If you enter a search term or phrase in the search box in the top right corner of each page on the site, a list of corresponding web pages and documents available on the site will be displayed.

• Entry of multiple search terms will return results that contain all those terms. For example, entry of recycled water will return documents and pages that include the terms recycled and water, and (but not necessarily) the phrase recycled water (see 'Boolean searching' below).
• To return only pages and documents including the phrase recycled water, use double-quote characters around your search query (see 'Phrase searching' below).
• Searches are not case sensitive (i.e. Fitzroy River and fitzroy river will return the same results).
• The search facility ignores short common words such as 'the', 'a' and 'of'.

Featured search

This site also includes a featured search function which displays the most likely page users are looking for when they enter a particular search term.

As it is not always possible to determine this, not all terms are linked to this facility. It is reserved for profiling likely search targets that do not appear in the first half-page of 'normal' search results, or to indicate other content related to the search term used.

It is important to note that the 'normal' search results for the search term you entered will appear directly under the featured search result.

Advanced searching options

To make a search much more specific, you can use advanced techniques such as phrase searching, boolean logic and wildcard searching.

Phrase searching

Including search terms in double inverted commas will return results that include that exact phrase.

For example, a search for power of attorney will return results that contain the terms power and attorney (of and other common words will be ignored). While a search for “power of attorney” will return only results that include the phrase power of attorney.

Boolean logic

Boolean logic describes the relationship between search terms. By default, if you search using more than one term, and is implied, and the search will return results containing both terms.

For example, a search on water management would discover records that contained the term water and the term management, though not necessarily combined in the phrase water management (see Phrase searching).

If you surround search terms with square brackets, the search will return results containing either or both terms, thus returning more results.

For example, a search on [water management], would discover records that contained the term water, those that contained the term management, and those that contained both terms.

You can also limit a search by including a hyphen in front of a search term to exclude results that include that term.

For example, a search on water -recycled would return pages or documents containing the term water, but exclude any that also contained the term recycled.

Wildcard searching

You can use the wildcard symbol (*) to extend a search to include different word endings or beginnings.

For example, a search on survey, will return only documents or pages that include that term. A search on survey* will also return documents or pages that include terms such as surveying or surveyed. A search on *climax will return documents or pages that include the terms climax, anticlimax, etc.

Note, the wildcard symbol can be used at the beginning or end of a search term, but not in the middle.