Foreword

Legislation, properly authorised and made, is the most powerful way to protect, create or change the rights of citizens and to enforce, create or change their obligations. It is the most powerful way to underpin the achievement of policy. All those concerned in the development of Queensland legislation have a primary duty to ensure that it is of the highest standard.

The Queensland Legislation Handbook plays a major role in identifying the principles, processes and practices on which the achievement of legislation of the highest standard is based.

The handbook is compulsory reading for officers who are in any way associated with the development of legislation. I would also recommend the handbook to other people who wish to gain an appreciation of how legislation is developed, particularly from the perspective of the relationship between instructing officers and drafters.

The Queensland Legislation Handbook is just one of the volumes of Governing Queensland, which is the suite of policy and administrative handbooks designed to explain in a transparent way the processes of government in the State. The suite's handbooks strengthen the public service by requiring high quality processes supporting effective government, and encouraging better integration of policy development, planning, implementation and evaluation.

The handbooks in the suite that are most closely related to this handbook are The Queensland Cabinet Handbook and The Queensland Executive Council Handbook. Those two handbooks provide for much of the process needed to progress legislative proposals within government. Another related handbook in the suite is The Queensland Parliamentary Procedures Handbook, which has direct relevance to legislation, and deals with its special subject matter in considerable detail.

The Queensland Ministerial Handbook and Welcome Aboard: A Guide for Members of Queensland Government Boards, Committees and Statutory Authorities complete the suite.

 

Access the Governing Queensland suite of handbooks at www.premiers.qld.gov.au in the publications section.

 

Anna Bligh MP
Premier of Queensland