Presenting registers of interests, the post-separation employment of ministers and the use of ethics commissioners in providing advice on and/or conducting investigations into breaches of codes. In 2009 the Canadian Senate Ethics Officer, Jean T. Fournier, spoke about parliamentary ethics at an Australian conference. Although much has been achieved in the first decade of the...

This background note revises material previously released by the Parliamentary Library on Australia's involvement in Afghanistan. In November 2010, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Government of Afghanistan agreed to a formal transition process that would transfer full security responsibility to Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) by the end of 2014. This process...

This paper presents tables and charts for a broad range of social, demographic and economic indicators across all Australian states and territories, and compares them to Australian averages. Each table contains data for the last five years, while each chart plots data for the financial year 2010–11. The purpose of this paper is to present...

On 13 August 2012, the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers released its report containing a suite of measures and recommendations to the Government on how best to deal with asylum seeker issues in the short, medium and long term. One of the short-term measures recommended was a proposal to re-establish offshore processing facilities in Nauru...

This background note provides a summary of Commonwealth parliamentary superannuation benefits in place prior to the 2004 general election. It provides explanation, hyperlinks and documents pertaining to the operation of the Parliamentary Contributory Superannuation Scheme (the PCSS). A table of eligibility requirements and benefits under the Scheme is given. The background note should be read...