Below is a list of sources to access historical acts, bills and hansard for the Commonwealth and the States. For modern legislative material, refer to the Australian Legislation library guide.
Acts of Parliament 1851 - 1900 (AustLII), 1853 - current (hard copy in the Law Library)
Bills 1932 - current (hard copy in the Law Library)
Acts of Parliament 1832 - 1900 (AustLII), 1832 - current (WA government website), 1891 - current (hard copy in the Law Library)
A useful fact sheet on tracing UK Acts of Parliament has been produced by the House of Commons Information Office:
Prior to 1963, Acts of Parliament were numbered using the year of the sovereign’s reign in which the Act was passed, a system known as regnal years. Under the regnal year system, an Act passed early in a parliamentary session has a citation such as 5 Edw. 7, c. 9, for the ninth chapter in the session that commenced in the fifth year of the reign of King Edward 7th. It was common for a session to extend into a second regnal year, giving rise to a citation such as 8 & 9 Geo. 6, c. 4.
Other databases that have versions of historical statutes and regulations include the following:
Several compilations of pre-1200 legislation exist and many can be found through the library catalogue:
Statutes of the Realm is the most authoritative source for older UK legislation.
Hansard is the record of parliamentary debates.
Note: for more information on the definitions of local, private and personal acts, see the introduction to each table.
The House of Commons Journal is the corrected, archive edition of Votes and Proceedings, the formal record of House of Commons business for a given day.
The House of Lords Journal is the corrected, archive edition of Minutes of Proceedings, the formal record of House of Lords business for a given day.
