legal answers
LIAC provides quality legal information to NSW communities through the public library network, the dedicated Find Legal Answers website and by working collaboratively with key agencies.
Need to know more?
Parliament of Western Australia [external website]
WA Legislation [external website]
WA Government [external website]
OFFSITE STORAGE
State Library material held at offsite storage will be available 4pm the next weekday.