Legal research - what you need to know
Legal materials are categorised into Primary and Secondary sources:
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Primary sources are legislation and case law;
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Secondary sources include discussions about the law or legal commentary such as books, journal articles, legal encyclopedia, reports, loose-leaf services and online services.
Further information is available on the Law LibGuide.
Legal cases
Unreported judgments are handed down by the court and are unreported versions of Australian cases can be found at Austlii, which is freely available.
ECU library also subscribes to the caselaw databases Legal Online and LexisNexis, which you can use while you are enrolled at the university.
Legislation
- Western Australian Legislation
Parliamentary Counsel's Office - the official WA Government site for access to Western Australian legislation, and the most up-to-date resource. - State Law PublisherWA legislation is made available on the State Law Publisher website - this is the official government site for making Western Australian legislation available and is the most up to date free website. the State Law Publisher also makes the WA Government Gazette available on their site which includes published Regulations, Rules (also known as subsidiary legislation) and Government notices.
- ComlawCommonwealth of Australia legislation is made available on the Comlaw website - this is the official government site for making Australian legislation available and is the most up to date free website.
- LawlexA subscription database that covers legislation for all Australian jurisdictions.
Standards Australia
- Engineering Workbench This link opens in a new windowInternational standards: ISO, ASTM, BSI, and ASHRAE.
[Registration required. Create a personal account using your ECU email address.]
Please download this tip sheet on how to access standards using Engineering Workbench - Techstreet - Standards Australia Online This link opens in a new windowAustralian standards covering: Aerospace, Automotive, Construction, Energy, Engineering, Government, Manufacturing, Medical devices, Pharmaceuticals, Safety.
[Registration required. Create a personal account using your ECU email address.]
Please download this tip sheet on how to access standards on Techstreet
Click here to register for Techstreet. See the database for the corporate key