What is Hansard?

Hansard in Tasmania is the official, edited verbatim record of debates and proceedings in both the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Tasmania.

It converts the spoken word from parliamentary sittings and committee evidence into an accurate written record.

Official Hansard reporting did not begin in Tasmania until June 1979 (with the Legislative Council starting on June 6 and the House of Assembly on June 12). Before then, the state subsidized and distributed reports from The Mercury newspaper.

Transcripts are published online on the Parliament of Tasmania website, with daily uncorrected proofs available quickly and final edited versions published within several days. Records from 1992 onward are fully searchable online, alongside a digitized historical archive covering 1979 to 1991.

The easiest way to Access Hansard

1. Visit House of Assembly: https://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/house-of-assembly 
2. Click on Chamber Proceedings in green block.
3. Click on Sitting Calendar (choose year).
4. Choose date from the Sitting Calendar 2026 (e.g. 11 August 2026).
5. House of Assembly 11 August – Then click on Order of Business to see if the Bill/issue you are looking for was debated e.g. Government Business: Bill 2026 (2) Order of the Day No. 13 – Land Use Planning and Approvals (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2026 (No. 22).
6. If it did get debated, then look at Hansard and click on Hansard.
7. Search on name of Bill in the menu bar. The Land Use Planning and Approvals (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2026 (No. 22) is on page 75. It starts with the Second Reading Speeches. 
8. You can also watch the Broadcast of the proceedings from the drop-down menu from the three vertical dots next the the word ‘Hansard’ on the menu bar and select Broadcast.