What it does
The Parliamentary Papers (Supplementary Provisions) Act 1975 (the Act) establishes a statutory framework for the authorisation, publication and legal treatment of documents and evidence laid before the New South Wales Parliament, its Houses, joint sittings and Committees. Mechanically, the Act: (a) sets its citation (s 1) and a deemed commencement date of 1 July 1974 (s 2); (b) defines key terms used in the Act including Committee, House and joint sitting (s 3); (c) grants either House or a joint sitting power to authorise publication of a document laid before it and grants Committees parallel authority to authorise publication of documents received or evidence heard (s 4); (d) identifies specific parliamentary officers as “relevant persons” who may publish material when an authorisation is made and confirms that the reports of debates and proceedings may be published by the relevant person (s 5); (e) creates a statutory defence in civil or criminal proceedings when publication was authorised under the specified provisions (s 6), subject to the limitation in s 7; (f) makes explicit that nothing in the Act derogates from parliamentary powers or privileges (s 8); and (g) treats publication by the Clerk of a House on the NSW Parliament website as equivalent to printing by or by authority of the Clerk, and authorises such publication (s 9).
Operationally, the Act converts parliamentary authorisation into a shield for authorised publishers (listed officers) by permitting publication unless an authorising order specifies a contrary intention (s 5(1)). Publication is expressly defined to include printing (s 5(3)), and the Act extends the "printing by authority" concept to website publication by the Clerk (s 9(1)-(2)). The statutory defence in s 6 applies to civil and criminal proceedings if the defendant proves the publication was authorised under s 4 or by s 5, but s 7 expressly states the Act does not create or affect a defence in defamation proceedings; that provision includes a note referring to an absolute privilege in the Defamation Act 2005 (s 7 and s 7 note). The Act preserves parliamentary privileges by s 8. The amendments and insertion history recorded in the Act show later modifications to definitions and the list of relevant persons, and the 2024 insertions that expressly deal with website publication (see amendment notes to s 3, s 5 and s 9).