Parliamentary Papers are documents that have been tabled in parliament, and have been ordered by parliament to be printed. Not all documents tabled in parliament are published in the parliamentary papers. Generally, only documents of some significance are included, such as:

• Budget papers
• White Papers
• Annual Reports
• Reports of Royal Commissions
• Parliamentary Committee Reports.

Many parliaments are now publishing tabled documents on their websites. To access current tabled papers, first try the parliamentary website. For historical research, printed Parliamentary Papers remain an important resource for historical research.

Accessing Parliamentary Papers:

• Australian Parliamentary Papers
• Queensland Parliamentary Papers.

For other Parliamentary Papers from other Australian states or overseas jurisdictions, access the tabled papers on the relevant parliamentary website, or search the library catalogue.

For further information see Parliamentary Papers - Fact Sheet 21 by the National Archives of Australia.

Hansard is the name given to printed parliamentary debates in Australia and many other parliamentary systems around the world. The publication is named after Thomas Curson Hansard, an early printer of the Parliamentary Debates. Hansard is sometimes known as the Parliamentary Debates or the Record of Proceedings. Parliamentary debates include:

• the introduction and explanation of Bills
• Motions
• Ministers' statements
• Private members' statements
• Motions of condolence
• Questions without notice (delivered in Question Time)
• Written questions (Questions on Notice).

Accessing Hansard:

Most parliamentary systems, will have two distinct publications of parliamentary debates, which reflect their bicameral parliamentary systems. Queensland, of course, currently has one official records of debates for the Legislative Assembly.

• Commonwealth. House of Representatives. Record of Proceedings (Hansard)
• Queensland. Official Records of the debates of the Legislative Assembly
• Other jurisdictions (via the Legal Research Guide).

For parliamentary debates from other jurisdictions, access the relevant parliamentary website, or search the library catalogue using keywords: Hansard, record of proceedings, or parliamentary debates.

For access to legislation (including Acts, Bills, and Regulations) please see the Legal Research Guide.

Gazettes are a key information resource for accessing government information. A gazette is where the government announces its decisions and actions, including:

• Appointments, transfers, resignations or promotions within the public service
• Establishment of departments, bodies or commissions
• Establishment or changes to electorate boundaries
• Proclamations, notices and circulars
• Date of when legislation receives Royal Assent
• Government tenders
• Deaths, wills and intestacies

Accessing Government Gazettes:

• Australian government gazettes
• Queensland government gazette.

For further information see Commonwealth of Australia Gazettes - Fact sheet 22 by the National Archives of Australia, or Government Gazettes by the Queensland State Archives.

Parliamentary Committees play an important role in the parliamentary system by:

• investigating particular public policy issues
• reviewing proposed legislation or existing areas of law
• providing oversight of parliamentary and government administration and public sector organisations

Typically, each house of parliament will have its own committees - though there are joint committees represented by members from both houses - and in many instances, committee members will come from a range of political parties.

Accessing Committee information:

• Work of Committees (Queensland Parliament)
• Inquiries (Parliament of Queensland)
• Commonwealth House of Representatives Committees
• Commonwealth Senate Committees

For further information on parliamentary committees see What is a Parliamentary Committee? published by Queensland Parliament. See also Infosheet 4 - Committees by Commonwealth of Australia Parliament.

Media releases are issued regularly by Government Ministers, Departments and Electoral offices. Ministers use media releases to keep the public informed about the latest news relating to their portfolio. Speech and interview transcripts will sometimes be included as media releases.

You may be able to view media releases by portfolio or topic, and subscribe to recieve updates.

• News and Media (Cth)
• News and events (Parliament of Australia)
• Media Statements (Qld)
• Media releases (Queensland Parliament)

For older media releases try the Ministerial Document Service.The Ministerial Document Service is a daily collation of Commonwealth Ministers' and Opposition Leaders' statements to the press.

Green Papers

Green papers are documents about a particular public policy issue, released by the government in order to stimulate discussion and feedback from key stakeholders. A green paper might include any number of proposals or solutions for feedback.

Accessing Green Papers:

• if current, Green papers may be located on Departmental websites
• Green papers may be published in Parliamentary Papers
• conduct keyword search in library catalogue

For further information see What is a Green Paper? by The Guardian.

White Papers

White Papers are more substantial documents than Green Papers and will outline a policy proposal or proposed legislation. As with Green Papers, they are often released to foster discussion and feedback.

Accessing White Papers:

• if current, White Papers may be located on Departmental websites
• White Papers may be published in Parliamentary Papers
• conduct keyword search in library catalogue

Parliamentary Handbook

A Parliamentary Handbook (sometimes called the Parliamentary Record) is produced for each parliamentary session. This useful publication contains:

• Biographical profiles of Members and Senators
• Electoral results
• List of parliamentary committees
• Statistical information about current and previous parliaments
• Historical information about the parliament

Accessing the Parliamentary Handbook:

Parliamentary handbooks are often available to download from the relevant Parliamentary website.

• Queensland Parliamentary Handbook
• Parliamentary handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia

To access a Parliamentary Handbook for another Australian state, or overseas jurisdiction, look in the relevant parliamentary website or search the Library catalogue.

Directories contain the names, title and contact information of Members of Parliament and government officials. Most of this information is now published online.

• Directories (Cth) - with contact information for Government and Members of Parliament.
• Queensland Government Executive Directory
• Members (Queensland Parliament) - find current and former Members.

Parliamentary Libraries not only offer research support for Members of Parliament, they also produce a number of independent publications designed to help politicians in considering public policy and legislation.

• Reports on topical issues or legislative areas
• Economic bulletins
• Bills Digests
• Parliamentary Handbook

Access Parliamentary Library reports:

• Queensland Parliamentary Library.
• Parliament of Australia. Parliamentary Library.