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Government publications
- Overview
- Web-based resources
- Government directories
- Parliamentary debates
- Parliamentary papers
- Reports
- Official records
- Green papers and White papers
- Royal Commissions
- Legislation
- Other publications
Overview
Government publications cover an enormous range of materials and subjects. They include reports of Select and Standing Committees, Royal Commissions, Commissions of Inquiry, together with the more regularly issued reports of government departments. For a useful overview consult Harrington, M. (1990), The Guide to Government Publications in Australia. A copy is held in the Law Collection (KZ/015.94053/HAR/1).
An important feature of this book is the discussion of official indexes in the final chapter. Also useful is the introductory chapter on Government in Australia. This details the structure of government and covers areas like the role of statutory authorities and the differences between select committees, standing committees and joint committees.
Web-based resources
There is a vast amount of government information available full text via the Internet. This includes Hansard from the Senate and House of Representatives, Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives and Journals of the Senate, Notice Papers (agenda) from each House, plus a wide range of government reports.
Quick links to key web sites are listed below. In addition, the National Library of Australia maintains a range of links to federal, state, local and overseas government information on their Australian Government Information page.
Commonwealth
Key sites:
New South Wales
Key sites:
Government directories
The following directories include basic information and contact details for Members of Parliament, the judiciary, government departments and agencies.
- S 354.94002/1 Government Who's Who of Australia - updated twice a year
- S 354.940305/1A Commonwealth Government Directory - updated twice a year
- S 354.94403/1 New South Wales Government Directory - usually updated once a year
Parliamentary debates
The verbatim record of parliamentary debates published by the various parliaments is commonly called HANSARD. It includes the text of all debates held, petitions presented, all notices of motion and answers to questions. Proof issues are published after every sitting day and these are cumulated and republished weekly. They are also republished in their permanent form in bound volumes at the end of each parliamentary period or session.
Commonwealth
Hansards have been prepared for the Senate and the House of Representatives since 1953. Before this the records of debates of both Houses were published in a single issue.
- S 328.9402/3 Australia. Parliament. Senate. Parliamentary Debates
- S 328.9402/2 Australia. Parliament. House of Representatives. Parliamentary Debates
The Index is in the back of the bound volumes (though not in every bound volume). For unbound issues use the contents page at the front. Some separate indexes are available at the end of each set of debates.
The Commonwealth Hansard index has two sections; one index of speeches and one index of subjects (e.g. Bills debated). Both indexes are published together in pamphlet form at the end of each parliamentary session and are republished in their final form in the bound volumes (See Harrington, pages 123-131, for further details on using indexes to Hansard).
New South Wales
In New South Wales the record of debates of both Houses appears in the same volume. Weekly proof issues are published first and are cumulated at the end of the parliamentary session into bound volumes.
- S 328.94406/1 New South Wales. Parliament. Parliamentary Debates
The Index is at the back of the bound volumes. Again, there are separate indexes to speeches and subjects. For unbound issues use the contents page at the front of each issue.
For more information, refer to the Indexes to Parliamentary debates guide.
Parliamentary papers
Many reports and other documents are tabled in Parliament, often because of a legal requirement. These include annual reports of parliamentary and government departments, reports of commissions and committees of inquiry, green (policy discussion) papers and white (policy information) papers. Either House of Parliament may order that a tabled document be printed. Documents are published as Parliamentary Papers and are assigned a parliamentary paper number. These are held in the Serials Collection in the Library.
Commonwealth
Papers presented to Parliament are at S 328.9401/3
There is a separately published Commonwealth Index to Papers presented to Parliament for each session, which enables you find the number of a particular parliamentary paper. This is at S 328.9401/3(1)
New South Wales
Joint volumes of papers presented to the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly are at S 328.94401/4
A series of indexes to these, called Papers Laid upon the Table and Ordered to be Printed, are kept in pamphlet boxes next to the Joint volumes and are at S 328.94401/5
For more information, refer to the Indexes to Parliamentary papers guide.
Reports
Many reports published as parliamentary papers are also published in a non-parliamentary paper edition. The Library often receives this edition of a report as well as the parliamentary paper edition. If so, it is catalogued individually and can be found on the Catalogue. Copies of government departments' annual reports are usually held in the Serials Collection. Copies of other types of reports are placed in the Main Lending Collection.
