Scope
The data cover parliamentarians in the narrow sense (members of parliaments) and also members of other legislative bodies in Australia; Governors-General, Governors, Lieutenant-Governors and Administrators of Government; Ministers of the Crown; and senior parliamentary officials (Clerks, Clerk Assistants, Serjeants at Arms, Ushers of the Black Rod, parliamentary librarians and chief reporters); in all cases from 1788 to 1945.
Commonwealth
The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, comprising the Governor-General, the Senate and the House of Representatives, was formed in 1901 soon after Federation. The Federal Executive Council (comprising the Governor-General and the Federal Executive Councillors, the current and former Ministers of State for the Commonwealth) was also formed in 1901. Almost all Ministers of State for the Commonwealth were members of one chamber or the other; the exceptions are two ministers who served briefly in the first Commonwealth ministry in 1901. The Parliament and Federal Executive Council continue into the twenty-first century.
The principal sources of data used for members of the Commonwealth Parliament are the Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia (available at https://handbook.aph.gov.au/); The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate, online edition at https://biography.senate.gov.au/; Biographical Dictionary of the House of Representatives, published online by the National Centre of Biography, ANU at https://adb.anu.edu.au/biographies/search/?query=volume%3A%22HoR1%22; and Joan Rydon, A Biographical Register of the Commonwealth Parliament 1901–1972 (Canberra: ANU Press, 1975).
New South Wales
The Legislative Council of New South Wales was established in 1824. In 1856 the Parliament of New South Wales was established, comprising the Governor, the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly. The Executive Council of New South Wales (comprising the Governor and Ministers of the Crown) was established in 1824. The Parliament and Executive Council continued after Federation in 1901 and remain in existence.
The principal sources of data used for members of the Parliament of New South Wales are: the Former Members section of the Parliament’s website (https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/members/formermembers/pages/former-members-index.aspx) and the NSW Parliamentary Record (https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/members/formermembers/Pages/NSW-Parliamentary-Record.aspx), also on the Parliament’s website; C N Connolly, Biographical Register of the New South Wales Parliament 1856-1901 (Canberra: ANU Press, 1983); and Heather Radi, Peter Spearritt and Elizabeth Hinton, Biographical Register of the New South Wales Parliament 1901-1970 (Canberra: ANU Press, 1979).
Victoria
The Legislative Council of Victoria was established in 1851, soon after the Colony of Victoria was created out of part of the Colony of New South Wales. The Parliament of Victoria, comprising the Governor (as the Sovereign’s representative), the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly, was established in 1855.
The principal sources of data used for the members of the Parliament of Victoria are: the Former Members section of the Parliament’s website (https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/about/history-and-heritage/people-who-shaped-parliament/former-members/); Kathleen Thomson and Geoffrey Serle, A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament 1859-1900 (Canberra: ANU Press, 1972) (the volume’s coverage actually extends from 1851); and Geoff Browne, Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament 1900–84 (North Melbourne: Victorian Government Printing Office, 1985).