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DIY Role-play in the classroom: Law-making

Debate is essential to the notion of parliament which has its origins in the French word parler meaning ‘to talk’. During parliamentary debate ideas are tested, challenged, refined and ultimately accepted or rejected. It is a heady process which requires deep and critical reflection and analysis.

The Parliamentary Education Office (PEO) has developed a law-making role-play that helps students understand how proposals for federal laws—bills—are considered by the Parliament. In role and using the classroom as a chamber, students use their own experience of brainstorming, problem solving, public speaking, working as part of a team and taking responsibility for the carriage of ideas to experience decision making the parliamentary way!

The Law-making Role-play has many applications and adapts easily to a variety of classroom circumstances. It may:

  • facilitate debate of real and current issues
  • be conducted as a curriculum activity during studies of government and parliament
  • provide a springboard to running your own class or school parliament.

This page provides step-by-step instructions on how to run a law-making role-play in the classroom. You can enjoy it completely off-the-cuff or involve the class in research, planning and writing activities that culminate in the role-play. The people in the federal Parliament laugh, joke and forget things—but along the way make decisions that lead to new laws designed to make Australia a better place. This is your goal too—to ensure that in your parliament every voice is heard and that all debate is open and fair.

On this page:

In addition, please see Role-play Toolkit for a complete set of role-play resources and do-it-yourself accessories including scripts, seating plans, diagrams, quick guides to each role-play, role descriptions, bill suggestions and templates and instructions to make your own parliamentary props and gowns. See also the PEO Fact Sheet Series for information on a broad range of parliamentary topics.

Role-play outcomes

Students will explore the following concepts and processes:

  • law-making
  • formation of government
  • representation
  • parliamentary scrutiny.

Three Assessment Rubrics have been developed to help you assess your students. The rubrics focus on:

  • parliamentary knowledge
  • literacy skills
  • capacity to work with others.

Getting organised

Role-play is about pretending, imagining, acting. It is about experiencing what it is like to be someone else—stepping into another reality. Seating plans, scripts and props create an authentic atmosphere of parliament and help students embrace their roles.

  • Seating Plans establish a parliamentary setting and help to define roles. In parliament where you sit tells a lot about who you are and what you do.
  • Scripts use the language of the Parliament, establish procedure and define the scope of various parliamentary roles. The script provides a framework for the role-play. It is your primary resource.
  • Quick Guides provide a brief overview of each role-play and highlight the simple processes which underpin the operations of the Parliament.
  • Make it Yourself provides all the resources you need to make your role-play truly authentic using parliamentary gowns and props such as the Speaker's gown, the Black Rod and the Despatch Boxes.

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Choosing a bill

A bill is a written proposal for a new or altered law. The power of the Australian Parliament to make law is bound by the Australian Constitution—in your classroom you are not. This gives you wide scope and great opportunity to choose bill topics which are appealing and relevant to your students. For more information see Fact Sheet 56 Where Bills come from.

Choose the bill topic by:

  • brainstorming Australia would be a better place if …
  • teacher selection, perhaps to meet the requirements of a curriculum area
  • playing Pass the Bill on our Kidsview website. Pass the Bill is an animated interactive which follows the path of the Wildlife Export Bill, the Drugs in Sport Bill and the Flag Protection Bill.
  • selecting a bill currently in the federal Parliament
  • discussing a local issue that needs to be tackled
  • selecting from our list of bill suggestions in the Templates & Suggestions section of the Role-play Toolkit.

Once you have chosen your bill topic you can write it as a formal proposal—on the blackboard or butcher’s paper or using either the simple or detailed bill template in Role-play Toolkit. You can decide how much detail you wish to include in the bill; however a bill will need a short and long title such as:

Short title: The Solar Energy Bill 2007.

Long title: A Bill for an Act to install solar panels in all new commercial buildings.

Changing your classroom into a chamber

It’s easy to change your room into a parliamentary chamber using no more than tables and chairs. The diagrams below show you how to arrange your classroom for a law-making role-play in the House of Representatives or the Senate. For a larger printable version of these and other role-play seating plans go to Seating Plans in Role-play Toolkit.

Diagram of the House of Representatives seating plan during Question Time. Click to read a detailed description. Diagram of the Senate seating plan during Question Time. Click to read a detailed description.