To locate reports try searching on the Catalogue with a
- Title search e.g. working nation
- Keyword search on topic e.g. women government policy australia
- Keyword search on department name e.g. report department aboriginal affairs
The word 'department' is sometimes abbreviated to 'dept' and it is important to try searching by the abbreviated term if your first search doesn't work. Try, for example: Keyword search on: dept immigration ethnic affairs
Inclusion of the words 'government policy' in a search may be useful. Try, for example: Keyword search: conservation government policy OR unemployment government policy
Official records
The official records are summary records of proceedings and therefore do not record everything said, apart from the wording of motions. They contain information regarding members of committees, records of attendance and details of papers tabled but not printed. The official records of the Commonwealth Parliament and State Parliaments have different names.
Commonwealth
The Journals of the Senate is the official record of the activities of the Senate; the Votes and Proceedings is the official record of the House of Representatives. These are prepared after each sitting day and are republished at the end of each parliamentary session in bound volumes.
- S 328.9401/1 Australia. Senate. Journals of Senate
- S 328.9401/2 Australia. Parliament. House of Representatives. Votes and Proceedings
The Index is in the index for Parliamentary Papers at S 328.9401/3(1).
New South Wales
The official records of the NSW Upper House are known as the Minutes of the Proceedings; the records of the Lower House are known as the Votes and Proceedings.
- S 328.94401/1 New South Wales. Legislative Council. Minutes of Proceedings (Bound volumes are produced as Journals)
- S 328.94401/3 New South Wales. Legislative Assembly. Votes and Proceedings
Indexes are produced sessionally and are located at the front of the bound volumes.
Green papers and White papers
Green papers are policy discussion papers. They are intended to promote public debate on proposed government policy. They may give details about the policy being promoted, or set out alternative courses of action and show the policy options available.
White papers are policy information papers Issued after this period of debate, they set out a policy that has been adopted and the philosophy and reasoning behind it.
These papers are not common with state governments, but have been issued at regular intervals by the Federal Government since the 1970's. (Since 1978, the distinctively coloured covers are no longer used). Federal green and white papers are tabled in Parliament and are published as parliamentary papers and in plain-cover editions.
If the Library received two copies it is possible that a paper may be found by searching the Catalogue Search by title of paper e.g. higher education policy discussion paper.
Note: the words green, white, or policy paper do not always occur in the titles of these papers.
Royal Commissions
The main functions of Royal Commissions are to inform Government. This is achieved either by gathering information to assist in the formulation of policy or by establishing the facts relating to a particular topic. Interim and final reports produced by Royal Commissions as a result of their investigations are tabled before Parliament. Nearly all these reports are released as parliamentary papers.
Final reports that are published as parliamentary papers can be identified through the following source: Borchardt, D.H. Checklist of Royal Commissions, select committees of Parliament and committees of inquiry. Copies are held in the 2nd Floor Compactus at 016.35494/2
The Library also holds many Royal Commission reports catalogued individually according to their subject matter. Search the Catalogue using a Keyword search (use 'royal' as well as keywords from the title of the report), e.g. royal deaths custody
Legislation
The Law Library (on the Ground Floor) holds copies of all Australian legislation (Bills, Acts etc). Check with Law Library staff if you need help with locating these. (Bills are the drafts of law that Parliament proposes to enact. See Harrington, pages 42-48, for details of types of bills, stages of bills and how to trace bills)
Other publications
Australian journal of politics and history at S 906/1 - Published three times a year. The second and last issue of each year includes a POLITICAL CHRONICLE; the second issue covers the last six months of the previous year and the third issue covers the first six months of that year. The chronicle is a summary of events in both the Commonwealth and State Governments.
Ministerial document service at S 354.940305/2A - This is a daily collation of press statements by Federal Government ministers and the leaders of opposition parties, including minor parties outside of Parliament. It includes statements, speeches, grants made, major contracts let and appointments of government agencies. There is no state equivalent of the MDS. It is indexed monthly and the index appears in one of the early issues of the following month.
Commonwealth of Australia Gazette at S 328.9406/3 - "The Federal Government, all State governments and the administrations of four Australian Territories publish gazettes. The gazette is the official means of notifying other governments and government agencies, as well as the general public, about government actions and decisions ..." (Harrington, 1990).
The Commonwealth of Australia Gazette is divided into a number of specialised series (e.g. Public Gazette, Business Gazette) most of which are held in the Serials Collection at S 328.9406/3, /3B, /3F etc. Notices in the gazettes cover local government and electoral matters, appointments and vacancies in the Public Service, and other matters depending on the particular gazette.
Search by Keyword on the Catalogue to find a complete listing of gazettes, e.g. try a search on: commonwealth gazette OR government gazette (for state gazettes)
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