A bill is a proposal for a law or a change to an existing law. A bill becomes law (an Act) when agreed to in identical form by both houses of Parliament and assented to by the Governor-General.

Bills introduced to Parliament are scrutinised to make sure they meet certain standards and to consider whether they should be referred to a committee for further investigation. This can include feedback from stakeholders and the general public, and a report recommending potential improvements to the bill.

Current Parliament

99

Bills before Parliament

92

Bills assented to

9

Bills not proceeding

Search for bills

Keyword(s)

Help icon Using the Bill Introduced date fields will allow you to search bills by the date they were introduced into Parliament.
Clicking the 'Bill Introduced (From)' and 'Bill Introduced (To)' fields displays a calendar.
Alternatively select date by typing into these fields in the format 'dd/mm/yyyy'.

Help icon Using the Bill Progress date fields will allow you to search bills by the dates they progressed through Parliament.
Clicking the 'Bill Progress (From)' and 'Bill Progress (To)' fields displays a calendar.
Alternatively select date by typing into these fields in the format 'dd/mm/yyyy'.

Status
Current Bills
Previous Bills
Type

TOTAL RESULTS: 141

Sort

  • Defence Legislation Amendment (Enhancement of Defence Force Response to Emergencies) Bill 2020

    Track (What's this?)

    Date
    03 Sep 2020 
    Chamber
    House of Representatives 
    Status
    Act 
    Portfolio
    Defence 
    Summary
    Amends the:
    Defence Act 1903
    to: streamline the process for calling out members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) Reserves, including for the purposes of responding to natural disasters or emergencies; and provide ADF members, other Defence personnel and members of foreign forces with immunity from criminal or civil liability in certain cases while performing duties to support civil emergency and disaster preparedness, recovery and response;
    Defence Reserve Service (Protection) Act 2001
    to ensure that Reserve members who are subject to a Reserve Call Out Order will continue to receive the existing protections; and
    Australian Defence Force Cover Act 2015
    ,
    Australian Defence Force Superannuation Act 2015
    and
    Military Superannuation and Benefits Act 1991
    to ensure that Reserve members rendering continuous full-time service will receive the same entitlement to superannuation and related benefits regardless of whether it was voluntary or not. 

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

  • Defence Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2020

    Track (What's this?)

    Date
    13 Feb 2020 
    Chamber
    House of Representatives 
    Status
    Act 
    Portfolio
    Defence 
    Summary
    Amends the:
    Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme Act 2008
    to extend the period after a member leaves the Australian Defence Force (ADF) within which they can access the Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme, from two to five years;
    Australian Defence Force Superannuation Act 2015
    to enable former ADF members, who have provided at least 12 months of service, to continue to make contributions to their ADF Super accounts; and
    Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993
    to require ADF Super to obtain relevant insurance products for ADF Super members who are no longer serving in the ADF. 

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

  • Defence Service Homes Amendment Bill 2019

    Track (What's this?)

    Date
    19 Sep 2019 
    Chamber
    Senate 
    Status
    Act 
    Portfolio
    Veterans’ Affairs 
    Summary
    Amends the
    Defence Service Homes Act 1918
    to expand eligibility for the Defence Service Homes Insurance Scheme to current and former members of the Australian Defence Force who have at least one day of continuous full-time service, including reservists and peacekeepers. 

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

  • Defence Legislation Amendment Bill 2018

    Track (What's this?)

    Date
    05 Dec 2018 
    Chamber
    House of Representatives 
    Status
    Act 
    Portfolio
    Defence 
    Summary
    Amends the:
    Defence Force Discipline Act 1982
    to: make changes in relation to the selection, remuneration and termination of members of the Judge Advocates' Panel (JAP); make changes in relation to the selection and termination of the Chief Judge Advocate; establish and provide for the selection and remuneration of the position of Deputy Chief Judge Advocate; make minor amendments in relation to the statutory offices of Registrar of Military Justice and Director of Military Prosecutions; and make other minor technical amendments; and
    Defence Reserve Service (Protection) Act 2001
    to: move the complaint, investigation and mediation scheme from regulations into the Act; make changes to the scheme, including to reduce the formality of complaint handling and investigations, vest certain powers in the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF), clarify the ability to provide certain information to various parties and introduce the option of a 'compulsory conference' as an alternative dispute resolution measure; and require the CDF to prepare annually a report in relation to the administration and operation of the Act. 

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

  • Defence (Honour General Sir John Monash) Amendment Bill 2018

    Track (What's this?)

    Date
    22 Oct 2018 
    Chamber
    House of Representatives 
    Status
    Not Proceeding 
    Sponsor
    MCGOWAN, Cathy, MP 
    Summary
    Provides for the posthumous promotion of the late General Sir John Monash to rank of Australian Field Marshal in the Australian Regular Army on 1 January 1931, the date of his return to the Active Duty List. 

