Parliament House : News from the Hill

The ParlReplay of Question Time of 18 March 2010 is now available in streaming video from the About the House website.


This video content will be available from the site for approximately one month.

A new About the House TV program on the House Family, Community, Housing and Youth Committee inquiry into Youth Violence is now available to view online.

A new About the House TV program on the House Health and Ageing Committee inquiry into Burns Prevention is now available to view online.

This week in the House - a summary of expected business in the House of Representatives for the week beginning 15 March 2010 - is now available from our website.

The ParlReplay of the address by His Excellency, Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of the Republic of Indonesia to the Australian Parliament is now available in streaming video from the About the House website.


This video content will be available from the site for approximately one month.

The House of Representatives Economics Committee has held a public hearing with the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Glenn Stevens, today.

A video replay of Part 1 of the hearing is now available from the Economics Committee's home page.

Part 2, transcripts and audio podcasts will be available from the Committee's home page later today.

Anti-social behaviour by customers in and around Australian hotels is unacceptable according to the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) in its submission to an inquiry into youth violence.

The 2010 Seminar Program is now available from our website.


The Department of the House of Representatives conducts an annual program of seminars explaining the work of the House. Seminars are conducted in Parliament House and can be presented in other locations on request.

Issue 39 now available to read online or download.

The December 2009 edition features stories on Committee inquiries into youth violence, Cybercrime, adapting farming to the challenges of climate change, and impotence medications. News about recently completed inquiries and legislation that has come before the House is also included.

News and feature articles are available in HTML and PDF formats.

About the House is published quarterly and is available to download from the website or in print format via a free subscription.

The House of Representatives Industry, Science and Innovation Committee is to conduct an inquiry into Australia's international research engagement.

To address the pay equity gap in Australia for women a new report by the House of Representatives Employment and Workplace Relations Committee has recommended a raft of amendments to the Fair Work Act and Sex Discrimination Act.

The House Employment and Workplace Relations Committee has held a press conference to discuss the 63 recommendations in the recently tabled report on pay equity, Making it fair.


The video replay of this press conference is now available from the report home page.

New About the House TV programs on:

Agroforestry and climate change;

Youth Violence; and

approaches to getting the balance right on combining school and work

are now available to view online at the About the House News page.

The Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology (AIAST) will share its concerns about research funding with the House Primary Industries and Resources Committee at a public hearing to be held in Canberra.

More than 600 young Australians have already responded to a recently launched national survey on youth violence. Targeted at 12 to 24-year-olds, the survey seeks young people’s views on and experiences with youth violence to help find solutions to the problem.

The House of Representatives Climate Change, Water, Environment and the Arts Committee has released its inquiry report, Managing our Coastal Zone in a Changing Climate: the Time to Act is Now.

This week in the House - a summary of expected business in the House of Representatives for the week beginning 26 October 2009 - is now available from our website.

The 2010 Parliamentary Sitting Calendar is now available to download in PDF format from our website.


HTML, PDF, iCalendar versions will be published as soon as possible.

The House Economics Committee will hold its first public hearing on Friday 23 October 2009 at Parliament House, Canberra as part of a federal parliamentary inquiry into raising the rate of productivity growth in the Australian economy.

The House Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee will hold a roundtable discussion on reforming our referendum processes with a number of key organisations and academics in Sydney on Wednesday 14 October. Participants include the Australian Electoral Commission, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, AusPoll, the Foundation for Young Australians, as well as Gilbert & Tobin Centre Professor George Williams.

The IT industry leaders such as Microsoft and computer security companies like Symantec and McAfee, plus consumer groups, and banks will be among those appearing before the House of Representatives Communications Committee Inquiry into Cyber Crime on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 October at NSW Parliament House, Sydney.

Federal Parliament’s Public Works Committee is reviewing significant construction proposals by Defence across Australia worth nearly $1.5 billion and also an embassy refurbishment in Paris.

The House of Representatives Regional Development Committee is conducting a series of public hearings as part of its inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia.

As part of its inquiry into Australian farmers and climate change, the House of Representatives Primary Industries and Resources Committee will be holding a public hearing in Perth on the afternoon of Thursday 24 September, and property inspections at Geraldton on Friday 25 September.

The Public Works Committee is conducting an inquiry into the proposed redevelopment of the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre.

As part of its inquiry into Australian farmers and climate change, the House Primary Industries and Resources Committee will hear from representatives of the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) and the Bureau of Meteorology(BoM) at a public hearing to be held at Parliament House in Canberra.

Last Week in the House for the week beginning 7 September 2009 is now available.


This page provides a summary of the work done in the House of Representatives and its Main Committee during the past sitting week.


It is updated weekly during sittings.

The Parliament’s Treaties Committee has recommended that Australia ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The Committee’s Report 103 reviews the Convention, which is aimed at ending the use of these dangerous munitions.

The Joint Standing Committee on Migration tabled its third and final report on immigration detention on Monday 17 August in the House of Representatives.

The House of Representatives Family and Youth Committee is conducting an inquiry into the impact of violence on young Australians.

Joint Migration Committee tables second report into immigration detention The Joint Standing Committee on Migration has recommended the Australian government utilise a reformed bridging visa framework in lieu of community detention until a person’s immigration status is resolved in its report tabled on 25 May.


Chair of the Migration Committee, Mr Michael Danby, said that the Committee recognised early on in its inquiry that a new approach to immigration detention was needed.


More information, including a link to the Migration Committee's report is available from the About the House news page.

This week in the House - a summary of expected business in the House of Representatives for the week beginning 25 May 2009 - is now available from our website.

The House of Representatives Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee has released its report on whistleblower protection for the federal government public sector.


The report recommends that the federal government introduce new dedicated legislation to facilitate the making of public interest disclosures and strengthen legal protection for whistleblowers in the Commonwealth public sector.

For more information, including links to the report and an audio PODcast of the press conference held after the report's release, visit the About the House News site

The House of Representatives Economics Committee held a public hearing with the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Mr Glenn Stevens, in Canberra on Friday, 20 February 2009.


A video replay of the hearing in is now available to stream from our House News site. Visit the House Highlights tab on the ParlReplay player.


The video is available as in Flash format, in both high and low resolution formats. The Hansard transcript will be available at a later date.

The House of Representatives Economics Committee held a public hearing with the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Mr Glenn Stevens, in Canberra on Friday, 20 February 2009.


The PODcast of the hearing (mp3 format) is now available to download from our House News site. Visit the Audio Clips tab on the ParlReplay player.


The Hansard transcript will be available at a later date.

The Parliamentary Public Works Committee will conduct hearings on $793 million worth of new facilities proposed by Defence for Lavarack Barracks, Townsville, RAAF Base Amberley, Brisbane , and six other locations to support the needs of Enhanced Land Force Stage 1.

All the staff at the About the House website would like to wish you a safe and happy Christmas and New Year. The website will be regularly updated again from the 12 January in 2009.

The House of Representatives Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee will review the effectiveness of the federal government’s draft Disability (Access to Premises - Buildings) Standards.

The operation of local community stores in remote Indigenous communities is the focus of a new inquiry by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs.