Its thousands of pages have provided a record of every single speech, debate and occasional insult said inside the chambers of federal parliament.
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Now a new collaborative art installation at Old Parliament House as part of Enlighten is showcasing some of the memorable parts of Hansard, and allowing people to have their say right alongside it.
For the Record features sections of the Hansard including Julia Gillard's famous misogyny speech, the apology to the Stolen Generation, with visitors able to create a personal response to what it means to them.
What were once blank walls have been gradually filling up with artistic responses to issues ranging from Indigenous rights, immigration, women's rights and the environment.
Creative producer of the installation Nanette Louchart-Fletcher said the installation is a combination of both an exhibition on the parliamentary record as well an interactive installation.
"The walls are building up to be a powerful body of work which represent people from all over Australia," she said.
"What we're trying to do with this exhibition is to make it accessible as we possibly can, just like democracy."
An estimated 10,000 people have already passed through the installation in its first week, with it being extended until next week due to its popularity.
The idea for the installation came off the back of similar interactive exhibition held at Old Parliament House last year entitled Free Speech Floats.
Ms Louchart-Fletcher said while the subject of Hansard records might not sound appealing to most people at first, it can offer an insight into many issues that are still in society today.
"At first glance you would think it's dry and tedious, but it can be quite exciting and tell the untold story," she said.
"We had one visitor here that was moved to tears when she read the apology [to the Stolen Generations} speech in full. You can get grabs on TV and in the newspaper but what you don't get is a chance to get the full story."
While there is still room left on the walls for people to leave their marks, Ms Louchart-Fletcher said she's confident it can all be filled by the time the exhibition finishes.
Despite participants needing to get artistic to add the exhibition, the creative producer said the level of artistic skill people have doesn't matter.
"When we created the exhibition, we thought people might have an aversion to getting creative, but they've been excited by the chance to create a response," she said.
"Because of the mass effect, collectively it's a beautiful piece of work and the individual pieces as well stand out as a whole."
