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It is helpful to know how judgments are published in Australia when undertaking research in case law.
Which courts produce written decisions?
Not all courts produce written decisions. Generally speaking, most federal courts will produce and publish written decisions. In state court hierarchies, superior courts (Supreme Courts and Courts of Appeal) and intermediate courts (District Courts or County Courts) will also produce and publish written decisions. However, matters heard in the Magistrates or Local Courts will rarely lead to a written decision.
Jury trials do not necessarily result in a written decision. However, following the accused pleading guilty, or the jury finding the accused guilty at trial, there will be a sentencing hearing. Many courts make these sentencing remarks available to the public.
Unreported and reported judgments
Almost all decisions, except those that are suppressed on the grounds of privacy or public interest, are initially published online on court websites or on AustLII as unreported judgments. From 1992 onwards, Australian courts adopted a standardised system of citation known as ‘medium neutral citation’ for unreported judgments.
Of those, judgments deemed to be significant are reported and published in law reports series. These are called reported judgments or reported decisions. To be reported, a judgment should do one or more of the following:
- raise significant points of law
- introduce a new principle of law
- significantly modify an existing principle of law
- settle a question of law
- apply an established principle in a new area
- define or interpret legislation or legal terms or be particularly instructive.
Authorised reports
All Australian jurisdictions have a set of official or ‘authorised’ law reports. These are listed in Table 5 below. Judgments published in authorised reports are checked by a Judge (or Judge’s associate) prior to publication.
Which version of the judgment should be used?
It is possible that a decision has been published multiple times. First, in unreported format, then sometimes in an unauthorised law report series, and finally in an authorised law report series. Commonwealth v Tasmania, an important case about the balance of powers between the Commonwealth and the states, exists in unreported format and was reported (published) in the Commonwealth Law Reports, Australian Law Reports, and Australian Law Journal Reports. Reports found in the unauthorised report series are referred to as parallel citations.
| Commonwealth v Tasmania | [1983] HCA 21 | Unreported (medium neutral citation) |
| (1983) 158 CLR 1 | Authorised law report series | |
| (1983) 46 ALR 625 | Unauthorised law report series | |
| (1983) 57 ALJR 450 | Unauthorised law report series |
The general rule is, whether citing a case in your assignment or using it in court, it is important to always use the authorised version of the case where possible. The fourth edition of the Australian Guide to Legal Citation recommends this in Rule 2.2.2.
Australia – Current list of Authorised Reports
| Court | Law report abbreviation | Full title |
|---|---|---|
| High Court of Australia | CLR | Commonwealth Law Reports |
| Federal Court of Australia | FCR | Federal Court Reports |
| Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory | ACTLR | Australian Capital Territory Law Reports (2007-onwards) |
| Supreme Court of New South Wales | NSWLR | New South Wales Law Reports (1971-onwards) |
| Supreme Court of the Northern Territory | NTLR | Northern Territory Law Reports (1991-onwards) |
| Supreme Court of Queensland | QR (formerly Qd R) | Queensland Reports (1959-onwards) |
| Supreme Court of South Australia | SASR | South Australian State Reports (1921-onwards) |
| Supreme Court of Tasmania | Tas R | Tasmanian Reports (1979-onwards) |
| Supreme Court of Victoria | VR | Victorian Reports (1957-onwards) |
| Supreme Court of Western Australia | WAR | Western Australian Reports (1960-onwards) |
United Kingdom – Authorised Reports
| Court | Law report abbreviation | Full title |
|---|---|---|
| Supreme Court House of Lords Privy Council |
AC | Law Reports, Appeal Cases |
| High Court (Chancery Division) | Ch | Law Reports, Chancery Division |
| High Court (Family Division) | Fam | Law Reports, Family Division |
| High Court (Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division) | P | Law Reports, Probate |
| High Court (Queen’s Bench Division) | QB | Law Reports, Queen’s Bench |
