1.5 How Parliament makes legislation
1.5.1 Act of Parliament
The Parliament of Queensland makes legislation or authorises the making of legislation by enacting an Act. This means the Legislative Assembly passes a Bill for the Act and the Bill is given royal assent. On assent the Bill becomes an Act.
All persons are required to take note of and comply with an Act. If, according to its terms, a provision applies to a person, the person and all other persons may rely on, or are bound by, the provision.
An Act is essentially a sequence of provisions containing statements and rules. What is achieved by the Act depends on the interpretation of the Act's provisions.
1.5.2 Subordinate legislation
Generally speaking, subordinate or delegated legislation is legislation the making of which is authorised by an Act of Parliament. The Act must delegate authority to a body or person to make the subordinate legislation.
Authorisation from Parliament is therefore central to the consideration of the validity of particular subordinate legislation.
In this context, it is helpful to understand that the word 'legislation' usually means a statutory instrument of legislative character.
In Queensland, some particular instruments or types of instruments made under Acts are specially defined by Acts to be 'subordinate legislation'. If an Act gives an instrument this label, it means that it must be tabled in the Legislative Assembly (that is, laid before the Assembly) and can be disallowed by it.
The most familiar example of subordinate legislation is a regulation made by the Governor in Council. However, many other statutory instruments are expressly declared to be subordinate legislation by the Statutory Instruments Act 1992 or the Act that authorises them to be made.
Chapter 6.1 gives more information about types of subordinate legislation.
Last reviewed: 17 July, 2009
Last updated: 22 July, 2009
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