Prior to 1907 the reports (A3 in Appendices to the Journals of the H. of R.) were entitled Proceedings of the British Resident, Rarotonga and consisted mostly of letters, and enclosures of various kinds including the annual report, to and from the Resident, the Resident Agent at Niue and the New Zealand Premier. After 1907 the annual report appeared as the first item in the A3. Later A3's included reports from the Resident Commissioners of the Cook Islands and Niue and also Cook Islands ordinances.

The series lacks reports for 1896/97/98 and 1903, 1918, 1920/21 and 1929. The report dated 1945 covers the four years from 1942 due to measures of war economy. Most of the earlier reports include an index and some contain photographs and maps. The reports on this reel were bound into two volumes. A contents list appears at the beginning of the reel and is available on request from the Bureau.