Hansard published online

20 February 1995

From the mid-1990s the Australian Parliament, through an arrangement with the Australian National University, began to publish records of what was said in Parliament – called Hansard – on the internet. Before the internet, Hansard was published in large books which were publicly available but required effort to locate and navigate. When Hansard became available online, the work of Parliament became more accessible to Australians.

Public scrutiny of the Parliament is an important part of Australian democracy. As well as informing people about parliamentary business, Hansard helps keep Parliament accountable. Today, nearly all the work of the Australian Parliament is published online and is easily available to most Australians. On the Australian Parliament House website people can now:

• search and read Hansard
• live stream meetings of the House, Senate, Federation Chamber and most committee hearings
• connect with members of parliament and their offices
• check how members of parliament voted in divisions – formal votes
• find bills – proposals for new laws
•  make submissions to committees
• access documents tabled – presented – in the Senate and the House of Representatives
• view the sitting calendar and agendas for upcoming parliamentary sessions.