Federal (Australian) Government
The Australian Government is a parliamentary democracy, constitutional monarchy, and a federation.
Andrew Campbell, Helicopter fly past, Queen in extreme bottom right, Canberra, 1988, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-143214725
Opening of new Parliament House, Capital Hill, Canberra, on 9 May 1988
Andrew Campbell, Helicopter fly past, Queen in extreme bottom right, Canberra, 1988, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-143214725
Opening of new Parliament House, Capital Hill, Canberra, on 9 May 1988
Key resources
Our collections include detailed records of Federal Government processes, actions, documents, statements and commentaries.
These are selected resources of Australian Government publications, general works, newspapers and other material.
Find out how to search the catalogue to find more resources.
Although GovPubs: the Australian Government Publications Guide is no longer maintained, it remains a key resource for locating selected types of Australian government publications.
Use the ‘Browse by Publication’ option to find Government publications in National, State and Territory libraries and online.
Committee reports are bound with Parliamentary papers. Alternatively, you can search for reports by committee name in the catalogue, for example, Final report / Select Committee on the National Broadband Network.
Parliamentary handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia 1901+
Information on the parliament, biographical details of parliamentarians, election information and historical statistics.
Call number: RF 328.94 AUS
Also available online from the Parliament House website
House of Representatives Practice 6th edition, 2012
Explanation of the laws and practices of the House of Representatives including: roles of office holders, the parliamentary calendar, motions, legislation, Senate amendments, questions and committees etc.
Call number RF 328.9405 A938-6
Odgers’ Australian Senate Practice 1953+
Explanation of the laws and practices of the Senate including: its constitutional role, parliamentary privilege, elections, officers, motions and amendments, debate, legislation, committees and relations with the Executive Government and the judiciary.
Call number: NLq 328.9405 ODG; latest issue in the Main Reading Room Reference Collection
From 1960 until 1992, the Library maintained newspaper clipping files containing articles from major Australian metropolitan newspapers. Many of these clippings files, including those relating to Australian politics and government, have been catalogued and are available to request online. For an overview of what is available please refer to our Australian newspapers research guide.
Some useful collections of newspaper cuttings include:
- Australian Labor Party
- Liberal Party of Australia
- National Party of Australia
- Democratic Labor Party (Australia)
- Australian Country Party (1920-1975)
- New South Wales - Parliament - Elections
- Australian Federal elections: newspaper cuttings, 1961-62
Biographical files on parliamentarians are also available, such as:
There are also some bound volumes of newspaper clippings that have been compiled to cover certain major periods, such as:
Old Parliament House political and parliamentary oral history project
Recorded from 6 August 2009 and ongoing.
Barry York, in ‘Politically Speaking’, National Library Magazine, September 2014, pp. 20-23, reports on this project.
Ministerial document service: daily collation of Ministers' and Opposition Leaders' statements 1976-2001
A daily collation of press statements by Federal Government ministers and the leaders of opposition parties. Includes press releases, speeches, grants made, major contracts let and appointments of government agencies
PM Transcripts
This collection of transcripts from Australian Prime Ministers contains approximately 20,000 individual speeches, media releases and other transcript items dating from the early 1940s
Parliament of Australia
The official website of Australian parliament, includes information on parliamentary departments, links to committee reports, full text of bills, speeches, biographical information, parliamentary publications, and more
Making laws
Information sheet describing the passage of a bill through federal Parliament
Parliamentary committees
Information about the committee system and lists the current and former Senate, House and Joint Committees
Parliamentary Education Office
Provides parliamentary education services to schools, teachers and students
Commonwealth Budget
Includes budget speech, budget overview and guide, and portfolio budget statements
High Court of Australia
General information, sitting days, text of recent judges' speeches etc.
Australia. Parliament, Senate and House of Representatives members' roll on the occasion of the first meeting at Canberra 9th May, 1927, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-44170277
Featured resource
This is the members roll for the first meeting of Parliament in the purpose-built Parliament House, opened in Parkes, Canberra on 9 May 1927.
It was the home of Australia's Federal Government from until 1988.
The Member’s Roll includes the signatures of each member of the Senate by state, and the signatures of the members of the House of Representatives, against their corresponding electorate.
Case study: 1993 proposed dental reform
Q: Can you please help me find the 1993 Australian Labor Party election proposal? It contains details about the proposed dental reform for low income earners and pensioners.
Media releases (including speeches) can be found in the Ministerial document service: daily collation of Ministers' and Opposition Leaders' statements. We can check January to March 1993, leading up to the election.
The dental reform program is not specifically mentioned in the monthly indexes, however the election statements by the Prime Minister (Paul Keating) and by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health (Brian Howe) are included.
The earliest speech that mentions the Dental Reform Program is from Brian Howe, in a speech in Port Macquarie on the "Fight for Medicare" (Page 6660 of the Nos. 139 - 156 Ministerial Document Service) on 24 February 1993:
"Today the Prime Minister announced initiatives which extend the caring arm of Medicare.
"First, a public dental scheme for those people who really need it. All health card holders - that is two million Australians - will now be eligible for free dental services".
The Prime Minister's speech is not in this volume, but can be accessed online from the Museum of Australian Democracy. This is also dated 24 February 1993. However, no details are given, just the general outline:
"A new Commonwealth dental health program will be established for emergency and basic dental care for health card holders."
Get help with your research
Our specialist staff can help you with your research, to locate resources and use our microform and scanning equipment but they cannot undertake extensive or ongoing genealogical, historical or other research on your behalf.
Find out more in our Information and research services policy.
Continue your journey
More to explore
Julian Ashton & Howard Ashton & Otto Von Drehnen, (1901), [An invitation to meet Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York in celebration of the opening of the first Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135825982
