Government reports (including Parliamentary Papers)
Government reports are a useful source of authoritative information, facts and figures. They are produced on a vast range of subjects (e.g. economics, education, health, social issues, technology). They may result from Royal Commissions, Commissions of Inquiry, and other special committees, or be annual and other reports regularly released by different government departments and agencies.
Are all these reports available online?
- From mid 1990s+, yes the majority of Australian government reports are available online.
- Prior to mid-1990s, some older reports are digitised (but this varies greatly with each State/Territory government).
- Note: only a very small percentage of old New South Wales government reports are online.
See the links below.
Parliamentary Papers
Many government reports are published with a corresponding 'parliamentary paper' (PP) edition. This simply means the report is officially tabled (presented) in the relevant Federal or State/Territory Parliament and a copy is then printed within that Parliament's official publications series for that year.
Why is that helpful?
If you are looking for a specific report (especially an older one), and cannot find a copy online or catalogued under its individual title, you might be able to locate a copy within the relevant PP title series. For online PP series see the links below.
For New South Wales reports, the UOW Wollongong Campus Library holds hardcopy sets of the older NSW PPs series and related indexes in the Level 2 Journals Collection at 328.99401/1-5.
Search tips:
- In Trove and other library catalogues, check if the individual title entry mentions a corresponding PP number.
- In catalogue author/title entries the word 'department' is sometimes abbreviated to 'dept'. e.g. dept immigration ethnic affairs
Please contact our Library staff if you need help with locating specific publications.
