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.