The Government Printer

The Government Printer's beginnings were small, formed in 1851 by Superintendent La Trobe (Lieutenant Governor-elect) it consisted of the Government Printer and a staff of 6.
The first Government Gazette was published in 1852 and the first Hansard (Parliamentary Debates) in 1856. From Federation until 1929 the Government Printer was responsible for all parliamentary and department printing for the Commonwealth as well as the State of Victoria.

As the office's workload grew (which included exclusive printing for all government publications, annual reports, forms, stationery, parliamentary documents and legislation), so did its workforce to the point where in 1984 its staff numbers reached 556.

The rapid development of technologies including the world wide web and printing innovations during the latter part of the 1980s and early 1990s saw a gradual reduction in the work of the office as more work was either contracted to private companies or was no longer required. A decision was eventually taken in 1995 to close the Printing Office.

Whilst a Printing Office no longer existed, the ongoing need to publish authorised legislation and to ensure the validity of legislation for the community and before the courts, meant that the role of the Government Printer needed to continue. The title of Government Printer was consequently assigned to the role of Chief Parliamentary Counsel, which was enacted as an ongoing dual role by amendment to the Constitution Act 1975 (section 72) in 2004.

The Government Printer currently manages 3 contracts for publications:

The Parliamentary Printing Contract
Provides for the printing and distribution of all Parliamentary documents including Notice Papers, Bills and Hansard,

The Hard Copy Legislation Publishing Agreement
Provides for the printing and distribution of all Victorian Hard Copy legislation and certain legislative information, and

The Victoria Government Gazette (www.gazette.vic.gov.au)
Provides for the compilation, publishing and distribution of Weekly, Special and Periodic Gazettes.

The Government Printer owns copyright for all Victorian legislation and for publications issued with the authority of the Government Printer. Enquiries regarding copyright can be made using the Contact OCPC section.