First Principles of Business Law

3.1. Using information in the citation of an Act

It is easiest to find documents you know the name of because you can often find them in alphabetically arranged lists.  Each piece of legislation has its own name or ‘citation’.  If you know the citation of an Act, you can find it by using the information in the citation.

Example: Suppose you want to find the Damage by Aircraft Act 1999 (Cth).  You can see from the citation that it is Commonwealth of Australia legislation, enacted in 1999. Suppose you choose to search the AustLII databases.  Because you are looking for Commonwealth legislation, start by choosing the Cases and legislation databases and the Cth (Commonwealth) database, as shown below.