What is Hansard in Australian Parliament?

Hansard is the official verbatim transcript of proceedings in the Australian federal Parliament and in every state and territory Parliament. It records what is said in each chamber and in many committees, providing a permanent and public record of debates, ministerial statements, questions and answers, and the formal passage of legislation.

The name Hansard comes from Thomas Curson Hansard, the British printer who began publishing the official report of the United Kingdom Parliament in the early nineteenth century. The Australian federal Parliament adopted the same format from its first sitting in 1901, with the official record published as Parliamentary Debates (commonly known as Hansard). State parliaments use the same naming convention for their own records.

The transcription process is highly developed. Specialist Hansard reporters are present in each chamber, taking shorthand or digital audio capture of every word spoken. The transcript is checked, lightly edited for clarity (without changing meaning), reviewed by the member who spoke for accuracy of spoken material, and published online usually within hours of the speech for major events and within a day for full daily transcripts. Standing Orders prohibit substantive editing that would change the meaning of what was said.

Hansard is freely available online through the Parliament of Australia website (aph.gov.au) and through state parliament websites. It can be searched by date, member, subject, and keyword. Hansard is regularly cited in court cases (to interpret legislation by reference to the second reading speech), in media reporting, in academic research, and in subsequent parliamentary debate. The principle of parliamentary privilege protects the publication of Hansard from defamation suits, encouraging frank speech in the chamber. Hansard also includes committee transcripts (for hearings held in public), notices of motions, divisions (recorded votes), and procedural events. Indigenous languages are sometimes spoken in Parliament, with transcripts published in both the original language and English translation.