[1][2] Currently in its seventh edition, published in 2018,[3] the text is the comprehensive and authoritative guide to the procedure and practice of the Australian House of Representatives.

[4] Standing Orders were first agreed during the first parliament in 1901 and continued to be used and amended from that time, however, in situations where Standing Orders were silent Erskine May's Parliamentary Practice, and the rules and procedures of the House of Commons served as a guide to the procedures of the House.

Over time standing orders became more complete and the organic procedure of the House had developed so that, by the 1970s, Only in matters of privilege was the house referring to Erskine May with any regularity.

It was envisioned, accurately so it turns out, that this book would become the domestic equivalent of Erskine May.

[1] An official book launch for the first edition was held on 10 December 1981 by the Speaker, Mr Billy Snedden, in the presence of the Governor General, Sir Zelman Cowen and the Chief Justice of the High Court, Sir Harry Gibbs.