All bills to be approved for introduction
8.1 Every government bill, and all government amendments, must be approved for introduction by the Legislation Minister, on behalf of the Prime Minister, before they can be introduced in the Parliament.
8.2 The legislation approval process ensures that policy approval has been obtained for all government bills and amendments, that the bill or set of amendments is consistent with policy approvals obtained from the Cabinet, the Prime Minister and/or the relevant minister and that all relevant ministers have been consulted.
The Legislation Approval Process
8.3 The Legislation Minister meets the First Parliamentary Counsel and staff of the Legislation Section at the beginning of each sitting week (usually on Monday morning) to consider bills and government amendments that are ready for introduction in the forthcoming week.
8.4 For each bill and set of government amendments considered by the Legislation Minister, the Legislation Section prepares a submission, comprising:
- a minute indicating the status of policy approvals, including any late requests for minor policy approval and progress in obtaining the agreement of other ministers, if required;
- a memorandum for the legislation approval process, prepared by OPC, which cites the Cabinet or other authority under which the bill is drafted and draws attention to any aspects of the bill which are outside the scope of, or contrary to, that authority, and to any other matters OPC considers need to be brought to the attention of the Legislation Minister;
- the draft bill; and
- the explanatory memorandum.
8.5 It is desirable that all policy approvals and all consultations with other ministers about either the policy aspects of measures in the bill, or the wording of the bill itself, be completed before the legislation approval process. However, in considering bills for approval for introduction, the Legislation Minister may approve the bill for introduction subject to:
- party clearance processes;
- minor policy approval;
- agreement of other relevant ministers to policy measures in the bill; and/or
- approval of the text of legislation that is the responsibility of another minister.
8.6 Where approval is conditional, a bill cannot be introduced or government amendments cannot be moved until those conditions are met. The onus is on the minister and department to ensure that the stipulated conditions are met. Written evidence (letter or email) of agreement by ministers to measures contained in a bill or, where appropriate, to the text of the bill itself, must be provided to the Legislation Section as soon as they are available. The responsible minister’s agreement to the text of a bill and explanatory memorandum can be in the form of a letter signed by the minister, a copy of a departmental submission which has been signed or initialled by the minister, or a verifying email from the department that the minister has agreed. The process for party clearance is outlined at Chapter 10 Party Clearance.
Papers to be lodged for the Legislation Approval Process
Legislation Overview
8.7 Ahead of each sitting week, the Legislation Section will provide departments with a Legislation Overview form for each bill or set of amendments that OPC has indicated is expected to be ready for introduction. Departments must complete the Legislation Overview and return it to the Legislation Section as confirmation that the legislation is proceeding.
8.8 The completed Legislation Overview is required to enable the Legislation Section to prepare documents for the legislation approval process (LAP), and includes a short description of the legislation and advice on outstanding policy authority and ministerial clearance. The Legislation Overview also assists the PLOs in programming bills for debate by providing information on sponsoring ministers, the urgency of a bill and its financial implications.
8.9 It is important for departments to ensure that the ‘Timing considerations’ section of the Legislation Overview identifies the timing by which passage is required, not the timing of introduction or likely debate, and provides:
- any critical date(s) for implementation of measures contained in the bill or amendments and the consequences of the date(s) not being met;
- any commencement date(s) that are specified in the bill or amendments; and
- any special timing requirements for a bill or for amendments.
8.10 The LLO must return the completed Legislation Overview by the deadline specified by the Legislation Section. A revised Legislation Overview will be required by the Legislation Section if any of the information (e.g. contact officers or timing considerations) needs updating.
Electronic lodgement
8.11 To enable a bill to be approved for introduction, or a set of amendments to be approved for circulation, departments must lodge the following documents at lodgement@pmc.gov.au:
- the explanatory memorandum or supplementary explanatory memorandum;
- copies of letters from other ministers who have been consulted, indicating their agreement or approval; and
- confirmation that there is agreement to the text of amendments administered by another minister.
8.12 The deadline for the receipt of documents by Legislation Section is 11.00 am on the Wednesday of the week before the bill is to be introduced or government amendments are to be moved. If documents are not lodged by this deadline, the relevant bill or amendment may not progress to introduction/movement the following week.
8.13 Departments are requested to meet the Wednesday deadline for all bills and amendments. The Legislation Section must be contacted at the earliest opportunity if a department anticipates difficulty in meeting the Wednesday deadline.
8.14 OPC will electronically lodge the draft bills and amendments with the Legislation Section separately.
8.15 While the electronic lodgement of documents with Legislation Section is required for LAP purposes, departments are to deliver hard copies of the explanatory memorandum or supplementary explanatory memorandum to the Table Offices and the PLOs (paragraph 7.41 refers).
Ministerial approvals
8.16 Departments must advise no later than 11.00 am on the Friday of the week before the bill is to be introduced or the government amendments are to be moved that the minister has approved:
- the text of the bill (see paragraph 6.7) and the explanatory memorandum (see paragraph 7.6); or
- the text of the amendments (see paragraph 5) and supplementary explanatory memorandum (see paragraph 9.17); and/or
- any technical amendments (see paragraph 3.25).
8.17 This timing ensures that bills and amendments will be considered by the Legislation Minister at the LAP meeting, usually held on Monday mornings. The Legislation Section must be advised if a department anticipates difficulty in meeting the Friday deadline.
8.18 The deadlines outlined above for lodgement and ministerial approval will mean that, on occasion, documents will be lodged before all approvals are in place. However, lodgement on Wednesday in advance of ministerial approval is necessary if the Legislation Section is to meet its obligations for briefing and consultation on all bills and amendments ahead of the Monday morning LAP meeting.
Corrections and other late changes to bills/amendments
8.19 If minor changes are made to a bill or amendments after the legislation approval process and before introduction, OPC may prepare a replacement brief for the Legislation Minister identifying the changes made.
8.20 Importantly, if changes made after the legislation approval process are more than minor or technical, departments will need to allow time to have the revised bill or amendments and the revised explanatory memorandum approved by the relevant minister and go through the legislation approval process again.
Party consideration
8.21 In addition to the above legislation approval process, all government bills and amendments must have party clearance—see Chapter 10 Party Clearance.