Australian Parliamentary Fellowship

Australian Parliamentary Fellowship

Since 1971 an annual Political Science/Studies Fellowship has been available in the Commonwealth Parliament. The Fellowship was originally named the Parliamentary Political Science Fellowship. In 1996 the title was changed to Australian Parliamentary Fellowship (APF) to open the opportunity to a broader range of issues and disciplines of interest to the Parliament.

Purpose of the Fellowship

The purpose of the Fellowship is to:
• contribute to scholarship on the Parliament and its work;
• promote knowledge and understanding of the Parliament;
• raise awareness of the role of the Library’s Research service;
• provide a researcher with work experience in the parliamentary environment; and
• support “early career” scholars.

Management of the Fellowship

The Australian Parliamentary Fellow is employed in the Research Branch of the Parliamentary Library in the Department of Parliamentary Services. The Fellowship is managed by the Parliamentary Library on behalf of the Parliament through an Australian Parliamentary Fellowship Sub-committee (the Fellowship Sub-committee) of the Joint Standing Committee on the Parliamentary Library. The Fellow provides research services to parliamentary clients, as well as researching and writing a monograph on an approved subject. The two activities are undertaken on an approximately equal allocation of time over a period of 12 months.

Applicants will have a proven research and writing record, a capacity to deliver a quality monograph on a topic of interest to Senators and Members within the time frame of the Fellowship, as well as appropriate personal qualities—such as service orientation, judgement, discretion, integrity, flexibility, self-motivation, and the capacity to work individually or as a member of a team. Their project should relate to:

• the way that Parliament functions;
• the way that Senators and Members operate; or
• the way a broad issue in national politics is dealt with in Parliament.

Applications are open to individuals who have completed a PhD within the last three years.

2009 Australian Parliamentary Fellowship

How to apply

The documentation may be obtained from our website www.aph.gov.au/dps/employment.htm, by email to dps.recruitment@aph.gov.au or by phoning (02) 6277 5666 (24-hour answering service). Hearing or speech impaired applicants may obtain the documents via the TTY number (02) 6277 7799.

Department of Parliamentary Services

The Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) is one of three departments which comprise the Parliamentary Service. The DPS’s role includes the provision of Hansard and broadcasting services, information and communications technology infrastructure and systems, library and research services, building management services and other facilities for Members, Senators, staff of parliamentary departments, other building occupants, visitors and members of the public.

The functions of the Parliamentary Library are:

'to provide high quality information, analysis and advice to Senators and Members of the House of Representatives in support of their parliamentary and representional roles'. (Parliamentary Service Act 1999 section 38B (1) (a))

Australian Parliamentary Fellows

Year/Name

Project

2009

Dr Scott Brenton [PDF 122KB]

Contemporary bicameralism in Australia

2008

Dr Joel Bateman

In the shadows: the Shadow Cabinet in
Australia [PDF 1,125]

Work-in-progress Seminar 24 September 2008: Audio, Powerpoint display

2007

Dr Timothy Kendall, BA Hons (Melb), MA (Melb), PhD (La Trobe)

Within China’s Orbit?: China through the eyes of the Australian Parliament

Work-in-progress paper: Federation and the Geographies of Whiteness

2005 (March 2005 to March 2006)

Dr Sophia Dimitriadis, BSc (ANU), PhD (ANU)

Water recycling – issues, techniques and technologies - unpublished

2004 (March 2004 to March 2005)

Dr Kate Burton, BA Hons (Macquarie), PhD (ANU)

Scrutiny or Secrecy? Committee Oversight of Foreign and National Security Policy in the Australian Parliament

2003 (March 2003 to March 2004)

Dr Angela Pratt, BA Hons (Wollongong), PhD (Wollongong)

Practising Reconciliation? The politics of reconciliation in the Australian Parliament, 1991-2000

2002 (February 2002 to February 2003)

Dr Maurice Rickard, BA Hons (Melb), MA Hons (Melb), MEd (La Trobe), PhD (La Trobe)

Principle and pragmatism
A study of competition between Australia’s major parties at the 2004 and other recent Federal elections

2001

Since the October 1998 election, when the selection committee was not available, there had been a slippage in timing for the commencement of the Fellowship. To attract a sufficient field of applicants, the Fellowship is usually advertised in September or October for engagement in January or February the following year. To bring this back into line, the Fellowship was not offered in 2001.

2000 (June 2000 to May 2001)

Dr Jennifer Curtin, BA MA Hons (Waik), PhD (ANU)

The Voice and the Vote of the Bush: The Representation of Rural and Regional Australian in the Federal Parliament (Chapter 1)

1999 (April 1999 to May 2000)

Dr Marion Maddox, BA Hons (Syd), PhD (Flinders), PhD (NSW)

For God and Country: Religious Dynamics in Australian Federal Politics, 2001 (excerpt)

1998 (February 1998 to February 1999)

Dr Adam Cobb, BA (Syd) MA (ANU) PhD (Cantab).

Tyranny of Insecurity - unpublished

1997 (January 1997 to January 1998)

Dr Trish Payne, BA, MA Qual. (ANU), Dip Ed, PhD (Sydney).

