What are Gazettes?
A gazette is an official publication for the purpose of notifying the actions and decisions of the government. All Australian governments (Commonwealth, State and Territory) publish official gazettes.
The first official gazette published in Australia was the Sydney gazette and New South Wales advertiser, which began on 5 March 1803. It served as a general newspaper as well as a government gazette.
Notices published in government gazettes cover all aspects of government concern and regulation, and most are published because of a requirement of law. Acts, regulations and other subordinate legislation are notified in all gazettes, with some states publishing regulations in full as part of the notification. Before 1940, territory ordinances, including those of the A.C.T. and Northern Territory, were published in full in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette.
There are also items dealing with such matters as:
- proclamations which bring Acts into operation
- Public Service vacancies, appointments and promotions
- government tenders
- land notices: acquisition, disposal and transfers of property, leases granted
- lists of awards, honours, medals
- electoral notices
- government orders of various kinds
- private notices of a legal nature e.g. bankruptcies, company registrations and windings-up, probate, by-laws of companies under royal charter
- government purchasing matters
- local government matters
- registers of medical professionals
Early nineteenth-century gazettes which served as general newspapers as well as government gazettes were generally published twice weekly. Most Commonwealth and state gazettes now appear weekly, except the Special and Periodic gazettes which are published irregularly.
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