Law & Government

The State Library of Victoria holds the largest publicly accessible collection of Victorian and Australian government publications and law resources. Containing significant contemporary and historical publications, this collection is an invaluable resource for research.

What's in the Law & Government Collection?

The Law Collection, which is predominantly made up of legislation and law reports from Victoria and Australia, also contains plain language resources, reference materials and works that popularise aspects of the law such as descriptions of famous trials, biographies and histories.

Government publications include any official publication produced by a governmental body. Due to legal deposit and exchange arrangements, the Library has a vast collection of these resources. They include complete sets of Victorian government gazettes, Hansard, parliamentary papers and legislation ranging from the 1850s until today. The Library also collects government publications from the United Nations, United Kingdom, United States and the European Community.

The Library also has an extensive collection of historic British parliamentary papers, Hansard, law reports and the London gazette as well as collections for the United States and Canada. International treaties and documents from the United Nations, the former League of Nations and European Communities are also well represented.

How can I access material in this collection?

A wide selection of items from the Law & Government Collection is available for browsing and reading in the La Trobe Reading Room and the Redmond Barry Reading Room.