The daily grind

Sitting times and outputs

The Victorian Parliament’s sitting pattern is:
late February–June for the autumn sessional period
September–December for the spring sessional period.

Normal Legislative Assembly sitting hours are:
2.00 p.m. to 11.30 p.m. on Tuesdays;
9.30 a.m. to 11.30 p.m. on Wednesdays; and
9.30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. on Thursdays.
The Legislative Council starts at 10.00 a.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

In the autumn sittings of 2001 the average sitting time per day was 10 hours and 51 minutes in the Legislative Council and 10 hours and 44 minutes in the Legislative Assembly. The longest day in the Council was 15 hours and 29 minutes, while in the Assembly it was 16 hours and 32 minutes.

In 2001–02, 17 373 pages of transcript were produced in a timely and accurate manner and a PDF version was available on the Internet and on the Parliament of Victoria intranet within the agreed time frame.

In the chambers

In the Legislative Council Hansard staff sit on the opposition side of the table in the centre of the chamber. Ministers speak from their places and come to the table only during the committee stage of a bill.

In the Legislative Assembly Hansard staff no longer sit at the table but are accommodated in a special box to the left of the Speaker at the front of the chamber.

When two houses are sitting reporters are assigned to a team that works in the same house for a week, with teams alternating between the houses. Shorthand writers usually take 10-minute turns and tape reporters (our term for those who work directly from the audio feed) take 7.5 minute turns. When only one house is sitting all reporters are assigned to that house, usually taking 5 minute turns.

Photo: The Editor and reporters during question time in the Legislative Assembly

Photo: A reporter and subeditor during question time in the Legislative Council

What do we report?

The 54th Parliament was dissolved in early November 2002 prior to an election on 30 November, at which Labor was returned with a majority in both houses.

Apart from the debates in both houses, in the last Parliament we reported the proceedings of eight joint investigatory committees, one Legislative Council investigatory committee and three Legislative Council select committees appointed to look into politically sensitive issues — the appointment of the Urban and Regional Land Commission managing director, the Frankston central activity district development and the failure of the Seal Rocks tourism project at Phillip Island. Our reporters covered hearings conducted in the metropolitan area and country Victoria, and sometimes covered interstate hearings, but unfortunately they were never asked to cover hearings conducted overseas!

Some of the more interesting references were an inquiry by the Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee into the inhalation of volatile substances, an inquiry by the Economic Development Committee into youth unemployment and an inquiry by the Family and Community Development Committee into the conditions of clothing outworkers. In October 2002 we also reported a two-day conference on the mobility and safety of older people sponsored jointly by the Victorian Parliament’s Road Safety Committee and the Australian College of Road Safety.

Each year we report the proceedings of the YMCA Youth Parliament, the Students Parliament and the State Schools Constitutional Convention, as well as other miscellaneous conferences and forums. In 2001 we also covered the National Youth Parliament and the National Schools Constitutional Convention, which were held in Melbourne as part of the Centenary of Federation celebrations.

Historic sittings

In 2001 the Victorian Parliament became the first Australian Parliament to sit in a regional centre. On 16 August the Legislative Assembly sat at Bendigo and the Legislative Council sat at Ballarat. The sittings were a great success, and in October 2002 the Legislative Council again went regional, sitting for a day at Benalla. On each occasion the proceedings were recorded and transcribed by reporters in Melbourne the next day.

Ballarat 2001
Photo: Ready to roll at the Ballarat regional sitting.