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.

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Status
Current Bills
Previous Bills
Type

TOTAL RESULTS: 166

  • Date
    27 Mar 2023 
    Chamber
    House of Representatives 
    Status
    Not Proceeding 
    Sponsor
    HAINES, Helen, MP 
    Summary
    Amends the
    Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000
    to: include home batteries as an eligible technology to create small-scale technology certificates under the Small-Scale Renewable Energy Scheme; and provide for an independent review of the operation of the scheme. 

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

  • Date
    15 Feb 2023 
    Chamber
    House of Representatives 
    Status
    Act 
    Portfolio
    Attorney-General 
    Summary
    Amends the
    Royal Commissions Act 1902
    to apply limitations on the use and disclosure of certain information provided by individuals to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide outside of a private session; and
    Freedom of Information Act 1982
    to exempt this information from the operation of the Act. 

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

  • Date
    01 Dec 2022 
    Chamber
    House of Representatives 
    Status
    Act 
    Portfolio
    Finance 
    Summary
    Amends the:
    Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984
    to: align postal voting procedures in referendums with equivalent procedures in federal elections; enable the early opening and sorting of pre-poll ordinary votes, and the extraction of declaration votes during preliminary scrutiny; align authorisation requirements with the
    Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918
    ; establish a financial disclosure and foreign donation restrictions framework for referendum campaigning; prohibit foreign donations of $100 or more for referendum campaigning, and prohibit foreign campaigners from fundraising or directly incurring referendum expenditure in a financial year equal to or more than $1,000; enable the Electoral Commissioner to make modifications to certain aspects of a referendum during a declared emergency; and make technical amendments; and
    Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918
    and
    Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984
    to: extend the application of the designated elector framework to referendums; and make consequential amendments. 

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

  • Date
    01 Aug 2022 
    Chamber
    House of Representatives 
    Status
    Act 
    Sponsor
    GOSLING, Luke, MP
    PAYNE, Alicia, MP 
    Summary
    Amends the
    Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988
    and
    Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978
    to remove the prohibition on legalising euthanasia. 

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

  • Date
    30 Mar 2022 
    Chamber
    Senate 
    Status
    Act 
    Portfolio
    Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications 
    Summary
    Amends the
    Road Vehicle Standards (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2018
    to extend the duration of the transitional period provided for by this Act from 12 to 24 months after the full commencement of the
    Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018
    on 1 July 2021. 

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

  • Date
    14 Feb 2022 
    Chamber
    House of Representatives 
    Status
    Not Proceeding 
    Sponsor
    HAINES, Helen, MP 
    Summary
    Amends the
    Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000
    to: include home batteries as an eligible technology to create small-scale technology certificates under the Small-Scale Renewable Energy Scheme; and provide for an independent review of the operation of the scheme. 

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

  • Date
    09 Feb 2022 
    Chamber
    House of Representatives 
    Status
    Not Proceeding 
    Portfolio
    Prime Minister 
    Summary
    Updates and repeals outdated administrative provisions across Commonwealth legislation, including by amending the:
    Bankruptcy Act 1966
    to: streamline the indexation of certain thresholds and amounts; and make administrative amendments;
    Defence Act 1903
    to enable the minister to delegate certain powers in relation to the Woomera Prohibited Area;
    National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011
    and
    Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011
    to streamline interactions for entities regulated by the National VET Regulator and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency;
    National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Transitional Provisions) Act 2011
    to make transitional provisions;
    Industrial Chemicals Act 2019
    to: correct an error; and enable the executive director to delegate power or functions;
    National Health Act 1953
    to streamline the process for approving a pharmacist to supply pharmaceutical benefits under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme;
    Private Health Insurance Act 2007
    to clarify certain timeframes; Australian Jobs Act 2013 to enable the Australian Industry Participation Authority to suspend or cancel an approved Australian Industry Participation Plan;
    Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure Act 2010
    to enable an issuing authority to revoke and reissue a building energy efficiency certificate when the certificate has been found to contain an error;
    Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Act 2012
    in relation to: administration by the Greenhouse and Energy Minister Standards (GEMS) Regulator; compliance with requirements by suppliers of customised products; and defining classes of products in a GEMS determination;
    Olympic Insignia Protection Act 1987
    to: clarify that the International Olympic Committee and the Australian Olympic Committee can register their own insignia as trade marks; and provide for the rejection of applications to register trade marks not applied for by these bodies;
    Trade Marks Act 1995
    in relation to: alignment of grace periods for renewal of a trade mark; revocation and restoration of registration of a trade mark; and replacement of the Official Journal of Trade Marks;
    Patents Act 1990
    to remove spent transitional and savings provisions;
    Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005
    to: remove certain powers of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA); and require the minister to have regard to certain expertise when nominating a person for appointment to the ACMA; and
    Radiocommunications Act 1992
    to: remove certain requirements in relation to spectrum plans and frequency band plans, apparatus licences, variations and revocations of class licences and advisory guidelines; and provide for personal information to be excluded from public inspection and subject to confidentiality in circumstances that the ACMA considers appropriate. Also repeals the
    Cockatoo and Schnapper Islands Act 1949

