FAQ - Victorian Statutes Annotations
- What is the Victorian Statutes Annotations used for?
- What information does the Victorian Statutes Annotations contain?
- In what formats does the Victorian Statutes Annotations appear?
- How is the information arranged?
- How do I find what I'm looking for?
- What about Regulations and other subordinate legislation?
- How do I find whether an Act has been judicially considered?
- What about repealed legislation?
- How frequently does the Victorian Statutes Annotations update?
- How do I find how up to date the Victorian Statutes Annotations is?
- Does the Victorian Statutes Annotations include the text of the legislation?
- How do I find the most recent developments?
- Do I need to keep old volumes?
- What other publications can assist my research?
- Who may I contact for further information?
- Feedback
1. What is the Victorian Statutes Annotations used for?
Victorian Statutes Annotations is a guide to the legislation of Victoria. It is an ideal first point of reference in determining the current status, history and judicial interpretation of Victorian legislation. The Victorian Statutes Annotations brings together a variety of information from different sources, including much historical information not otherwise available in a single publication.
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2. What information does the Victorian Statutes Annotations contain?
Concise details of the amendment and judicial interpretation of Acts, Regulations, Rules and Miscellaneous Instruments (orders, by-laws, guidelines etc) in Victoria. Act entries particularise any amendment which has occurred and include assent, proclamation, commencement and gazettal details of the amending legislation. Other information relevant to the operation or interpretation of legislation is also listed, including second reading speeches and books and articles.
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3. In what formats does the Victorian Statutes Annotations appear?
The Victorian Statutes Annotations publishes in both electronic and hard copy formats.
Electronic: Both CD and online options are available, the CD version forming part of the Australian Legal Research Library. The electronic format is always consolidated so there is no need to refer to a supplement.
Hard copy: Published in the form of an annual consolidation (currently 2 volumes) and an updating supplement. An additional Repealed Legislation volume publishes separately.
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4. How is the information arranged?
The Victorian Statutes Annotations lists, in alphabetical order, the principal Acts of Parliament. All formats contain an extensive index allowing you to locate relevant statutory provisions by subject area. The hard copy format includes various tables to help you find what you want, including tables of principal Acts, Regulations, proclamations, bills and cases.
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5. How do I find what I'm looking for?
There are a number of ways to find the information you want.
Electronic: Search using the customised query template or browse the Contents screen. You may also search by subject area using the index.
Hard copy: As Acts are listed alphabetically, you can flip through the volumes to find the Act you're after. Alternatively, use the tables to find Acts, Regulations, bills or cases, or use the index to search for relevant Acts by subject area.
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6. What about Regulations and other subordinate legislation?
Regulations, Rules and other subordinate legislation made under an Act are listed under the relevant Act. Gazettal and commencement details are provided where available. Amendments to, and judicial interpretations of, subordinate legislation are noted in the same way as for principal Acts.
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7. How do I find whether an Act has been judicially considered?
In all formats, digests of the cases appear under the relevant Act entries. If a specific section of an Act has been considered by a case, the digest is presented under that section. Cases concerning Regulations are listed under the relevant regulation or clause.
If you are using the hard copy format of the Victorian Statutes Annotations you can search for cases using the Table of Cases. Each case entry includes the Act and section number to which the case refers. If you are using one of the electronic versions you simply search by the case name using the search template.
All recent cases are cross-referenced to Australian Current Law. The most recent cases include a BC number to enable you to find the full text of the judgment in Butterworths Unreported Judgments.
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8. What about repealed legislation?
Entries for repealed legislation are retained as many repealed Acts continue to have relevance after their repeal.
If you use the hard copy format you will find recently repealed Acts in the current publication, while older repealed legislation can be found in the separate Repealed Legislation volume.
Both electronic formats contain the Repealed Legislation.
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9. How frequently does the Victorian Statutes Annotations update?
The electronic and hard copy formats update at different times.
Electronic: The online format updates fortnightly. The CD format updates monthly.
Hard copy: Each jurisdiction publishes as one consolidation and one supplement every year. The consolidation usually publishes in the first half of the year and consolidates all the previous year's information. The supplement usually publishes in the second half of the year. The Repealed Legislation volume updates every 5 years.
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10. How do I find how up to date the Victorian Statutes Annotations is?
The currency of update is stated in each format. In the online format, jump to the currency statement from the contents page. In the CD format, jump to the currency statement from the title screen. In the hard copy format, the currency statement appears on the title page.
Currency should always be checked prior to commencing research.
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11. Does the Victorian Statutes Annotations include the text of the legislation?
The Victorian Statutes Annotations is designed to assist you in researching legislation by providing all relevant information in a clear, concise way. It is designed as a first point of reference in your research. Consequently, the text of the legislation is not included. All legislation is available from the Victorian Government Printer.
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12. How do I find the most recent developments?
Australian Current Law, publishing monthly in paper, and ACL Express, publishing fortnightly in paper, are designed to help keep you up to date with all the latest changes since the last Victorian Statutes Annotations hard copy update.
You can also use the Australian Current Law - Reporter daily online updates to keep up to date with the most recent case law since the last online Victorian Statutes Annotations update.
Legal Express, a free alert service, keeps you up to date with the latest cases delivered by the courts regardless of which format you use.
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13. Do I need to keep old volumes?
If you are a hard copy subscriber you should be aware that each consolidation of the Victorian Statutes Annotations is cumulative. When you receive a new consolidation you no longer need to keep your previous consolidation and supplement.
Each supplement includes information received since the last consolidation. When you receive a new supplement it is important to keep both the supplement and the latest consolidation until the next consolidation publishes.
The Repealed Legislation volume is also cumulative. When you receive your new Repealed Legislation volume you no longer need to keep the old one.
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14. What other publications can assist my research?
Butterworths also publishes Annotations guides to the legislation of the Commonwealth and New South Wales and publishes a guide to the judicial interpretation of the legislation of Queensland. For further information please see the FAQ guide for each publication.
As a means of researching general propositions of law, Halsbury's Laws of Australia is an invaluable reference. All formats of the Victorian Statutes Annotations contain cross-references to Halsbury's and the electronic formats are hypertext-linked to Halsbury's for quick and easy reference.
Butterworths Unreported Judgments provides full text of the judgments of the superior courts of all Australian jurisdictions. The Victorian Statutes Annotations contains cross-references to Unreported Judgments for easy research.
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15. Who may I contact for further information?
For further information about the Victorian Statutes Annotations please contact the LexisNexis Customer Relations team.
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16. Feedback
We value your impressions and would be pleased to receive any comments about the Victorian Statutes Annotations.
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