Parliament’s trusted resource

For the Labor Member for Yan Yean, Lauren Kathage, Victoria’s Parliamentary Library is both a resource and a refuge, especially during sitting weeks.

Since her election in 2022, the library has provided Kathage with research, statistics and a connection to the ‘outside world’ while parliament is in session.

‘Whoever designed the library did a very good job putting in lots of nooks and crannies and corners,’ she said. 

‘I’ve got a young family and we Facetime each day, so I usually go into a corner of the library.’

Life as an MP is busy. Members juggle packed schedules, statewide travel and many competing priorities daily. For Kathage, that’s why the Parliamentary Library is so valuable.

‘MPs are constantly on the run, so it’s good to have the support of people who are experts and are unbiased and can tap into a lot of information sources that we can’t easily,’ she said.

‘I’m able to ask the library broad questions around policy, policy improvements, examples from across the world and examples from academic literature.

‘The library staff are able to bring that together for me in a way that helps me to advocate in government and make suggestions for ways we can make improvements.’

According to Kathage, the research and resources produced by the library help her to better represent her community.

‘We represent our area based on what we know of our area from our existence, life in the community, interactions with constituents and stakeholders. But we also need to understand the statistical, factual foundations and demographics of where we represent, and make sure we’re factoring that into our advocacy,’ she said.

A calm and accessible space, the library is available to all MPs and their staff. The grandeur of the old rooms might be what draws them in, but it’s the helpful and knowledgeable staff which make them stay.

‘The chamber is the place for bravado and for acting like we know it all and we’ve got all the answers, while the library is the place to be humble and say, “I’m here to learn, I want to know what’s best, I want to get answers and ideas for my community”,’ Kathage said.

‘It’s nice to have non-partisan faces to see in the library, to have a bit of banter with and to help along our journey in parliament.’

The Parliamentary Library has around 20 staff including researchers, librarians and data analysts.

They prepare tailored research on a wide array of topics for MPs and also produce around ten research papers each year, published on parliament’s website.

Topics for these are diverse, usually chosen based on what is most useful to MPs, but also driven by what is being discussed in the public domain.

Recent examples include Victoria’s live music industry, forestry, community sport, and manufacturing in Victoria.

There are also Bill Briefs about new legislation and briefing papers for MPs in response to individual requests.

The library’s work is particularly important for opposition members and crossbenchers, who are not as well-resourced as the government.

Nationals MP for Northern Victoria, Gaelle Broad, is a regular user of the library’s services during sitting weeks and values the research that it produces.

‘For any MP it’s a very helpful resource because the library staff are able to do a deep dive on some issues,’ she said.

With her electoral region covering 100,000 square kilometres, around half of the state, Broad uses the information the library can pull together when she is out and about in her region dealing with a variety of issues.

‘Being able to lean on the library to help provide some of that background is very useful,’ she said.

‘When I was looking into the issue of reducing the probationary driver’s licence age, they were helpful in providing information about how other states treat the same issue.

‘Another area that was quite useful was looking at renewable energy projects and the concerns which neighbouring properties have about insurance. They were able to look into that in detail.’

Alongside research papers, the library conducts seminars that MPs and staff attend, with replays publicly available on parliament’s YouTube channel.

‘They had a seminar here looking into the increase in renewable energy developments and the batteries which would be needed for that,’ Broad said.

‘It’s been very helpful to have people who are quite informed experts from the field come in, which provides an opportunity for MPs and staff to expand their knowledge.’

Broad also has a connection to one of the Parliamentary Library’s flagship programs.

Along with former Premier Daniel Andrews and current Consumer Affairs Minister Nick Staikos, she is one of more than 1,400 students who have taken part the library’s internship program since it first began in 1990.

Each intern is partnered with an MP and writes a research report on an agreed topic. Broad’s research into the role of a backbencher may well have helped her take the pathway into politics two decades later.

And now the Parliamentary Library and its work, which provided Broad with a rewarding experience during her student days, has become an important part of her life as an MP, as it is for many parliamentarians.

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