Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1893 - (Accumulation)
- 1890-12-30 - (Creation)
Level of description
Medium
Format
Status
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
The Constitution Act 1889 received Royal Assent on 15 August 1890 and came into operation when proclaimed on 21 October 1890. This Act effectively established self government in Western Australia and the Legislative Assembly was established as the elected chamber, or lower house, of the Western Australian parliament.
The six stated roles and functions of the Legislative Assembley are:
- forming a government;
- approving the finance for government operations;
- scrutinising the government's performance;
- legislating;
- providing a forum for matters of public concern; and
- representing the people of Western Australia.
Repository
Archival history
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Tabled papers comprise government reports (including annual reports), petitions, regulations, by-laws, financial returns and correspondence associated with the aforementioned that have been tabled before the Legislative Assembly.
These records consist of the original items tabled before the Assembly and as such often contain documentation and information (such as supporting correspondence, annotations, etc.) not replicated in the published Parliamentary Votes and Proceedings.
Some of the tabled papers consist only of the front cover, with no contents. The reasons for this are: 1) the tabled paper was a departmental file which was subsequently returned to the relevant department; 2) there was a transfer between Houses with the paper being tabled also in the Legislative Council; or 3) the papers were not otherwise present at the time they transferred from the Legislative Assembly in 1958.
Debate about matters raised in relation to papers tabled before the Legislative Assembly is chronicled in the published Parliamentary Debates (Hansard).
(Copies of Parliamentary Votes and Proceeding and Hansard are publicly available at the State Library of Western Australia).