From 11 to 22 March, the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is scheduled to hold its 68th annual meeting, as the ‘principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women’. Australia played a formative role in establishing the CSW in 1946, and recently concluded a membership term from 2020 to 2023. This Flagpost gives an overview of some of the key Australian women who helped establish the CSW and direct its functions and efforts in the early years. Read more...
In this month’s release: Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey and latest schools data Forthcoming releases If you are interested in any of the forthcoming releases or datasets, please contact the Parliamentary Library to discuss in more detail. Statistical reports Release date ABS Building Approvals, January 2024 4 Mar ABS Australian System of National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Method... Read more...
The second House of Representatives (HoR) debating venue, the Federation Chamber, is unique among Australian Parliaments. 30 years ago amendments to the Standing Orders (SOs) were made on 10 February 1994, to establish a second chamber to function in parallel to the HoR. After an existing committee room in Parliament House was refurbished at a cost of $854,902 (p. 51), the inaugural meeting of the second chamber was held 4 months later on 8 June 1994. It was on that occasion, John Howard remarked: If the Main Committee can add to the intelligent dispatch of business and, in this rather more intimate atmosphere, lift the quality of debate on some of the less cont... Read more...
In this month’s release: The health of the nation and the latest data on food insecurities in Australian households. Forthcoming releases If you are interested in any of the forthcoming releases or datasets, please contact the Parliamentary Library to discuss in more detail. Statistical reports Release date ABS Building Approvals, December 2023 1 Feb ABS International Trade Price Indexes, December 2023 1 Feb ABS Producer Price Indexes, December 2023 2 Feb ... Read more...
The Australia, UK and US enhanced defence and security partnership (AUKUS Partnership) can be expected to bring significant change to Australia’s defence trade control framework. Ahead of Parliament debating the Defence Trade Controls Amendment Bill, this article provides background by briefly explaining Australia’s current defence export regulatory framework. Read more...
A by-election for the federal electoral division of will occur on Saturday 2 March 2024. The seat has been vacant since 4 December, following the death of Peta Murphy MP. This Flagpost article provides details of the by-election process, and context regarding previous by-elections. Read more...
Welcome to the new year. In this month’s release: Injuries in Australia, including those caused by extreme weather and sports injuries; Rental Affordability Index report and 2022 Retirement Census. Forthcoming releases If you are interested in any of the forthcoming releases or datasets, please contact the Parliamentary Library to discuss in more detail. Statistical reports Release date ANZ ANZ Job Advertisements, December 2023 4 Jan ABS Retail Trade, November 2023 ... Read more...
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) releases quarterly estimates of employed people by industry (in their main job, if a person holds more than one job) in the publication Labour Force, Australia, Detailed. Quarterly data is available since November 1984, with the most recent data being August 2023. Read more...
On 30 November 2023 Dave Sharma became the Australian parliament’s 644th Senator, filling the casual vacancy created when Senator Marise Payne resigned on 30 September 2023. In doing so Senator Sharma becomes the 53rd person to sit in both chambers of Australia’s federal parliament, following his service in the House of Representatives as Member for Wentworth from 2019 to 2022. This Flagpost article reviews the history of those who have followed a similar path and the reasons it can occur. Read more...
This month focuses on the following topics: intimate partner violence among 18–19 year olds, the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program and life expectancy in Australia. Forthcoming releases If you are interested in any of the forthcoming releases or datasets, please contact the Parliamentary Library to discuss in more detail. Statistical reports Release date ABS Permanent Migrants in Australia, 2021 1 Dec ABS Marriages and Divorces, 2022 1 Dec AIHW ... Read more...
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