Law Resources

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Recently all information desk staff have undergone training using the Law Handbook online. This is a valuble and extremely useful resource and most, if not all, legal questions can be answered using this.

The most common legal questions that we get at the library involve searching for a particular act (be it Federal or State); finding a Justice of the Peace or a solicitor; and where is the nearest legal aid service/centre.


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To access the various law resources, go to the Information on the web link on the WML website, then choose Law & Government, local, state & federal.



Test me

Use the following 3 resources to answer the following:

1. AUSTLII (Australian Legal information Institute)
Which section of the Victorian Fences Act compels your neighbour to contribute to the cost of repairing your boundary dividing fence? (Hint: look under Victorian Consolidated Acts)

2. Victorian Justice Department
Locate a Justice of the Peace near you. (Hint: look under the "justice system" link).

3. Law 4 Community - Legal Service
A patron comes to the Information Desk with the following problem:
I am a uni student who was caught doing burn outs and now the police have impounded my car. Where is the nearest place I can get some legal advice?

Australia and New Zealand NewsStand

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NewsStand is primarily a newspaper database that contains searchable electronic copies of articles from leading Australian and New Zealand regional and local newspapers; such as The Australian, The Age, Herald Sun and Leader newspapers. It also indexes key ABC news resources, as well as transcripts of current affair TV and radio programs. NewsStand is invaluable for searching back issues of newspapers; either individually or collectively. The content is updated daily and the RSS feed and send alert option enables users to receive new information when it becomes available.


Show me


Help topics are available at:
http://search.proquest.com/help/webframe.html?Help_Overview.html


Try me


To access, go to the Information on the web link on the WML website, then choose either Magazines and Newspapers or Databases A-Z.
Go to
http://ezproxy.wev.vic.gov.au/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/?accountid=58750


Test me


1. How far back can I search The Age newspaper? What about the Whitehorse Leader?
2. Find articles in The Australian relating to the “carbon tax” prior to the August 21, 2010 federal election.
3. Look up obituaries for Lionel Rose.
4. Find articles that mention “libraries” in the Manningham Leader from the last 12 months. Now create a “send alert” to receive any newly published articles mentioning libraries for a 2 month period.