This first edition of New South Wales Legislative Council Practice brings together the history, practice and procedure of the New South Wales Legislative Council - the Upper House of the New South Wales Parliament, and the first and oldest legislative body in Australia.Since the advent of responsible government in New South Wales in 1856, the New South Wales Legislative Council has been the focus of continuous struggle regarding its composition, powers, role and very existence. However, from its tumultuous history, the Council has in recent years emerged as a democratically elected, powerful and effective upper house, in many ways mirroring the development of the Australian Senate. Today the Council performs key functions within the New South Wales system of government including representing the people and scrutinising the executive government as a 'House of Review'.The rich history of the New South Wales Legislative Council has brought with it a wealth of parliamentary precedent with which to guide modern practice and procedures in the House. While practitioners of parliamentary law and practice in New South Wales have long had access to authorities such as Erskine May's Parliamentary Practice and Odgers' Australian Senate Practice, the publication of New South Wales Legislative Council Practice will provide an essential reference book to understanding parliamentary privilege, practice and procedure in the New South Wales Upper House.

The Annotated Standing Orders of the New South Wales Legislative Council is a comprehensive commentary charting the purpose, development and modern operation of the rules of procedure of the Legislative Council. Canvassing over 150 years of proceedings of the House and its committees, the Annotated Standing Orders provides interesting anecdotes and important precedents to rules in common use today and rules less seldom used, even obscure. The work renders the seemingly complex and impenetrable language and practice of parliamentary procedure in the Westminster tradition, as it has developed in the Legislative Council, accessible to members, parliamentary officers and others with an interest in parliamentary law, practice and procedure.Key features:A concise summary of the purpose and development of each current rule.Explanations and examples of the practical operation of regularly used rules and the creative use of seldom used procedures.A chronology of the adoption, repeal and amendment of the rules and orders of the Legislative Council since 1824.Practical illustration of the role of parliamentary procedure in upholding the core principles of freedom of speech, the rights of the minority, and the function of the Council as a House of Review.

This book is an authoritative history of the NSW Parliament from its establishment in 1856 to 2003. It gives comprehensive accounts of both the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council, including analyses of their performance based on contrasting 'liberal' and 'executive' models of Parliament.The history of the Parliament is contextualised by the changing political background in which it operated over 150 years. It is enlivened by portraits of colourful Members, such as WP 'Paddy' Crick, drunken brawler and master of Parliamentary procedure, and accounts of incidents such as George Fuller's seven hour Government and the siege by trade unionists in 2003.On a broader level, the book is a dissertation on the nature of State politics and Parliaments and on the theoretical study of parliamentary institutions. A NSW Sesquicentenary of Responsible Government publication.

Australia is now the only major Anglophone country that has not adopted a Bill of Rights. Since 1982 Canada, New Zealand and the UK have all adopted either constitutional or statutory bills of rights. Australia, however, continues to rely on common law, statutes dealing with specific issues such as racial and sexual discrimination, a generally tolerant society and a vibrant democracy. This book focuses on the protection of human rights in Australia and includes international perspectives for the purpose of comparison and it provides an examination of how well Australian institutions, governments, legislatures, courts and tribunals have performed in protecting human rights in the absence of a Bill of Rights.