Top of page
Posted by: Kelly Buchanan
I recently saw a tweet from the Twitter account of the New Zealand Parliament regarding the launch of an electronic petitions system. I’m not sure if the Australian House of Representatives social media people also read that tweet, but the next day I saw its account had sent a tweet reminding people that a new e-petition platform had …
Posted in: Global Law, Gov 2.0
Posted by: Kelly Buchanan
I decided to observe International Women’s Day (today, March 8) by highlighting several Australian women, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, who had key roles in bringing about a constitutional referendum held in Australia on May 27, 1967, and in campaigning for the “yes” vote. The referendum contained questions related to two provisions in the Australian Constitution that discriminated against …
Posted in: Collections, Global Law
Posted by: Kelly Buchanan
Today, January 26, is Australia Day, a national public holiday in Australia that commemorates the arrival of the “First Fleet” of convict ships that resulted in the establishment of the first British penal colony on the continent. It is considered Australia’s national day. On January 26, 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip raised the British flag at Sydney Cove, a …
Posted in: Collections, Global Law, In the News
Posted by: Kelly Buchanan
Over the last couple of years you have read about the change from the THOMAS legislative information website to Congress.gov, and the many enhancements that have occurred along the way. While not as significant as this migration to a completely new website, both the Australian and New Zealand parliamentary websites have undergone makeovers this year. …
Posted in: Global Law, Gov 2.0
Posted by: Kelly Buchanan
Over the last few years, the Law Library of Congress has published a number of reports related to the immigration and citizenship laws of various countries. For example, I’ve written reports about Australia’s points-based immigration system, guest worker programs, investor visas, and pathways to citizenship. However, these projects did not involve delving into the early …
Posted in: Global Law
Posted by: Kelly Buchanan
It’s been a couple of years since I wrote about the two websites that I use most frequently in my research: the Australian federal legislation website, ComLaw, and the New Zealand Legislation website. Earlier this month I saw announcements about an exciting development regarding the New Zealand site, so I thought I’d provide an update …
Posted in: Global Law
Posted by: Kelly Buchanan
Earlier this month I attended some events related to International Women’s Day, which this year had the theme of “A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women.” At one of these events, hosted by the Wilson Center here in Washington, DC, the New Zealand Minister of Women’s Affairs, Hon. Jo …
Posted in: Global Law
Posted by: Kelly Buchanan
Last Friday, the Parliament of Australia launched its new website, replacing the one that had been in place for 12 years. I had often used the old website to find a range of information on bills and parliamentary inquiries (i.e., investigations into particular issues). This includes explanatory memoranda (according to the glossary on the new …
Posted in: Global Law, Gov 2.0
Posted by: Kelly Buchanan
Last year Clare wrote about changes to the UK government’s legislation website, and we’ve written a lot about enhancements to THOMAS, so when I got an email last week about the Australian government’s legislation website being upgraded I thought it definitely warranted some attention. The ComLaw website provides open access to Commonwealth (i.e., federal) legislation. …
Posted in: Global Law, Gov 2.0