For a parliamentary democracy like Australia’s to work well, it is important that the public can find out what the Parliament is doing. The House’s effectiveness in calling ministers to account for their actions and debating national issues depends on its activities taking place in public so people can judge for themselves how their representatives are performing.
The House publishes a range of information which provides comprehensive records of the House’s proceedings and explanations of its procedures.
This infosheet explains some of the information available and where to find it. Some publications are available from the Department of the House of Representatives website or the Parliament Shop or are held by major libraries. All of the publications described here can be accessed online.
Keeping up to date
Key resources are available online to help members of the public stay up to date on what is happening in the House.
About the House—read House news, including what is expected to happen in the House in the upcoming week, what happened in the House last week and a review of selected features of House business at www.aph.gov.au/athnews.
Committees—find out what committees of the House of Representatives and joint committees of both Houses are up to at www.aph.gov.au/house/committee (see also Infosheet No. 4 Committees).
Members’ information—locate contact details for, and information on, the current members of the House of Representatives at www.aph.gov.au/senators_and_members.
Order of business—see the different types of business conducted in the House and the time allocated to each at www.aph.gov.au/house/business (see also Infosheet No. 2 A typical sitting day).
Sitting calendar—find out when the House is due to sit at www.aph.gov.au/calendar.
Social media—follow the House on Facebook (aboutthehouseau), X (@AboutTheHouse), YouTube (@AboutTheHouse) and Instagram (@aboutthehouse.au).
House resources
A range of resources are available that explain (at different levels) how the House operates.
Guide to Procedures—this is a concise introduction to the procedures of the House of Representatives, at www.aph.gov.au/gtp.
House of Representatives Practice—this is a comprehensive, detailed text on the law and practice of the House of Representatives. It presents a degree of historical perspective and includes appendixes containing extensive statistical information about the proceedings of the House. It is available at www.aph.gov.au/practice.
Infosheets—a series of infosheets, including this one, explain various aspects of the House’s operation and procedures. The full series is at www.aph.gov.au/infosheets.
Parliamentary Education Office—this office provides useful parliamentary information for students and teachers. See www.peo.gov.au.
Procedural Digest—this publication summarises procedurally unusual and interesting events in the House and is available at www.aph.gov.au/proceduraldigest.
Standing and sessional orders—these are the formal rules governing the proceedings of the House. Rules in force only for a specified period of time or for the current session of Parliament are called sessional orders. The rules are amended from time to time by the House. They are at www.aph.gov.au/standingorders.
Statistical Digest—this publication contains cumulative statistics on legislation, questions, petitions and various other items of business. It also details the time spent on those items. See www.aph.gov.au/statisticaldigest.
Work of the Session—this is a consolidated list of the business dealt with by the House including bills, motions, documents, statements, matters of public importance discussed, committee reports and members’ attendance at sittings of the House for a parliament. It also contains statistical summaries of the sittings and business of the House. See www.aph.gov.au/wots.
Official records and business of the House
The following three House publications can be found at www.aph.gov.au/house/chamberdocs.
Notice Paper (what’s on the agenda?)
The Notice Paper shows all of the business awaiting the House’s attention, as well as some other information. It is published for each sitting day, apart from the first sitting day after an election. It is divided into sections.
Business section
The business section lists all items of business that are currently under consideration by the House and Federation Chamber (the second debating chamber of the House, see Infosheet No. 16 The Federation Chamber). Items of business are grouped under the headings ‘government business’, ‘committee and delegation business’ and ‘private members’ business’.
Within each section items are listed as either ‘Notices’ or ‘Orders of the day’. Notices indicate that a Minister or member intends to introduce a matter for consideration. Orders of the day are matters that have already been introduced and of which consideration has not been completed. Notices and orders of the day normally remain on the Notice Paper until the House has dealt with them fully.
A notice may be withdrawn before it is moved by the member sponsoring it. However, orders of the day on the Notice Paper are regarded as the property of the House rather than an individual member and cannot be withdrawn or removed without the agreement of the House.
Items listed under private members’ business are removed from the Notice Paper automatically if they have not been considered within eight sitting Mondays. In the case of items of government business on which no further debate is desired, the House may agree to a motion to discharge them from the Notice Paper.
When the House is dissolved for a general election all the business on the Notice Paper lapses (becomes ineffective) and the next Parliament starts with a clean sheet.
The House is required by its standing orders to consider matters in the order they appear on the day’s Notice Paper. Before each issue of the Notice Paper is published, the Leader of the House may change the order of government business.
The Selection Committee determines the order of private members’ business and committee reports to be considered on Mondays. In addition, during a sitting there are procedures that can be used to postpone items of business or permit them to be taken out of turn.
Questions in writing
Members may ask questions in writing of ministers relating to their official responsibilities. Answers are given in writing. The rules applying to written questions and answers are similar to those applied during questions without notice by the Speaker during Question Time, only there is more time to apply them.
Questions are listed on the Notice Paper and remain there until an answer is received. The first Notice Paper to be published for each sitting period includes the full text of all questions not yet answered, while subsequent publications only include the full text of the questions appearing for the first time. When an answer is received, it is sent to the member concerned and published.
Although answers are not mandatory, if a question has been on the Notice Paper for more than 60 calendar days, the member can ask the Speaker to write to the minister seeking reasons for the delay in responding. This request can be made after Question Time when members have the opportunity to ask questions of the Speaker. A list of written questions, and answers if provided, can also be found in the Questions in Writing section of the parliament’s website.
Committee reports awaiting Government response
The Government is to respond to committee reports within six months, otherwise the relevant minister must present a signed statement to the House indicating the reasons for non-response. This section of the Notice Paper indicates the status of Government responses to committee reports from the 43rd Parliament onwards, and, as with the full text of all unanswered questions in writing, appears in the first publication of each sitting period.
Information section
The final section of the Notice Paper contains general information. It lists members of the Speaker’s panel (i.e. Members who can assist the Speaker and their deputies in chairing the House or Federation Chamber), House and joint committees and their membership and current inquiries, and the appointment by the House of members to statutory bodies.