A Bill is the draft of a proposed law. Most Bills deal with management of public affairs and the implementation of Government policy and are introduced by a Minister, but a member of either House is entitled to introduce a Private Member's Bill.
A Minister or member of either House may introduce a Bill. This is usually agreed to without debate. Immediately after introduction, the Bill is "read" a first time; that is, the Clerk reads the title of the Bill. The Second Reading is the most important stage through which a Bill passes because the whole principle or policy of the Bill is at issue. At the end of the Second Reading the main vote on the Bill is taken. The Bill is then dealt with clause by clause to ensure that when it becomes an Act, it will carry out Parliament's intention.
At this stage, amendments can be moved to the clauses of the Bill. In some cases a Bill may be committed to the Committee of the Whole House more than once, mostly to tidy up amended clauses. Use of the service is subject to our terms and conditions.
View our privacy policy , cookie policy , supported browsers and access your cookie settings. Search within FAQs Search. Share Twitter LinkedIn Facebook. Add a bookmark Your browser does not allow automatic adding of bookmarks. How does a Bill become an Act of Parliament? Was this article helpful? Path of a bill A bill can only become a law if it is passed by a majority vote in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Origins of bills Bills can start in different ways: A government department may advise its minister about a specific problem that exists. The minister may then arrange for a bill to be drafted to fix the problem.
Community groups, businesses or lobby groups may be interested in changing or improving a specific area of Australian law.
They can approach members of parliament with suggestions for bills. Political parties have their own ideas about how Australia should be governed.
In Parliament, parties introduce bills which aim to put their ideas into action. The Parliament can set up a parliamentary committee to examine a current issue. If the issue requires action, the committee may suggest that a bill be introduced. History The law-making process used in the Australian Parliament comes from the practices of the British Parliament, developed over many centuries.
The usual path of a bill. Parliamentary Education Office peo. In the House of Representatives a bill goes through the following stages: 1st reading—the bill is introduced to the House of Representatives. House committee optional stage —public inquiry into the bill and reporting back to the House.
Consideration in detail optional stage —members discuss the bill in detail, including any changes to the bill.
The bill is passed in the House of Representatives and sent to the Senate. If the committee finds no issues requiring a formal report, the chair or deputy chair may make a statement to the House to that effect. Special types of bill. Additional or slightly different procedures apply to financial legislation—appropriation and supply bills and taxation bills see Infosheet No.
Bills introduced from the Senate. The great majority of government bills are initiated in the House of Representatives, because of the constitutional restrictions on the nature of bills which can originate in the Senate and because of the fact that most Ministers are Members of the House.
When a Senate bill has passed all stages in the Senate, it is transmitted to the House under cover of a formal message and introduced to the House by the Speaker reading the terms of the message to the House.
Subsequent proceedings follow the same processes as House bills. Proceedings after leaving the House. Transmission to Senate. After a bill has passed the House the Clerk signs a certificate attached to the bill stating:. THIS Bill originated in the House of Representatives; and, having this day passed, is now ready for presentation to the Senate for its concurrence.
If the bill has been amended by the House it is reprinted before it is sent to the Senate. The message and bill are then delivered to the Senate by the Serjeant-at-Arms. Senate proceedings. The bill again goes through three readings in the Senate. When the bill has passed the Senate, the Senate then returns the bill to the House, either with or without amendments. The Senate may also request that the House make an amendment in cases where the Senate is prevented by the Constitution from making an amendment itself.
Senate amendments and requests are considered by the House, and may be accepted or disagreed to. Disagreement between the two Houses.
In circumstances provided for by the Constitution an unresolved disagreement may lead to the dissolution of both Houses by the Governor-General and elections for each House see Infosheet No. When a bill has finally passed both Houses in identical form and been checked and certified accordingly by the Clerk of the House, it is presented to the Governor-General for assent.
At this point the bill becomes an Act of Parliament and part of the law of the land, although the validity of the Act may be tested in court subsequently. When a law comes into effect. Acts do not necessarily come into operation immediately on assent, although this is common. If no commencement date is specified in an Act, it comes into effect on the 28th day after it receives assent. Some statistics from the 45 th Parliament.
A total of bills were introduced. Of these roughly 93 per cent originated in the House of Representatives. Approximately 64 per cent of bills introduced finally became Acts. Delegated legislation. The Parliament may delegate some of its legislative powers to the Executive Government, which may make regulations, statutory rules, by-laws, orders, ordinances, instruments or determinations, etc.
Delegated legislation must be authorised by an Act, must be presented to both Houses of the Parliament and can be disallowed vetoed by a motion agreed to by either House. In some cases Acts provide that specific pieces of delegated legislation made under their authority must be approved by both Houses before coming into effect.
All delegated legislation is closely scrutinised by the Senate Standing Committee on Regulations and Ordinances. Historical note.
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