Whilst there has been considerable progress in the human rights of sexual and gender minorities in recent decades, this report highlights the extent to which significant inequalities persist, particularly in respect of relationship recognition.

Elections for the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly, and for local government in most of England and in Scotland, were held on 3 May 2007. In a new Audit paper, James Jupp (ANU) reviews the background and results.

June Verrier argues that the decision to grant MPs an extra staff member is a boost to the incumbency benefits enjoyed by sitting members. Parliament will function better if resources are diverted from support for incumbents' campaigns towards areas of benefit to the parliament as a whole, such as parliamentary research services.

In the wake of the Brian Burke scandal in WA, Dr Carmen Lawrence, federal MP for Fremantle and former Premier of WA, argues for more stringent rules governing lobbyists' activities and politicians' dealings with them. Drawing on international examples, she argues that, at the very least, the transparency of the lobbying process needs to be...

This paper briefly describes the administrative framework supporting the Parliament of Australia, and also its current financial arrangements. A review of the funding arrangements which exist in other comparable legislatures suggests an avenue of reform for the Parliament’s administrative and budgetary arrangements to strengthen the independence of the Parliament.