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About the Index to Explanatory Memoranda 1901–1982
This index lists all items identified as explanatory memoranda—or
comparative memoranda—in the Australian Parliament from 1901 to the
end of 1982 (1st–32nd Parliaments). From 1982,
the provision of explanatory memoranda has been standard practice for government
bills introduced into the Commonwealth Parliament.
The memoranda are included in the sets of bills published by each house
of Parliament, usually at the end of the Parliament. The volumes generally
include:
- The text of bills as introduced (First Reading print)
- Where appropriate, revised versions of bills after they have passed
through one house of Parliament (Third Reading print)
- Amendments proposed by Senators or Members of Parliament
- Schedules of amendments exchanged by the houses during the legislative
process
- Explanatory memoranda—or comparative memoranda, and any supplementary
memoranda
The index reflects the contents of the set of volumes held by the Parliamentary
Library in Canberra. There may be slight differences, for example in the
dating of print runs, in the same volumes as held by other institutions.
Libraries that also hold some of these volumes include the National Library
of Australia and most of the State and Territory libraries: see the GovPubs
database for precise details.
The arrangement of the index reflects the arrangement of the volumes
themselves, with one series of Senate volumes and one series of House
of Representatives volumes. In many cases, an identical memorandum has
been presented to both houses of Parliament, with the memorandum prepared
for the house where the bill is introduced being presented again when
the bill goes to the other house. In some cases, however, when a bill
has been amended in the first house, either a revised memorandum or a
supplementary memorandum is presented to the other house: the different
versions are noted in the index by words such as “Takes account
of House of Representatives amendments to the bill”.
Where no explanatory memorandum is available, and more information is
sought than is provided by the Parliamentary
Debates, an alternative—but probably more time-consuming—avenue
of research is the government files held by the National Archives of Australia;
some of this material is listed in their RecordSearch
database. In particular, there is a series of Bill Files (Series A2863) created by the
Attorney-General’s Department and the Office of Parliamentary Counsel.
Key to the Index
Date:
Where a specific date is given, it is usually the date the memorandum
was printed; the use of circa (c.) shows that the date given
is the date the bill was introduced into the House of Representatives
or the Senate. Where the same memorandum was introduced to both houses
of the parliament, the circa date is the date on which the bill
was first presented.
CM or EM:
CM = Comparative Memorandum: A document that sets out the text of a
Principal Act as it will appear if the current bill is passed, and identifies
the additions or deletions made by the bill to that Act. Alternatively,
it sets out differences between a current bill and a former version
of that bill, or between an existing rate of tariff and a proposed rate.
EM = Explanatory Memorandum: “An executive document
issued by a Minister explaining the aims and operation of a statute. In
statutory interpretation, if the meaning of a provision in an Act is ambiguous
or obscure, or the ordinary meaning conveyed by the text of the provision
taking into account its context in the Act leads to a result that is manifestly
absurd or unreasonable, reference may be made to explanatory memoranda
in order to ascertain the meaning of the provision: (CTH) Acts Interpretation
Act 1901 s 15AB.” (Butterworths Australian Legal Dictionary,
Sydney: Butterworths, 1997, s.v. ‘explanatory memorandum’.)
Number of pages includes the cover page.
Notes indicate whether different versions of the memorandum
were presented to the two houses of Parliament, give the full title of
some documents, or add other details.
Chamber indicates whether the document listed was presented to the Senate or the House of Representatives.
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