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

  • Date
    25 Nov 2021 
    Chamber
    House of Representatives 
    Status
    Not Proceeding 
    Portfolio
    Attorney-General 
    Summary
    Introduced with the Religious Discrimination Bill 2021 and Human Rights Legislation Amendment Bill 2021, the bill amends the:
    Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986
    to: extend the Australian Human Rights Commission’s complaints-handling functions to complaints of unlawful religious discrimination under the
    Religious Discrimination Act 2021
    , when enacted; and establish the Religious Discrimination Commissioner as a member of the commission;
    Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986
    and
    Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act 1986
    to allow the Inspector-General to inquire into acts or practices of intelligence agencies that may be inconsistent with or contrary to the
    Religious Discrimination Act 2021
    , referred by the Australian Human Rights Commission;
    Civil Aviation Act 1988
    to provide that civil aviation regulations may be inconsistent with the
    Religious Discrimination Act 2021
    if necessary for the safety of air navigation;
    Fair Work Act 2009
    (FWA) to recognise the
    Religious Discrimination Act 2021
    as an anti-discrimination law for the purposes of the FWA’s general protection provisions;
    Sea Installations Act 1987
    (SIA) to recognise the
    Religious Discrimination Act 2021
    as an anti-discrimination law for the purposes of the SIA; and
    Religious Discrimination Act 2021
    to make amendments contingent on the commencement of the
    Equal Opportunity (Religious Exceptions) Amendment Act 2021
    (Vic). 

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

  • Date
    25 Nov 2021 
    Chamber
    House of Representatives 
    Status
    Not Proceeding 
    Portfolio
    Attorney-General 
    Summary
    Introduced with the Religious Discrimination (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2021 and Human Rights Legislation Amendment Bill 2021, the bill: prohibits discrimination on the basis of a person’s religious belief or activity in a range of areas of public life, including in relation to employment, education, access to premises and the provision of goods, services and accommodation; establishes general and specific exceptions from the prohibition of religious discrimination; provides that certain statements of belief do not constitute discrimination for the purposes of certain specified Commonwealth, state or territory anti-discrimination laws; creates offences in relation to victimisation and discriminatory advertisements; establishes the office of the Religious Discrimination Commissioner; confers certain functions on the Australian Human Rights Commission; and provides for miscellaneous matters including delegation of powers or functions, protection from civil actions and a review of the operation of the Act. 

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

  • Date
    12 Aug 2021 
    Chamber
    Senate 
    Status
    Not Proceeding 
    Sponsor
    KENEALLY, Sen Kristina 
    Summary
    Establishes a mandatory requirement for Commonwealth, state or territory entities, corporations and partnerships to report to the Australian Cyber Security Centre ransomware payments paid in response to a ransomware attack. 

    Bill | Explanatory Memorandum

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.