About Find Legal Answers


Information is provided to the community via the Find Legal Answers website, and the Tool Kit collection held in NSW public libraries.

The Find Legal Answers service is co-ordinated by staff of the Legal Information Access Centre (LIAC) at the State Library of NSW. LIAC staff administer the Find Legal Answers website, provide updates to the Find Legal Answers Tool Kit in public libraries, and assist libraries to deliver the service to their communities. 

You can contact LIAC staff at liac.library@sl.nsw.gov.au

If you have a legal information enquiry, you can contact  State Library staff via the Ask a Librarian  service or LawAccess.

The Find Legal Answers Tool Kit is a collection of up to 20 plain language books held in NSW public libraries which answer everyday questions about the law.

The Tool Kit is updated twice a year. Titles are selected by specialist law librarians as being the most useful and relevant practical guides to the law in NSW. Subjects include renting, wills and estates, family law, drink driving, facing a criminal charge in court, neighbours and the law, bankruptcy, debt and credit problems and consumer law.

The Find Legal Answers Tool Kit is available in all NSW public libraries. Selected titles are also available online - see list below.

Current Tool Kit titles 

How laws are made videos 

LIAC has produced two videos to explain how our laws are made.

How Laws are Made, presented as two 10-minute films: Parliament and Courts, provides an overview of where Australian laws come from and how new laws are made. It is aimed at non-lawyers including public librarians, the education sector and legal assistance agencies.


The law governs our lives from the day we are born to the day we die. So where do our laws come from? This video explains how parliaments make law, explaining the process of a Bill to an Act, how legislation changes over time, why the Commonwealth makes some laws and the states others, and delegated legislation such as regulations. Also available in captioned format.

How laws are made - Parliament


Legislation is a major source of law. Courts are the other source of law. This video explains the court hierarchy, the jurisdiction of courts and tribunals, and how courts can make new law by interpreting legislation, filling gaps in legislation, and developing the common law when there is no legislation. Also available in captioned format.

How laws are made - Courts

Ordering promotional material

Use this form to order brochures, magnets and bookmarks about the Find Legal Answers service

You can visit the State Library of NSW to use our legal resources.  The State Library has a large collection of text books, loose-leaf services, legal encyclopaedias, databases, journals, legislation and court reports.