Identify and explain the sources of law: statute law made by parliament and common law made by courts.

What this dot point is asking

Australia has two primary sources of law, and you need to be able to explain both and how they relate.

Statute law (also called legislation or Acts of Parliament) is law made by elected parliaments. At the federal level this is the Commonwealth Parliament in Canberra; in Tasmania it is the Parliament of Tasmania, made up of the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council. A proposed law starts as a bill. It must pass both houses and then receive royal assent (the Governor's signature for state laws, or the Governor-General's for Commonwealth laws) before it becomes an Act. Examples include the Criminal Code Act 1924 (Tas) and the Commonwealth Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth).

Common law (also called case law or judge-made law) is law that develops through the decisions of judges in court cases. When a court decides a case, the reasons for the decision can become a precedent that guides later cases. Common law fills gaps where no statute applies and interprets the meaning of statutes that parliament has passed. The historical roots lie in the English legal tradition that Australia inherited after British settlement.

A key idea is the relationship between the two sources. Parliament is the supreme law-maker within its area of power. This means that if a valid statute conflicts with common law, the statute prevails (this is parliamentary sovereignty or supremacy). Parliament can pass an Act to confirm, change, or abolish a common law rule. Courts, in turn, interpret and apply statutes, and that interpretation itself becomes part of the law.

The power to make law is divided between the Commonwealth and the states under the Australian Constitution. The Constitution lists areas where the Commonwealth Parliament can legislate (for example, defence, immigration, and currency). The states keep the residual powers, meaning everything not given to the Commonwealth, which includes most criminal law, property, and health. Tasmania therefore makes most of the everyday law that affects Tasmanians. Where a valid Commonwealth law and a state law conflict, section 109 of the Constitution provides that the Commonwealth law prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.

Subordinate legislation (also called delegated legislation) is a further source. Parliament passes an Act that delegates power to a body such as a local council, a government department, or a minister to make detailed rules, regulations, or by-laws. This saves parliamentary time and allows experts to handle technical detail, but the rules must stay within the limits set by the parent Act.

The two sources work together in practice. Parliament passes broad legislation; courts interpret unclear words and apply the law to real disputes; and parliament may respond by amending an Act if it disagrees with how a court has read it. This back-and-forth keeps the law responsive while preserving the elected parliament as the primary law-maker. A clear example of the cycle is statutory interpretation: parliament writes a law in general words, a court is asked what those words mean in a particular case, the court's interpretation becomes part of the law, and if parliament dislikes the result it amends the Act to make its intention plain. This shows the two sources are not rivals but parts of a single system in which each shapes the other.

For exam answers, define each source clearly, give an Australian or Tasmanian example, and always explain the relationship: parliament is the senior law-maker, courts make and interpret law, and statute prevails over common law when they clash.