State, territory and federal
Federal
Queensland
Western Australia
South Australia
Victoria
Tasmania
New South Wales
Northern Territory
Australian Capital TerritoryIntroduction
Welcome to the Australian Government Documents Library Guide
This guide provides advice for finding Australian government documents online.
Government documents covers a range of materials, but essentially refers to any documents or laws produced in Parliament, and policy or regulatory documents produced by Government Departments.
Check the Finding Government Documents section for core databases and websites. For state or territory specific information, click on the interactive map below.
Finding Government Documents
Three things you can do to start your government documents research:
Note: The buttons below will open resources in new windows.
State, territory and federal
Resources that search across federal, state and territory government documents.
Note: check geographic and date coverage.
- Capital Monitor (LexisNexis)Legal news, press releases, and reports released by Parliaments, and the Australian federal, state and territory Governments.
Note: does not contain coverage for ACT, Tasmania or Northern Territory
- Google Advanced searchSearch within the domain .gov.au to locate information from authorised government websites.
- AustLII (Australasian Legal Information Institute) This link opens in a new windowPrimary legal materials (legislation, treaties, decisions of courts and tribunals, etc) and secondary legal materials (law reform, royal commission reports, journal articles, etc)
- PANDORA ArchivePandora is an archive of Australian websites. Useful to locate documents from old or defunct government departments.
- Analysis and Policy Observation (APO)An open access platform containing public policy research and resources.
- The Australian Legislation Research guideUniversity of Melbourne library guide.
Contains information on Bills, Extrinsic Materials, Acts and Delegated Legislation for each Australian jurisdiction. - GovPubsA useful guide for locating resources by jurisdiction.
Note: GovPubs is no longer being maintained, although updates do occur periodically.
Federal
- ParlInfo(1901 - current) Hansard, V&P journals, parliamentary papers, committee reports and submissions
- Australian budget archives(1901- current (incomplete)) A historical list of budget documents. Some years have full text PDFs, other years contain an index
- Australian governmentAn Australian government directory that links through to current department annual reports, budget statements, gazettes & parliamentary publications for a range of government departments and regulatory bodies
- State Library Victoria - Commonwealth government publications guideOnline and print materials in the SLV, descriptions of types of documents and basic information on the parliamentary system of Australia
Queensland
- Parliament of Queensland(1860 - current) Bills, Hansard, V&P, tabled papers, inquiries
- Queensland government publications(2003 - current) Government Gazettes, standards, annual reports, policy papers
- Queensland governmentA Queensland government directory that contains current departmental annual reports, strategic plans and budget papers
- State Library of Victoria - Queensland government publications guideOnline and print materials in the SLV, descriptions of types of documents.
Western Australia
- Parliament of WA(1997 - current) Hansard, tabled papers, chamber documents, bills, V&P
- WA Government - publications(2015 - current) Annual reports, public policy, standards, research and analysis
- WA State budget(1990 - current) Current budget and an archive of previous budgets
- State Law Publisher(1836 - current (incomplete)) Weekly information bulletins, budget papers and gazette notices
South Australia
- Parliament of SA(1993 - current) Minutes of proceedings, Hansard, Bills, V&P, index to Parliamentary papers
- SA Department of Premier & Cabinet(1988 - current) Annual reports, cabinet documents, reports and policy papers.
- SA Government Gazette(1999 – current) The SA Gazette site also links to older gazettes available on AustLII
- Data.SA(2013 - current) Government datasets in a searchable format
- State Library of Victoria - SA government publications guideOnline and print materials in the SLV, descriptions of types of documents
Victoria
- Parliament of Victoria(1856 - current) Hansards, parliamentary papers, committee reports, research papers
- Victorian government(Current year only) budget papers, royal commission papers, strategy and policy documents and links to government department pages (which contain annual reports, planning reports)
- Archive of budget papers(1998 – current) Department of Treasury & Finance
- Victorian Government Gazette(1836 - current) Gazettes in searchable format from 1998 - current.
- Archive of V&P(1856 - current)
- State Library of Victoria - Victorian government publications guideOnline and print materials in the SLV, descriptions of types of documents
Tasmania
- Parliament of Tasmania(1992 - current) Hansard, V&P, Bills, tabled papers
- The Mercury (newspaper) - Hansard/parliamentary debate(1860 - 1979) Before 1979 there wasn’t a formal Hansard/parliamentary debate publication in Tasmania, they were instead published in The Mercury newspaper. Digitised versions are available on Trove.
- Tasmanian Government directoryDirectory to government organisations and government directory. Each department has their own website containing annual reports and other publications
- Tasmanian Government Gazettes(2008 - current)
- State Library of Victoria - Tasmania government publications guideOnline and print materials in the SLV, descriptions of types of documents
New South Wales
- Parliament of NSW(1879 - current) Bills, Hansard, committee reports, research papers, V&P
- OpenGov NSW(1853 - current) Annual reports, cabinet papers, policy documents and more
- Data.NSW(2013 - current) Government datasets in a searchable format
- State Library of Victoria - NSW government publications guideOnline and print materials in the SLV, descriptions of types of documents
Northern Territory
- Parliament of NT(1990 - current) Tabled papers, Hansard, Bills, budget papers
- Territory Stories(1974 - current) Historical bills, Hansard and other parliamentary papers
- NT Government Gazettes(2011 - current)
- NT Government directoryDirectory of government agencies. Each site contains information such as annual reports, policy papers, reports
Australian Capital Territory
- Parliament of ACT(1989 - current) Bills, committee reports, parliament publications, Hansard, V&P
- Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate (CMTEDD)(Current year) Series of reports, including annual reports from each government department, cabinet decisions and strategic plans
- Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate (CMTEDD) - publications(2008 - current) Archival material such as annual reports
Glossary
Bills
A draft or proposed Act that is introduced and debated in parliament.
Budget Papers
Documentation produced by the government that outlines the projected income and expenditure for the next financial year. Usually released in May.
Chamber Documents
Documents that outline the order of business in each parliamentary chamber. They usually include an agenda for each sitting day, the items before each chamber, and meeting minutes.
Extrinsic Materials
In the context of government documents and legislation, this is the documentation designed to explain legislation; Hansard, Explanatory Memoranda/Statements, Committee Reports.
Gazettes
An official government publication which gives information about government matters and makes government announcements.
Hansard
Transcripts of Parliamentary proceedings, also known as Parliamentary debates.
Tabled Papers
Documents or items that have been presented in parliament. Can include committee reports, legislative instruments, annual reports, etc.
V & P
Votes and Proceedings made in each parliamentary chamber.
Further help
Quick question?
Chat online with a librarian.
Accessing physical items in the CollectionThe Library holds many physical copies of government documents in a variety of formats. For help use library chat.
Complex question?
Contact a specialist librarian using our research request form.
Response is via email.
In-person consults for staff and research higher degree students.