LAWS1020 Legal History
The aim of this course is to give the student an appreciation of the sources and development of the common law, equity and our legal institutions. The way in which the law has developed as society has changed and has adapted to differing demands and circumstances provides the key to a proper understanding of the law in its modern environment. It will trace the development of legal ideas and disciplines from English history around 1066 to modern day Australia.
About this guide
This guide was created by a librarian and contains some key resources you can refer to throughout the Legal History course.
Tradition & change in Australian law by 
Most UK reported case series can be accessed via the ICLR database. According to rule 23.1.2 within the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC), "the Law Reports, published by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales, should be cited where available."
‘Point-in-time’ legislation allows you to access a version of the law as it appeared at a particular point in the past. You can use individual State and Territories legislation websites for point-in-time services or a database service LawNow (Lexis) or (Westlaw). These websites also contain historical legislation.
Also remember you can consult related extrinsic material such as bills, Hansard, explanatory memoranda and law reform documents.
1. Go to the Federal Register of Legislation
2. Select 'In Force' or and either search or browse to locate the relevant Act.
3. After locating the Act select View Series
4. Compilations will be listed in reverse date order. Refer to the Start Date and End Date columns to navigate to a relevant compilation of the Act.
If you are interested in the history of a particular provision of the act, go to that provision in the current compilation of the act and view the history of amendments given in italics below the text of each provision.
2. Select Acts in Force
3. Locate Act via a search or browse by title
4. Select Versions of this Act. Historical versions are listed in reverse data order.
If you are interested in the history of a particular provision of the act, go to that provision in the current compilation of the act and view the history of amendments given in italics below the text of each provision.
2. Select Acts in Force
3. Locate Act via a search or browse by title
4. Use the 'exact date required' option to review the legislation at a particular point in time
If you are interested in the history of a particular provision of the act, go to that provision in the current compilation of the act and view the history of amendments given in italics below the text of each provision.
Extrinsic material
It is common for leading cases to be published in several law report series.
According to rule 2.7 in the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC), the "most authoritative available version of a case should be cited."
When deciding which version of a case to cite, follow the following hierarchy below:
Tip #1: To find out if a case has been 'reported', look up the judgment in a case citator (e.g Lexis CaseBase).
Tip #2: For Australian judgments, CaseBase always lists the most authoritative case citation first.