Left: Law-making in the House of Representatives seating plan

Right: Law-making in the Senate seating plan

Setting the scene

Before the role-play begins, it is a good idea to set a parliamentary scene that encourages students to get into role as members of parliament. We have found that the more positively students adopt their roles the less intervention is required to sustain the role-play and the more memorable the experience. It is important that students understand that in their new role, they may have views and opinions which are different from their own.

It is altogether possible to throw students straight into a parliamentary role-play without preparation. This spontaneous approach works amazingly well; however, if you prefer to have speeches prepared a template can be useful to stimulate thought, to assist in the development of ideas and to guide the delivery of a clear and effective statement of position.

See the Law-making Templates in Role-play Toolkit.

Alternatively, you may prefer to prepare for a House of Representatives or Senate law-making role-play, by generating discussion around the following aspects of parliamentary life.

Key questions House of Representatives Law-making Role-play Senate Law-making Role-play
Who are you? You are a member elected to the House of Representatives.

You are a senator elected to the Senate.

How old are you? You are likely to be in your 40s or 50s. You are likely to be in your 40s or 50s.
Who do you represent? You represent the people of one Australian electorate. You represent the people of one Australian state or territory.
How many members of parliament sit in this chamber?

You are one of 150 members. Each electorate is represented by one federal member.

You are one of 76 senators. Each state is represented by a total of 12 federal senators. Each territory is represented by a total of two federal senators.
Do you belong to a team?

You belong to a team if you are in the government, opposition or a minor party. The leader of the government is the Prime Minister. The leader of the opposition is the Leader of the Opposition.

There are no minor party members in the current House of Representatives. 		You belong to a team if you are in the government, opposition or a minor party. The government is led by the Leader of the Government in the Senate and the opposition by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.
How big is your team? If you are part of the government you belong to the team with a majority in this chamber. The opposition is the second biggest team in this chamber. The government and opposition may be similarly sized in this chamber. The balance of power may be held by the collection of minor parties and/or Independents who sit on the crossbench.
What does your team expect of you? If you belong to a team, the team expects you to support and vote with the team. One way to show support is to say ‘hear, hear!’ when a member of your team speaks. If you belong to a team, the team expects you to support and vote with the team. One way to show support is to say ‘hear, hear!’ when a senator from your team speaks.
What is an Independent?

You are an Independent member if you do not belong to a team. You vote according to your wishes and those of your electorate.

There are three Independents in the current House of Representatives.

If you are an Independent senator you do not belong to a team. You vote according to your wishes and those of your state or territory.

There are no Independents in the current Senate.
What do you want to achieve? If you are a member of parliament your goal is to pass good laws for Australia. If you are a member of parliament your goal is to pass good laws for Australia.
Who runs the chamber? The Speaker runs the chamber using the House of Representatives standing orders—the rules of the chamber. The President runs the chamber using the Senate standing orders—the rules of the chamber.
Who records the decisions of the chamber? The Clerk of the House of Representatives records the decisions of the chamber and assists the Speaker in keeping the rules. The Clerk of the Senate records the decisions of the chamber and assists the President in keeping the rules.
Who maintains safety and security in the chamber? The Serjeant-at-Arms helps the Speaker keep order in the chamber. The Usher of the Black Rod helps the President keep order in the chamber.

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Law-making tips

Let the Parliament of Australia be your guide. Model your facilitation of the role-play on the rules and processes of the federal Parliament, rather than normal classroom practice. This will maintain the integrity of the role-play and help students to feel ownership of it. Our system of parliamentary democracy uses legislative debate to publicise and record arguments for and against particular proposals. It provides an opportunity for members and senators to explain their position and to demonstrate representation of their electorate or state.

Legislative debate is the most time consuming activity of the Parliament. The length of time devoted to debating a bill (proposed law) depends on its urgency, the amount of time available and the number of parliamentarians wishing to speak on it. Usually such matters are arranged by negotiation between the parties.

Here are some suggestions for modelling the Parliament of Australia in your classroom role-play.

Breaks in the role-play

Debate in either of the federal chambers is not continuous—there are breaks when other chamber business intervenes.

