ellenMake sense of
Parliament.
Who does what. How a bill becomes law. What the official record actually tells you.
Find your starting point Already reading a document?Ellen explains the process in plain English, with primary sources close at hand. Your conclusions are your own.
No party endorsements.No government affiliation.
Start with a question.
A small reading library for the institutions, procedures and records that can feel harder than they need to.
How laws are made in Australia: reading a federal bill from introduction to assent
What a federal bill is, what an amendment does to it, and how the bill becomes an Act of Parliament under the Australian Parliament''s usual path.
What is Hansard? Reading Australia’s federal parliamentary record
Hansard is the official record of parliamentary proceedings. Here is what Australia''s federal record contains and how access changed once it went online.
Australian Parliament explained: the House, the Senate and the government
How Australia's federal Parliament is structured, who sits in each house, how laws are passed, and how Parliament relates to government and elections.
A headline is a beginning.
The record goes further.
Different documents answer different questions. Start by identifying what you are reading, then follow the explanation and its source.
Find the right recordBills & explanatory material
Separate what is proposed from what is already law.
Hansard
Read parliamentary proceedings in their context.
Federal Register of Legislation
Check the instrument, version and commencement details.
Clarity without taking sides.
We focus on how Parliament works and how to read its records. We distinguish an explanation from an opinion, a proposal from an Act, and a quotation from a finding.
How Ellen approaches an explanation