6 December 2013

Parliament: a quick guide to key internet links

Dr Joy McCann

Politics and Public Administration

This Quick Guide provides direct links to key websites, information and documents relating to:

•        Australia’s Vice Regal arrangements

•        Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia

•        Parliaments of the States and Territories

•        Overseas parliaments

•        Overseas parliamentary organisations.

Australia's Vice Regal arrangements

•        Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia: Australia is a constitutional monarchy and Australia’s Governor-General is appointed by the Queen as Her Majesty’s representative with powers derived from the Australian Constitution; the Governor-General must assent to bills passed by the Australian Parliament before they can become law

•        State Governors of Australia and Administrators of the Northern and Island Territories: the Governor of each Australian state represent the Queen and undertakes constitutional, ceremonial and community functions; the Administrators of the Northern and Island Territories represent the Governor-General and are appointed to administer the territory of the Commonwealth on his or her behalf

Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia

•        Current Ministry: Coalition Government led by Prime Minister the Hon. Tony Abbott MP

•        Current Shadow Ministry: Labor Opposition led by the Hon. Bill Shorten MP

•        Senators and Members: search for individual Senators and Members

•        Current Senators: search by commencement date, service expiry date, date and place of birth, gender, photograph and terms of service

•        Current Members: search by electorate, party, gender and surname

Proceedings

•        Sitting calendar for 2014

•        Watch Parliament: live broadcasting schedule of events in the Senate, House of Representatives and Federation Chamber

•        Hansard: search parliamentary debates by keyword, period, person, chamber/committee or context

•        ParlInfo: search parliamentary collections including chamber and procedural documents, key constitutional documents, Parliamentary Library collections and external media resources 

Procedures

•        Odgers’ Australian Senate practice, thirteenth edition | Standing Orders and other Orders of the Senate and Annotations, 2009 edition

•        House of Representatives practice, sixth edition | House of Representatives Standing and Sessional Orders

•        Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet parliamentary information: information about the current parliament and advice and guidance about operations of Cabinet and the Federal Executive

Historical information

•        Parliamentary handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia: historical information on the Commonwealth Parliament including Prime Ministers of Australia since 1901 | Chronology of Parliaments | Party representation in Parliament and elections since 1901

•        Australia's Prime Ministers: a brief history of each Australian Prime Minister compiled by the National Archives of Australia (NAA)

•        Australian Prime Ministers Centre, Museum of Australian Democracy (MoAD)’s online resources and links to Prime Ministerial records held in Australia

•        Federation timeline: prepared by the Parliamentary Education Office (PEO)

•        Australia’s Parliament House—more than 25 years in the making!: chronology of key events relating to Australia’s Parliament House and the Commonwealth Parliament

•        History of the Federal Capital and Parliament House: digitised material relating to the history of Canberra and the establishment of Parliament House including Parliament House and parliamentary zone | Federal capital | Committee reports | Key speeches

Research and information

•        Parliamentary Library: information, analysis and advice for the Commonwealth Parliament

•        Australian National University (ANU) Parliamentary Studies Centre: academic research on parliamentary issues

•        Parliament@work: educational resource about Australia’s parliaments and political parties

•        Australia and New Zealand Association of Clerks-at-the-Table (ANZACATT): formed in 2001 with members from each House of Parliament in Australia, Norfolk Island and New Zealand to enhance professional development of its members

•        Parliamentary Friendship Groups for the 44th Parliament Register: a list of officially recognised Parliamentary Friendship Groups

Parliaments of the States and Territories

•        Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly | Hansard

•        New South Wales Parliament | Hansard

•        Northern Territory Legislative Assembly | Hansard

•        Queensland Parliament | Hansard

•        South Australian Parliament | Hansard

•        Tasmanian Parliament | Hansard

•        Victorian Parliament | Hansard

•        Western Australian Parliament | Hansard

Overseas parliaments

•        Web sites of national parliaments: Inter-Parliamentary Union links to all national parliaments

•        PARLINE database on national parliaments: database of chamber structure and working methods for all countries with a national legislature

•        Selected national parliaments:

–      Canadian Parliament

–      European Parliament

–      Indian Parliament

–      New Zealand Parliament

–      Northern Ireland Assembly

–      Ireland Oireachtas

–      Scottish Parliament

–      United Kingdom Parliament | Hansard | Hansard Archive 1802-2005

–      United States House of Representatives | United States Senate | THOMAS (Library of Congress bill summary and status)

–      National Assembly for Wales

Overseas parliamentary organisations

•        Arab Parliament: a transitional parliament formed by the Arab League in 2005 to represent the will of the Arab people

•        Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF): loosely-structured and non-exclusive forum of national Asia-Pacific parliamentarians

•        Assembly of the Western European Union (WEU): the Inter-parliamentary European Security and Defence Assembly

•        Australasian Study of Parliament Group (ASPG): to encourage and stimulate research, writing and teaching about parliamentary institutions in Australia and the South Pacific

•        Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA): promotes parliamentary democracy amongst Commonwealth parliamentarians

•        Parliamentary Assembly for the Council of Europe: Council of Europe was established in 1949 to promote democracy, human rights and rule of law in Europe

•        Hansard Society for Parliamentary Government (UK): independent educational charity promoting effective parliamentary democracy

•        ParlAmericas (formerly FIPA): membership is composed of the national legislatures of the 35 independent states of the Americas

•        Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU): the international organization of Parliaments established in 1889

•        National Association of Parliamentarians: US-based association with international membership educating leaders in the use of parliamentary procedure

•        NATO Parliamentary Assembly: formerly North Atlantic Assembly

•        Norden: Nordic Council and Nordic Council of Ministers

•        OSCE Parliamentary Assembly: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe involving 57 participating states

•        Parliamentarians for Global Action: non-profit, non-partisan international network of over 1,000 legislators in 131 elected parliaments

•        Canadian Study of Parliament Group: non-profit organisation that brings together individuals with an interest in the role, function and reform of parliamentary institutions

•        Study of Parliament Group (United Kingdom): to study the working of parliament and parliamentary institutions, and other related aspects of parliamentary government and political science, and to advance public knowledge of these subjects

•        United States Association of Former Members of Congress (FMC): provides programs to educate about the role of Congress and support emerging democracies abroad

See Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) for other parliamentary organisations

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