Copies of all documents presented to the Senate are made available through the inquiries and distribution services provided by the office. The inquiries service also fields a range of queries about Senate proceedings from senators and their staff, government agencies and others. In 2017–18, 3,063 inquiries were received (approximately 39 per cent coming from senators or their staff). This compares to 3,416 inquiries in the previous reporting year. The majority of inquiries – which are communicated by telephone or email – were responded to immediately, with the remainder responded to within timeframes agreed with the requestor.