Legislation

Legislation is law that is developed, debated and passed by a parliament. It is also known as parliament-made law or statutory law. Legislation can be passed by either the Commonwealth parliament or the various State Parliaments. The law-making power of parliaments is defined and limited by constitutions. Legislation starts its life as a bill, or proposed legislation. Bills are drafted by parliamentary counsel, then announced and debated within the parliament itself. If a bill is passed by the parliament it is signed by the governor or governor-general and becomes legislation. A single item of legislation is sometimes called a statute or an act of parliament. Once legislation is passed it can only be amended or repealed (abolished) by the same parliament that passed it. The following lawgovpol.com topic pages explore topics related to legislation. If you would like to suggest or contribute a topic, please contact us.