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

  • Discrimination Free Schools Bill 2018

    Track (What's this?)

    Date
    16 Oct 2018 
    Chamber
    Senate 
    Status
    Not Proceeding 
    Sponsor
    DI NATALE, Sen Richard 
    Summary
    Amends the:
    Sex Discrimination Act 1984
    to remove the exemption for religious educational institutions to discriminate against students and teachers on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, gender identification, marital or relationship status or pregnancy; and
    Fair Work Act 2009
    to ensure that religious exemptions from anti-discrimination provisions do not extend to educational institutions. 

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

  • Defence Amendment (Call Out of the Australian Defence Force) Bill 2018

    Track (What's this?)

    Date
    28 Jun 2018 
    Chamber
    House of Representatives 
    Status
    Act 
    Portfolio
    Attorney-General 
    Summary
    Implements certain recommendations of the Review of Defence Support to National Counter-Terrorism Arrangements by amending the
    Defence Act 1903
    to: permit states and territories to request that the Commonwealth call out the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in a wider range of circumstances; enable call out orders to authorise the ADF to operate in multiple jurisdictions, as well as the offshore area; authorise the ADF to respond to incidents that cross a border into a jurisdiction that has not been specified in an order in certain circumstances; allow the ADF to be pre-authorised to respond to land and maritime threats, in addition to aviation threats; increase the requirements for the ADF to consult with state and territory police where it is operating in their jurisdictions; simplify, expand and clarify the power of the ADF to search and seize, and to control movement during an incident; remove the distinction between general security areas and designated areas; for the purposes of expedited call out, clarify that acting ministers are to be treated as substantive ministers and add the Minister for Home Affairs as an alternative authorising minister; and make technical amendments. Also makes a consequential amendment to the
    Defence Reserve Service (Protection) Act 2001
    . 

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

  • Defence Amendment (Sovereign Naval Shipbuilding) Bill 2018

    Track (What's this?)

    Date
    09 May 2018 
    Chamber
    Senate 
    Status
    Not Proceeding 
    Sponsor
    PATRICK, Sen Rex 
    Summary
    Amends the
    Defence Act 1903
    to provide that the Commonwealth may only enter into an agreement with an entity for the building of certain vessels for use by the Royal Australian Navy if the vessel is to be constructed in Australia by an Australian shipbuilder. 

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

  • Defence Legislation Amendment (Instrument Making) Bill 2017

    Track (What's this?)

    Date
    14 Sep 2017 
    Chamber
    House of Representatives 
    Status
    Act 
    Portfolio
    Defence 
    Summary
    Amends the
    Defence Act 1903
    to: replace a number of inquiry-specific regulation-making powers with a consolidated provision relating to inquiries concerning the Defence Force; repeal existing regulation-making powers to prescribe affected land in which buildings and other objects hazardous to aviation can be regulated; enable the minister to declare by legislative instrument an area to be a defence aviation area in which buildings and objects can be regulated for the purposes of removing and reducing hazards to defence aviation; subject certain regulations made in relation to defence aviation areas to monitoring under the
    Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014
    ; and allow for the establishment of infringement notice schemes in declared public areas by reference to standard provisions in the
    Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014
    . 

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

  • Defence Amendment (Fair Pay for Members of the ADF) Bill 2017

    Track (What's this?)

    Date
    16 Aug 2017 
    Chamber
    Senate 
    Status
    Not Proceeding 
    Sponsor
    LAMBIE, Sen Jacqui 
    Summary
    Amends the
    Defence Act 1903
    to link annual wage increases for members of the Australian Defence Force to whichever is the higher of increases in parliamentary allowance or the consumer price index. 

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

Browse bills

Browse all bills by title
Updated on Title
08 April 26 Commonwealth Parole Board (Consequential and Trans...
08 April 26 Commonwealth Parole Board Bill 2025
08 April 26 Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) ...
08 April 26 Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025
08 April 26 Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025
08 April 26 Migration Amendment (Combatting Migrant Exploitati...

Bills lists

All bills before Parliament for the current calendar year and details of their progress.

Legislative Analysis

Parliamentary Library analysis of bills, including the purpose, background and key issues.

Legislative Instruments

Parliament delegates the power to legislate so details of law can be changed quickly by others. These delegated laws are referred to as legislative instruments and can be overruled – disallowed – by Parliament.

Disallowance Alerts

Legislative instruments subject to a notice of motion to disallow. The progress and eventual outcome of any such notice is also recorded.

Tariff proposals

The introduction of a tariff proposal is the formal procedure for initiating the collection of customs and excise duties.

Bills referred to committees

To inquire and report views on the bill from organisations and individuals.

Statistics on legislation

Printed bills and explanatory memoranda

Order printed versions at the Federal Register of Legislation by clicking the print icon at the document level.