Introduction

From 1901 to the end of the 44th Parliament in May 2016, 329 different members and two senators have been disorderly enough during proceedings of the House of Representatives as to result in disciplinary action by the Speaker.

This study outlines the bases of the House’s authority to deal with disorderly behaviour, and the procedures available to the Speaker to act on such behaviour. It then analyses the 1,876 instances of disorderly behaviour recorded in Hansard with a view to identifying patterns over time, the extent and degree of disorderly behaviour, and answering questions such as: which members have been disciplined and which parliament has been the most disorderly?

It does not analyse the reasons behind such behaviour as they are quite complex and beyond the scope of this paper.