The Canberra Press Gallery and the Backbench of the 38^th Parliament 1996-98 (excerpt)

1996 (Name changed to Australian Parliamentary Fellow)

In selecting the 1996 Australian Parliamentary Fellow, the Selection Committee concluded that there were two very strong candidates. As a one-off arrangement, the Presiding Officers agreed to the appointment of two Fellows for 1996.

Dr Gianni Zappalà, BEc (Hons) (Sydney), MA (London), PhD (Cantab)

Dr Liz Young, BA (Hons), PhD (Adelaide)

Four Weddings, a Funeral and a Family Reunion: Ethnicity and Representation in Australian Federal Politics (excerpt)

Minor Parties... Major Players? The Senate, the Minor Parties and the 1993 Budget (excerpt)

1995 (January 1995 to January 1996)

Dr Keith Abbott, BA 1991 (Honours, First Class), Deakin University, PhD 1994 (Cantab).

Pressure Groups and the Australian Federal Parliament, (excerpt) Political Studies Fellow Monograph No. 3, 1996.

1994 (21 Jan 1994 to 19 Jan 1995)

Dr James Warden, BA 1982, University of Tasmania, BA (Honours, First Class) 1983, Political Science, University of Tasmania, PhD 1991, ANU.

A Bunyip Democracy, The Parliament and Australian Political Identity, (excerpt) Political Studies Fellow Monograph No. 2, 1995.

1993 (31 May to 31 Jan 1994)

Dr Stephen O'Kane, BBus (Public Admin.), BBus (Local Govt) (RMIT), Grad Dip Pub Pol (Melb), PhD (Deakin).

Senate Select Committees: Effectiveness, Co-operation and Public Accountability for the Perspective of the Loan Council Inquiry
(not published)

1992 (18 June to 24 December 1992))

Dr David W Lovell, BA (Hons), MA (Flinders), PhD (ANU)

The Sausage Makers? Parliamentarians as Legislators, (excerpt) Political Studies Fellow Monograph No.1, 1994.

1991

Dr John Henderson, BA, MA (Hons) (Canterbury), PhD (Duke, Nth Carolina).
University of Auckland, NZ

Parliamentary reform in Australia and New Zealand: the views of the Parliamentarians.
(not published)

1990 (Name changed from Political Science Fellow to Political Studies Fellow)

Peter J Bayne, LL.B (Hons) (Melbourne) J.D. (Chicago).

The Court, the Parliament and the Government, 27 Sept. 1990.

1988-89

Greg McIntosh, BEc, Dip.Ed (Monash), BA (Deakin)

Rounding up the Flock? Executive Dominance and the New Parliament House, APSA-Parliamentary Fellow Monograph, 1989.

1986-87

Kevin N Tuffin, BA (Hons) (Western Australia)

Government Expenditure and Accountability: The Joint Committees of Public Accounts and Parliamentary Scrutiny.

1984-85

Geoffrey I Skene, BA (Otago), MA (Hons) (Canterbury)

Specialties of the House: An Investigation into Subject Specialisation Amongst Australian Senators and Members of the House of Representatives, APSA/Parliamentary Fellow Monograph, Nov. 1988.

1982-83

Patricia Y Smith, BA (Hons) (Queensland)

Did not complete the Fellowship

1980-81

Dr John G Uhr, BA (Hons) (Queensland), MA, PhD (Toronto).

Questions Without Answers: An Analysis of Question Time in the Australian House of Representatives, APSA/Parliamentary Fellow Monograph No. 4, 1982.

1979

Neil J Funston, (John) MA (Monash)

Southeast Asian Issues in the 31st Parliament, APSA/Parliamentary Fellow Monograph no. 3, August 1980.

1978

James A Walter, MA (Hons) (La Trobe)

The Acculturation to Political Work: New Members of the Federal Backbench, APSA/Parliamentary Fellow Monograph, 1979.

1977

Martin S Indyk, BEc (Hons) (Sydney)

Influence without Power: The Role of the Backbench in Australian Foreign Policy, 1976-1977, 22 Dec. 1977.

1976

David B Lundberg, BA (Hons) (Adelaide) Diploma of Social Sciences (Stockholm) Tutor in Political Science, Flinders University.

The Role of the National Parliament in the formulation of Industry Development Policy in Australia.

1975

David H Stephens, MA (Monash)

Influences Upon Specialization in the Australian Senate, Dec. 1975.

1974

Brian L Hocking, BA (Hons) (Bristol), MA (Leicester)

Australian Parliamentarians and Foreign Affairs.

1973

Oliver D. Mendelsohn, BA (Hons), LL.B (ANU), MA (California)

Australia's Foreign Aid: The Perceptions of Parliamentarians, 19 Dec. 1973.

1972

Edward J G Prince, MA (Monash)

Information Supply to the Legislature: Characteristics of Legislative Research Service Written Output, 1968-1971, March 1972.

1971

Kenneth Chan, BA (Hons) (Sydney) PhD

Parliamentarians, their Source of Information, and the Parliamentary Library.

Where are they now?

We would like to reach any former Australian Parliamentary Fellows to hear their reflections on the Fellowship and to catch up with what they are doing now.

Please contact rowena.billing or telephone 02 6277 2772.