For publishers & authors Legal deposit

The State Library of Western Australia is the legal deposit library for Western Australia. Western Australia Legal Deposit Act was passed in May 2012. This Act covers print, audio-visual, digital material and newspapers. Legal Deposit Regulations 2013 for print and other non-online publications including audio-visual came into force on 1 January 2014.

The Act applies to material published in Western Australia; by a person who is resident in Western Australia, or whose principal place of business is in Western Australia.

A publication is any work that has been made available to the public.

Publishers in all Australian jurisdictions are required to deposit print and electronic publications with the National Library of Australia in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. If both formats are available, electronic is preferred. The National Library does not collect audio-visual material.  

Information on the legal deposit requirements for publishers in other states of Australia is available on the National and State Libraries Australasia web page Legal Deposit in Australia and on the National edeposit website.

The State Library encourages Western Australian authors and publishers to donate a second copy of a publication - the first copy is archival, the second is an access copy.  If authors or publishers would prefer to be paid for the second copy please advise the Library and if a second copy is required, the Library's agent will purchase it on behalf of the Library. If the publication is also available in digital format the Library may prefer a digital copy as the second copy.

Before the Act and Regulations are extended to Internet (online) publications, the Library encourages deposits of Western Australia digital publications in the spirit of legal deposit through the National edeposit (NED) service.

National edeposit (NED) service is a collaborative initiative of Australian National and state and territory libraries for the capture, preservation and discovery of published electronic material across Australia. More information on this including portal access for publishers can be found at ned.gov.au.

National edeposit (NED) enquiries:
Email: ned.enquiries@slwa.wa.gov.au
Telephone: (08) 9427 3348

The Legal Deposit Act 2012 and  Legal Deposit Regulations 2013 apply to all Western Australian Government publications; additional requirements for WA Government Agencies, including a requirement for the deposit of digital Western Australian Government publications, are specified in a directive from the Premier of Western Australia.

The Premier's Circular does not apply to Local Government, however legal deposit legislation still applies, and we encourage LGAs to be guided by the same depositing requirements for digital publications as State Government agencies. Local Government Agencies should note that documents listed under section 5.94 of the Local Government Act 1995 are state records and are managed under the State Records Act 2000 and the General Disposal Authority for Local Government Records. Local Government Agencies should not send the Library any documents (other than Annual Reports) listed in that section. Local government agencies should still deposit publications not listed in section 5.94 for example: newsletters, magazines, books, reports and maps.

Two copies of publications produced for the public in print format only (i.e. where there is no digital version) should be deposited with the State Library.  The Library collects publications in the form in which they are distributed to the public. For publications that are made available to the public in both print and digital editions, agencies are required to forward one copy of the printed version and deposit a digital version via the National edeposit (NED) portal. Where a publication is made available to the public in digital format only, agencies are to deposit via the National edeposit (NED) portal.

More information about the National edeposit service and portal access can be found at ned.gov.au.

If sending documents for public consultation and display please send them in addition to the copies required under legal deposit. 

Australian government departments and agencies are required to deposit copies of their publications with the National Library of Australia under the Commonwealth Library Deposit and Free Issues Schemes. For electronic publications, once deposited in the National edeposit portal, obligations for national edeposit have been filled.

The specialist libraries of Government agencies operate as part of a network of State information resources. Their collections are part of the State's information assets and are considered a whole of Government resource.

Catalogues, indexes and other library management resources are to be considered part of the specialist library collection. Prior to disposing of any part of a library collection, with the exception of stock culling associated with routine collection management, agencies should consult with the State Librarian.

If you have any queries about this process please contact us:
Email: collections@slwa.wa.gov.au
Telephone: (08) 9427 3348

Where State Library staff identify that a library collection contains unpublished records, the librarian or other person responsible for the collection will be responsible for contacting the agency's records management unit to make arrangements for that material to be retained or disposed of as appropriate.

In 1968 Western Australia established a State Film Archives to acquire, preserve, catalogue and make available for research films of significance to the State. A directive to deposit government produced or sponsored film with the Archives was first issued by the then Premier in 1970.  All published motion pictures produced or commissioned by Government agencies in any format (digital preferred) should be deposited with the State Library of Western Australia. This includes promotional, commercial and other thematic productions.

The State Library does not accept items for public libraries directly from authors and/or publishers.  Selection decisions for public libraries are the responsibility of public library staff or an allocated supplier/s. Contact public libraries directly or contact these suppliers:

• Westbooks 
• ALS Library Services 
• James Bennett 

Arrangements made for the supply of public library titles via these suppliers has no relation to the supply of titles for collections housed within the State Library.  Titles accepted by the suppliers must fit specified profiles for content and format. Not all titles can be accepted. 

The State Library of Western Australia collects a wide range of documents and images for the J. S. Battye Library of West Australian History.  Personal letters, diaries and photographs provide a glimpse of the past and/or depict contemporary life in Western Australia. These records are useful for researchers, family historians and others involved in the process of constructing history.  

The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is a 13-digit number that uniquely identifies books and book-like products published internationally. Each number identifies a unique edition of a publication, from one specific publisher. The State Library does not issue ISBNs or ISSNs, nor do we require you to have an ISBN or an ISSN to deposit a publication.