You can model this behaviour in the Law-making Role-play:

  • Ask the Presiding Officer (Speaker or President) to adjourn the chamber following the introduction of the bill and the initial speeches. During the adjournment you can address student inquiries and/or call a party meeting. During the party meeting, students and advisors discuss the bill, team strategies and plan more arguments for or against the bill, according to their position on the bill. For more information about parties see Fact Sheet 22 Political Party.
  • Ask the Presiding Officer (Speaker or President) to grant leave for you to speak to the chamber following the vote on the voices. This is an opportunity for you to address student inquiries and explain the whip’s call for a division. A division is a counted vote. It is called a division because parliamentarians must move to one side of the chamber or the other to show support or opposition of the bill and to have their vote formally recorded. For more information about divisions see House of Representatives Infosheet: Making decisions—debate and division.

House of Representatives Infosheet: Making decisions—debate and division: http://www.aph.gov.au/house/info/infosheets/is14.pdf

Alternatively, you can go right through the role-play without a break and discuss issues which come up at the end.

Chamber control

The Speaker is responsible for maintaining order in the House of Representatives. The President is responsible for maintaining order in the Senate

You can model this behaviour in the Law-making Role-play:

  • Whisper suggestions to the Presiding Officer (Speaker or President) so as to minimise interruption of the role-play.
  • Encourage the Presiding Officer (Speaker or President) to use the rules of the chamber to maintain his or her authority. See the Clerk’s script (House of Representatives or Senate) for a brief list of chamber rules.
  • Encourage the Presiding Officer (Speaker or President) to alternate speeches between the government, opposition, Independents and/or minor parties. See Fact Sheet 30 The Speaker and Fact Sheet 16 The President of the Senate.

Chamber attendance

During a debate on a bill either in the House of Representatives or the Senate, there are usually very few members or senators present in the chamber. They are simply too busy to listen to every speech and have a lot of other responsibilities such as: writing speeches, answering emails, talking to colleagues and visiting politicians from overseas, sitting on committees of inquiry, talking to visiting school groups, and so on.

You can model this behaviour in the Law-making Role-play. Explain that not all members or senators are present in the chamber for the debate. This has the additional benefit of paving the way for [imaginary] members or senators to enter the chamber when the division vote is called. When a division vote is called, every clock in Parliament House rings and flashes with a coloured light (green for the House of Representatives and red for the Senate) calling members or senators who are not in the chamber, to the chamber to vote. The bells ring for four minutes only, and members and senators rush to get to the chamber before the bells stop ringing and the doors are locked.

Crossing the floor

Members and senators normally vote with their team (party)—the team expects loyalty from its members. Sometimes however, during a division, a member or senator may cross the floor to vote with another team. If this happens, the crosser may be regarded as being disloyal. Crossing the floor is rare. See Fact Sheet 38 Crossing the Floor.

You can model this behaviour in the Law-making Role-play:

  • Help students who do not agree with the bill, to remain in role and to support their team.
  • Reinforce the role of the party whip and party leaders who will encourage all team members to vote with their team and who may penalise them if they don’t!

Amending the bill

Both houses of parliament can make changes to the wording of a bill, called amendments. Often the opposition, minor party members and Independents will agree to pass bills if amendments are made to them.

You can model this behaviour in the Law-making Role-play by following-up suggestions to amend the bill. To do this, allow time for a debate on amendments. Prompt the Presiding Officer (Speaker or President) to ask the chamber if it wishes to amend the bill. If the answer is yes, the Presiding Officer can adjourn the chamber for several minutes to give the opposition and Independents time to frame the desired changes. When ready the Presiding Officer reconvenes the chamber and the debate recommences on the proposed amendment. When the debate on the proposed amendment is exhausted the chamber votes to accept or defeat the amendment. See How to amend a bill in the Role-play Toolkit.

Amendments involve:

  • clause by clause consideration of the bill
  • omitting, substituting or adding words to the bill
  • a majority vote to pass. See Fact Sheet 6 Amendments.

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Role-play overview

Preparation

Role-play Toolkit contains all the resources you need to run your role-play. You will need:

You might also like to try:

House of Representatives Senate

Roles

  • Select a Speaker, Clerk and Serjeant-at-Arms (non debating roles).
  • Divide the class into government, opposition and Independents. Make sure the government is the largest team with a majority, the opposition is the second largest team and that there are only two or three Independents.
  • Elect party leaders (the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition).
  • Select a minister responsible for the bill.
  • Select a shadow minister.
  • Choose party whips to count the vote at the end of the debate and to lead support for the team.

