The search input box is located at the top of every page on australia.gov.au. Type in your search word(s) and click 'Go' or press 'Enter'.

Your search query will search across all Australian Government websites, a catalogue of Australian Government publications held by Australian libraries, and the australia.gov.au indexes.

The simple search results page has a 'search summary' at the top, showing the number of search results retrieved. The search bar allows you to refine your search by changing your search terms.

Refine Your Search

If your search didn't return the results you were after, you can alter your search word(s) and search again. All your previous search words will still be listed in the search input box at the top of the search results page. You can add or remove words from the search, or even delete everything and start a completely new search.

Search Clustering

The new clustering engine provides you with another way to discover some of the major topics related to your search query.

"Search With" shows the sub-topics and themes present within your search results list, presenting them as ways to search within your query.

Search clustering is available with 'All' collections and with the 'Federal Websites' collection.

Search Collections

You can also change the collection you wish to search via the search tabs. The collections available for search are:

All

The default search which searches across all collections.

This Site

By choosing this option you will restrict your search to the indexes maintained by australia.gov.au. It is comprised of links to websites and key webpages to help you find government information and services. This search can be further restricted to just the A-Z List of Government Websites.

Federal Websites

By choosing this option you will restrict your search to content on Australian Government websites.

Publications

By choosing this option you will search both content on Australian Government websites and the catalogue of Australian Government publications held by Australian libraries. This catalogue has been kindly provided by the National Library of Australia. This search can be further restricted to only Government publications held by Australian libraries.

Media Releases

By choosing this option you will restrict your search to content on Australian Government media release webpages. This search can be further restricted to media releases from specific portfolios.

Refining Your Results Within Search Collections

To refine your results within the 'This Site', 'Publications' or 'Media Releases' collections, select the relevant checkbox or radio button and press 'Search Again'. 'Search Again' will only work on the current search terms.

If you wish to alter your search terms or perform a new search, change your query terms in the search input box and click 'Go' or press 'Enter'.

More Options

More options for defining your search are available through Advanced Searching from the Advanced Search page.

Search Term Operators can also be used in both the simple and advanced search fields.