20 Searching Tips for Acts

When searching for an Act, think about what you are looking for before searching. Are you looking for the whole Act or a certain part, section or schedule? Or are you searching across all legislation to find the Acts that are relevant to a topic?

You can search the New Zealand Legislation website or the subscription legal databases for current legislation.

Official New Zealand Legislation

The New Zealand Legislation website is a free government website maintained by the Parliamentary Counsel Office and has all versions and amendments of New Zealand legislation in force or enacted since 2008.

The New Zealand Legislation website has an online guide explaining how to search for legislation and Bills.

Subscription Databases

The subscription databases, such as Westlaw New Zealand, Lexis Advance and CCH iKnowConnect, include links between the legal material, which will help you to find statutes and secondary legislation along with cases and commentary that mention or discuss your statute. Some of this content is similar in each subscription database, but because each is published by a different publisher, some content is different (especially the commentary). As a good researcher you should check legislation in each database to see which content is linked and whether any of the databases have material that will help with your research.

Each of the subscription databases has online training and help sections that explain how to use their platforms and website:

• Westlaw New Zealand;
  • Finding Legislation PDF guide;
  • Find and search legislation on Westlaw New Zealand video (3:46);
• Lexis Advance;
  • Finding Legislation video (2:52);
• CCH iKnowConnect (selected Acts only);
  • 360-degree view of legislation (2:55).