Legislative process explained
The passage of legislation
Law-making in New South Wales is similar to the process in most other Australian states, the Australian Federal Parliament and the British Parliament, where there is a bicameral or two house Parliament. Under a bicameral system, bills (or proposed laws) pass through several stages in both Houses of Parliament, before being sent to the Governor for assent. Bills that have received assent are known as acts.
Bills can be introduced into either House of Parliament, apart from money bills (see below), which must originate in the Legislative Assembly. Bills introduced by ministers are considered during the time allocated for government business. Bills introduced by private members are considered during the time allocated for private members' business.
For more detail on the legislative process in each House see Making Laws on Role of the Assembly and Chapter 12 of New South Wales Legislative Council
Initiating a bill
Bills can be initiated from party policies or advice from government departments, in response to pressure from community groups or constituents, the media or public opinion. When the Government decides that new laws are needed, the relevant minister submits a proposal to the Cabinet (a meeting of all ministers) for approval.
Draft bills are prepared by the Parliamentary Counsel's Office based on instructions from a private member or a minister and the minister's department. This drafting process may go through several revisions before being prepared for introduction to the Parliament.
Copies of draft bills are not available on the Parliament's website. However, some exposure drafts may be accessed from the Parliamentary Counsel's website. Any questions concerning draft bills should be referred to the member responsible for the bill.
Passing a bill through the parliament
Notice of motion
Before a bill is introduced into either House, a minister or private member must give notice of their intention to introduce the bill. The full text of the notice, including the long title of the bill, is published in the Legislative Assembly Business Paper or the Legislative Council Notice Paper.
Introduction and First Reading
At a later hour or on the next sitting day, the Chair will call on the item of business and the minister/member will then move a motion to introduce the bill. The introduction is the stage at which the minister/member introducing the bill reads the long title of the bill.
In the Legislative Assembly the bill is taken to have been read a first time after it has been introduced and the minister/member makes a speech outlining the principles of the bill (the second reading speech).
In the Legislative Council the Clerk will read the short title of the bill after it has been introduced and this is referred to as the First Reading. The minister/member will then proceed with their second reading speech.
After the second reading speech, unless standing orders have been suspended to allow urgent consideration of the bill, debate is adjourned for five calendar days. The bill is published on the Parliament's website after it has been introduced.
Second Reading Debate
During the second reading debate, members express their opinions about the principles of the bill. At the conclusion of the debate, the House votes on the question "that this bill be now read a second time".
If the House disagrees, the bill is defeated.
If the House agrees, and there are no amendments proposed to the bill, it moves directly to the third reading stage. If there are amendments proposed to the bill, it moves to either the consideration in detail stage (LA) or the committee of the whole stage (LC).
Consideration in detail (Legislative Assembly)
If a member wishes to amend a bill, the House will consider the bill in detail. During this stage the Presiding Officer leaves the Chair. In the LA, the Speaker takes a seat next to the Clerks at the Table to preside over consideration of the bill in detail.
Committee of the Whole (Legislative Council)
If a member wishes to amend a bill, the House will form itself into a "committee of the whole" to deal with the amendments to the bill in detail. During this stage the Presiding Officer leaves the Chair. In the LC, this role is performed by the Chair of Committees.
Third Reading
Once the bill has passed through the second reading, and where necessary the consideration in detail/committee of the whole stages, a question will be moved "that this bill be now read a third time". If agreed to, the bill has passed all stages and is sent, with a message, to the other House for concurrence.
Consideration by the other House
The Presiding Officer or Chair advises the House that a message has been received seeking concurrence with a bill. This replaces the notice of motion stage that occurs in the House of origin. The bill then moves through all remaining stages in the second House before being returned to the House of origin, either with the second House's agreement or with amendments for consideration by the House of origin.
Consideration of amendments by the House of origin
Bills that have been returned to the House of origin with amendments from the second House are considered in the consideration in detail stage (LA) or committee of the whole (LC). If the amendments are agreed to in the House of origin, the bill is sent to the Governor for assent. If the amendments are not agreed to, the Houses exchange messages until agreement is reached or the bill is set aside.
Where agreement cannot be reached, and the House of origin does not wish to lay the bill aside, a conference and joint sitting of both Houses can be held to discuss the bill. If necessary, the Legislative Assembly can then submit the bill to the people of New South Wales by referendum, under section 5B of the Constitution Act 1902.
Assent
Once a bill has passed both Houses (except for the exceptional circumstances under sections 5A and 5B outlined above), it is forwarded to the Governor for assent. The Governor gives assent to the bill on receipt of legal advice forwarded by the Attorney General (prepared by the Solicitor General) that there is no objection to giving assent.
Commencement
An Act comes into force 28 days after it is assented to, or on a day/days to be appointed by proclamation. A clause, stating whether the Act comes into force by assent or proclamation, usually appears at the beginning of each bill.
When an Act or clauses of an Act come into force by proclamation, the date is determined by the minister who, on behalf of the Governor, places an announcement in the Government Gazette shortly before the date of commencement. In some cases not all clauses of an Act will come into force at the same time.
The Government is required to lodge notification with the Parliament of all legislation remaining unproclaimed after 90 days.
Information about the commencement dates of Acts can be obtained from the Notification-Gazette section of the NSW Legislation website.
Video - Passage of legislation
This video provides an overview on the passage of legislation through the Legislative Assembly.
Understanding an Act
Acts of Parliament are formal documents which may seem difficult to understand, but you do not have to be a lawyer to understand how they work. Acts contain set elements and generally follow an established form. Acts of Parliament often give the Governor, on the advice of the Executive Council (Cabinet), the right to make rules, regulations, by-laws and ordinances under a particular Act. These are called Statutory Instruments and must be consistent with the terms of the Act but they are not in the Act itself.
