Law-making
This fact sheet explains the law-making process in the Australian Parliament. It also describes where ideas for laws come from and the history of law-making in the Parliament.
What will I learn?
- Laws are rules that have legal consequences and allow the Australian Government to act.
- To become a law, a bill must be agreed to by both the Senate and House of Representatives, and be signed by the Governor-General.
Curriculum alignment
Year 6 ACHASSK146
Year 8 ACHCK063
Year 9 ACHCK103
What is a law?
Laws are rules that apply to all people at all times and have legal consequences if they are not followed. They define how people and organisations are expected to behave.
Laws give the Australian Government the power to collect and spend money on behalf of Australians.
The Australian Constitution gives the Australian Parliament the power to make laws in particular areas. Laws start as bills – proposals for a new law or a change to an existing law.
Where ideas for laws come from
Ideas for new laws can come from many different places:
- A government department may tell its minister about a problem that needs fixing. The minister may then ask for a bill to be written to fix the problem.
- A community, business or lobby groups may be interested in changing or improving an area of Australian law. They can speak to 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.
The usual path of a bill.
Parliamentary Education Office (peo.gov.au)
The usual path of a bill.
Parliamentary Education Office (peo.gov.au)
Description
This diagram illustrates the usual path of a bill through the Australian Parliament to become Australian law.
In the House of Representatives a bill goes through the following stages:
- 1st reading—the bill is introduced to the House of Representatives.
- 2nd reading—members debate and vote on the main idea of the bill.
- 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.
- 3rd reading—members vote on the bill in its final form.
The bill is passed in the House of Representatives and sent to the Senate.
Senate referral—the Senate may refer the text of the bill to a Senate committee for inquiry (this can happen while the bill is in the House).
In the Senate a bill goes through the following stages:
- 1st reading—the bill is introduced to the Senate.
- 2nd reading—senators debate and vote on the main idea of the bill.
- Senate committee (optional stage)—public inquiry into the bill and reporting back to the Senate.
- Committee of the whole (optional stage)—senators discuss the bill in detail, including any changes to the bill.
- 3rd reading—senators vote on the bill in its final form.
- The bill is passed in the Senate.
The bill is given Royal Assent—The Governor-General signs the bill.
The bill becomes an Act of Parliament—a law for Australia.
Copyright information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
You are free to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work.
Attribution – you must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
Non-commercial – you may not use this work for commercial purposes.
No derivative works – you may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.
Waiver – any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder.
Path of a bill
The usual path of a bill.
Parliamentary Education Office (peo.gov.au)
The usual path of a bill.
Parliamentary Education Office (peo.gov.au)
Description
This diagram illustrates the usual path of a bill through the Australian Parliament to become Australian law.
In the House of Representatives a bill goes through the following stages:
- 1st reading—the bill is introduced to the House of Representatives.
- 2nd reading—members debate and vote on the main idea of the bill.
- 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.
- 3rd reading—members vote on the bill in its final form.
The bill is passed in the House of Representatives and sent to the Senate.
Senate referral—the Senate may refer the text of the bill to a Senate committee for inquiry (this can happen while the bill is in the House).
In the Senate a bill goes through the following stages:
- 1st reading—the bill is introduced to the Senate.
- 2nd reading—senators debate and vote on the main idea of the bill.
- Senate committee (optional stage)—public inquiry into the bill and reporting back to the Senate.
- Committee of the whole (optional stage)—senators discuss the bill in detail, including any changes to the bill.
- 3rd reading—senators vote on the bill in its final form.
- The bill is passed in the Senate.
The bill is given Royal Assent—The Governor-General signs the bill.
The bill becomes an Act of Parliament—a law for Australia.
Copyright information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
You are free to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work.
Attribution – you must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
Non-commercial – you may not use this work for commercial purposes.
No derivative works – you may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.
Waiver – any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder.
To become a law, a bill must be:
- introduced into and debated by both the Senate and the House of Representatives
- passed by a majority vote in the Senate and House
- agreed to in identical form by both the Senate and House
- given Royal Assent – signed into law – by the Governor-General.
The new law—now an Act of Parliament—starts on the date included in the law or, if no date is given, 28 days after Royal Assent.
Most bills are first introduced into the House of Representatives. This is because money and taxation bills cannot be introduced into the Senate. Most bills are introduced by government ministers. Other members of parliament can introduce their own bills, known as private members' or private senators' bills.
It can take months or even years for a bill to become law but most bills take 2 to 3 months. Around 200 bills are introduced into Parliament each year and about 90% of government bills are passed into law.
Examining bills
An important part of the law-making process are opportunities to scrutinise – closely examine – bills. Senate and House committees can investigate bills, seek feedback from Australians and make recommendations. All bills introduced into Parliament are checked by the Joint Committee on Human Rights to make sure the bills meet Australia’s human rights commitments.
