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Many decisions are made by courts and tribunals each day. The decisions that are made, transcribed and released are called judgments. See our Judgments page for more information.
Select judgments are published in law reports series depending on the significance of the decision, for example, if the judgment changes the law or provides a new perspective on a particular point of law.
The following table describes the difference between reported and unreported judgments and authorised and unauthorised law reports:
Judgment |
Access |
---|---|
Authorised
|
|
Reported
|
|
Unreported
|
|
Locating Unreported Judgments
Court |
Subscription Resources |
Free Resources |
---|---|---|
High Court of Australia |
Lexis Advance (1903- ) Westlaw Australia (1933- ) Capital Monitor (1996- ) |
High Court of Australia (1903-) Law Library of Victoria Catalogue (1950- ) AustLII (1903- ) JADE (1903-) |
High Court of Australia Special Leave Dispositions |
Capital Monitor (1996- ) |
High Court of Australia (1903-) AustLII (2008- ) JADE (2008 - ) |
High Court of Australia Transcripts Note: The Court has its own Court reporting service which provides an accurate transcript of the proceedings of the High Court for the use of the Justices. (Source www.hcourt.gov.au/publications/judgments/transcripts
|
Capital Monitor (2003- ) |
High Court of Australia (1903-) AustLII (1983- ) JADE (1983- ) |
Family Court of Australia Note: Section 121 of the Family Law Act 1975 makes it an offence, except in very limited circumstances, to publish or distribute a report of a case or part of a case, including information contained in a judgment, which identifies parties, related or associated persons, witnesses or others involved in the case. A breach of the section is a criminal offence. The section also sets out certain limited defences to criminal liability. An example is where the Court has expressly authorised the publication (Source www.familycourt.gov.au/)
|
Lexis Advance (2007- ) Westlaw Australia (1979- ) Capital Monitor (1988- ) |
Family Court of Australia (recent decisions) AustLII (1976- ) JADE (2008- )
|
Federal Court of Australia If you still have not located the judgment see Federal Court Judgments frequently asked questions |
Lexis Advance (1977-1979, 1980-) Westlaw Australia (1983- ) Capital Monitor (1992- ) |
Federal Court of Australia (1977-) AustLII (1977- ) JADE (2002- )
|
Federal Court of Australia Full Court If you still have not located the judgment see Federal Court Judgments frequently asked questions |
Lexis Advance (2002-) Westlaw Australia (2002- ) Capital Monitor (2002- ) |
Federal Court of Australia (2002-) AustLII (2002- ) JADE (2002- )
|
Federal Circuit Court |
Lexis Advance (2013- ) Westlaw Australia (2012- ) Capital Monitor (2013- ) |
Federal Circuit Court (current year) AustLII (2013- ) JADE (2013- )
|
For more information about case law research and the Australian court system see the Melbourne University Australian Case Law Research Guide.
For more information about judgments and the conventions for citing them, see the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (published by the University of Melbourne) and the Court Cases in Australia Guide (published by the State Library of Victoria).