7.1 General

The Queensland Parliament makes, modifies or repeals law by Acts of Parliament - often referred to as statutes or legislation. Legislation is passed by the Legislative Assembly and is given Royal Assent in the name of Her Majesty by the Governor. The normal flow of the legislative process is that a Bill is introduced into the Legislative Assembly, passed and agreed to, then given Royal Assent by the Governor and converted, at that point, into an Act.

Section 8 of the Constitution Act 1867 gives the Legislative Assembly the power to make rules and orders with respect to the conduct of its business and its proceedings and specifically gives authority for the Rules and Orders which prescribe the procedure to be followed for the passing of Bills.

Provided the rules relating to initiation procedures are observed, any Member of the Legislative Assembly has authority to introduce a Bill. However, until 1996 Members who were not also Ministers in practice introduced very few Bills.

For the purposes of this chapter reference is made to the Minister in charge of the Bill. Most of the matters below obviously also apply to other Members who introduce a Bill.

Last reviewed: 17 July, 2009

Last updated: 22 July, 2009

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