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Fact Sheets in alphabetical order A Day in Parliament A Day in the Life of an MP Adjournment Debate Amendments Bills and Acts Budget Cabinet Clerk Coalition Coat of Arms Constitution Crossing the Floor Despatch Box Double Dissolution Elections Estimates Federation Frontbenchers & Backbenchers Functions of Parliament Governor-General Hansard House of Representatives Independents Inside Parliament House Joint Sitting of Parliament Leader of the Opposition Mace Main Committee Media Members of Parliament Ministers Ministers & Shadow Ministers Parliament House Facts Parliamentary Committees Party Leadership Party Meetings Party Whip Passing a Bill Petitions Political Party Preparing a Bill for Parliament President of the Senate Prime Minister Private Members & Senators Prorogation & Dissolution Question Time Senate Senators Separation of Powers Serjeant-at-Arms Speaker Speaker's Chair Standing Orders Three Levels of Government Usher of the Black Rod Where Bills Come From Fact Sheets in numerical order 01 The Coat of Arms 02 Despatch Box 03 The Speaker's Chair 04 The Usher of the Black Rod 05 Adjournment Debate 06 Amendments 07 Party Leadership 08 Main Committee 09 Party Meetings 10 The Serjeant-at-Arms 11 The Mace 12 Coalition 13 Prorogation & Dissolution 14 Independents 15 Leader of the Opposition 16 President of the Senate 17 The Governor-General 18 House of Representatives 19 Cabinet 20 Members of Parliament 21 Ministers & Shadow Ministers 22 Political Party 23 The Prime Minister 24 The Media 25 The Senate 26 The Party Whip 27 A Day in Parliament 28 Bills & Acts 29 Functions of Parliament 30 The Speaker 31 The Consitution 32 Senators 33 Double Dissolution 34 Federation 35 Separation of Powers 36 Passing a Bill 37 Frontbenchers & Backbenchers 38 Crossing the Floor 39 Question Time 40 A Day in the Life of an MP 41 Elections 42 Estimates 43 Parliament House Facts 44 Hansard 45 Inside Parliament House 46 Joint Sitting of Parliament 47 Private Members & Senators 48 Ministers 49 Parliamentary Committees 50 Petitions 51 Preparing a Bill for Parliament 52 Standing Orders 53 The Budget 54 The Clerk 55 Three Levels of Government 56 Where Bills Come From

28 Bills and Acts

One of the major tasks of Parliament is to create laws. A proposed law is called a bill. The word bill probably comes from the Latin word bulla or seal, and refers to the seal on documents written by a king or person in authority. During the 16th century in England, the word bill came to mean a draft for an Act of Parliament.

The main parts of a bill are:

• The title which refers to the content and the year of the bill. eg. The Broadcasting Services Act 1999. If several bills about the same subject and with the same title are passed in the same year, they each have a number eg. The Broadcasting Services Act 1999 (No.2).
• The bill always states the date on which the Act will begin.
• Sometimes there is a list of definitions at the beginning of the bill.
• The main part of the bill is divided into clauses, subclauses and paragraphs.
• The schedule is a section of the bill that contains lists or complicated details. The schedule is like an appendix.

All bills have a statement about the legal source of the bill. The main source for bills in the Australian Parliament is the Constitution, especially Section 51, which lists the powers of the Commonwealth Parliament.

A bill becomes an Act of Parliament after it has been passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and signed by the Governor-General or given Royal Assent.

Download: 28 Bills and Acts [194KB]

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