29 Legislative Process
It is important to understand how legislation is made. This knowledge will assist you in research tasks such as:
- tracking proposed legislation prior to enactment,
- locating parliamentary documents needed in statutory interpretation.
Queensland legislative process
The passage of a Bill through parliament is similar in most common law jurisdictions. One noteworthy difference is that the Queensland Parliament has a unicameral (or one chamber) system as it abolished its Legislative Council in 1922. The diagram below reflects the typical passage of a Bill through the Queensland Parliament rather than the legislative process of a parliament with two houses.
In Queensland, to become an Act a Bill is:
- introduced to Parliament by the Minister responsible,
- read for the first time—explanatory speech,
- proceeds to Committee stage (optional)—consideration and report from the relevant committee,
- read for a second time,
- moves to consideration in detail—Bill considered clause by clause (amendments can be made at this time),
- read for the third time—agreed to,
- receives Royal Assent—and is enacted.
Read more about Queensland’s parliamentary process in the Queensland Legislation Handbook or Queensland Parliament’s Factsheet 3.6 (PDF, 269KB).
Commonwealth legislative process
The Parliament of Australia’s Infosheet 7 Making Laws describes how bills are proposed, considered and passed at a federal level.
Law-making explains the law-making process in the Australian Parliament.