Starting the debate

  • The Clerk rings the bell and tells the members to stand.
  • The Serjeant-at-Arms leads the Speaker into the chamber, carrying the Mace on his or her right shoulder.
  • The Serjeant-at-Arms announces the Speaker and places the Mace on the table before sitting down.
  • The Speaker tells everyone to sit down and begins the session.
  • The Clerk stands and reads the rules of the chamber.
  • The minister introduces the bill and the shadow minister responds to the bill.
  • After a few speeches from each side, the House is adjourned.

Party meetings

  • The members of each team get together to plan more speeches for or against the bill, and the Independents decide whether they will support or oppose the bill.

Concluding the debate

  • After the party meetings the debate continues.
  • When the debate is exhausted the Speaker leads the vote on the bill.
  • The Opposition Whip may call a division.

Ending the role-play

  • When the result of the division has been given, the Speaker adjourns the House.
  • The Serjeant-at-Arms leads the Speaker from the chamber holding the Mace.

Roles

  • Select a President, Clerk and Usher of the Black Rod (non debating roles).
  • Divide the class into government, opposition, minor parties and Independents. The government may or may not have a majority. The balance of power may be held by minor parties and/or Independent senators.
  • Elect leaders (Leader of the Government in the Senate and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate).
  • Select a minister responsible for the bill.
  • Select a shadow minister.
  • Choose party whips to count the vote after the debate and to lead support for the team.

Starting the debate

  • The Clerk rings the bell and tells the senators to stand.
  • The Usher of the Black Rod, who stands outside carrying the Black Rod in his or her right hand, leads the President into the chamber.
  • The Usher of the Black Rod announces the President and places the Black Rod next to his or her seat in its holder.
  • The President tells everyone to sit down and begins the session.
  • The Clerk stands and reads the rules of the chamber.
  • The minister introduces the bill and the shadow minister responds to the bill.
  • After a few speeches from each side, the Senate is adjourned.

Party meetings

  • The members of each team get together to plan more speeches for or against the bill and the Independents and minor parties decide whether they will support or oppose the bill.

Concluding the debate

  • After the party meetings the debate continues.
  • When the debate is exhausted the President leads the vote on the bill.
  • The Opposition Whip may call a division.

Ending the role-play

  • When the result of the division has been given, the President adjourns the Senate.
  • The Usher of the Black Rod leads the President from the chamber holding the Black Rod.

Putting law-making together

After the debate, you might like to explore the following questions with your students.

House of Representatives Senate
  1. Why do government bills always pass this chamber? The government has the majority in this chamber—that is why they are the government. See the current composition of the House in House of Representatives NOW.
  2. Why debate if bills will pass the House anyway? Members are elected to represent the views of the people who elected them and have to do their job. The opposition is the alternative government and must show the electorate what a good job it would do in government. Good arguments from either side may lead to changes that improve the bill.
  3. What other major steps must a bill go through to become a law? The Constitution states that for a bill to become law it must be passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate in exactly the same words. If this happens the bill is passed to the Governor-General for royal assent (approval).
  1. How may the Senate defeat government bills? The government does not always have a majority in the Senate (in the current parliament, however, the government does have a majority of one). If the minor parties and Independents have the balance of power, they may vote against the bill and defeat it.
  2. Why debate again in the Senate? The Senate is known as the house of review. All aspects of the bill are re-examined and new arguments may be introduced. The bill may also be sent to a committee for detailed investigation.
  3. What other steps must occur for a bill to become law? The Constitution states that for a bill to become law it must be passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate in exactly the same words. If this happens the bill is passed to the Governor-General for royal assent.

Unravelling the Parliamentary Role-play

Unravelling the Parliamentary Role-play is a PEO publication which explores the pedagogy of the parliamentary role-play. Written for teachers and educators, it provides a detailed and challenging program of work that progressively builds students' understanding and involvement with the federal Parliament through intriguing questions and thought-provoking activities. Unravelling the Parliamentary Role-play is available to teachers and educators free of charge, on request from the PEO.

If this information does not answer all of your questions about how to run a law-making role-play in the classroom, please contact the PEO by phone, fax or email.

Ph: 02 6277 3147 or 02 6277 3508
Fax: 02 6277 5775
Email: info@peo.gov.au

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