| Resource | Description | Lead agency | Available at: |
| major whole-of-government policy statements | Overarching statements of government intentions in significant areas of public policy which have an impact on many different areas of government. These documents are regularly reviewed, and new or updated policy statements are released regularly. | May include Department of Premier and Cabinet, Department of Treasury and Finance, cross-portfolio endeavours or be intergovernmental through COAG where DPC leads/coordinates. | http://www.dpc.vic.gov.au |
| portfolio-specific major policy statements | Statements of government intentions in a specific policy area such as health, transport or water. These documents are regularly reviewed, and new or updated policy statements are released regularly. | relevant department or cross-portfolio | relevant departmental websites – visit http://www.vic.gov.au/contactsandservices/directory/ for links |
| enabling legislation of the public entity | The Act of parliament which creates a public entity, empowers it to perform its role and directs and limits how it may do so. For example, the enabling legislation for Dairy Food Safety Victoria is the Dairy Act 2000. | relevant department | http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/ |
| second reading speeches | The second reading speech is made by the minister responsible for introducing a new Bill into the parliament and is a useful overview of its contents and purpose. The second reading debate is usually the longest and most detailed debate on the Bill. | Parliament of Victoria |
http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/hansard Note: the ‘Advanced Search’ option on the parliamentary website allows users to search specifically for second reading speeches, by name of member, and by date. |
| Victorian State Budget | The budget is the means by which the Victorian Government details how it plans to collect and spend public monies for the upcoming year. The budget has two components: the budget papers, which detail the government’s overall budget position and fiscal strategy, and the Appropriation Bill to parliament, which is the means by which public monies are made available to the government for distribution to departments and public entities. | Department of Treasury and Finance |
Budget papers – http://www.budget.vic.gov.au Appropriation Bills – accessible under ‘Parliamentary Documents’ at http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/ |