Bills and Acts

Bills are proposed laws introduced into the Legislative Assembly. If agreed to by the Legislative Assembly and given assent by the Governor, a Bill becomes an Act.

There are two types of Bills—

• Bills for a new principal Act, such as the Human Rights Act 2019 which sets up a scheme to protect and promote human rights in Queensland.
• Amendment Bills that only amend existing legislation. Amendment Bills can usually be identified by the word ‘Amendment’ appearing in the name of the Bill, such as the Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020.

Most Bills are Government Bills introduced into Parliament by the Minister whose responsibilities cover the Bill's subject matter. Individual members of Parliament can also introduce proposed laws to the Parliament. These Bills are generally introduced by non-Government members and are called private members’ Bills.

OQPC drafts all Government Bills and private members’ Bills introduced into the Legislative Assembly. Upon introduction, the Bills are published on the Queensland Legislation website (under the heading ‘Bills’). Acts are published on the website after being given assent by the Governor (under the heading 'Acts as passed').

Amendments of Bills

When a Bill is debated in the Legislative Assembly, members of Parliament can propose amendments to the Bill. The usual practice is for amendments to be moved by the sponsoring Minister or a non-Government member, and either agreed to or ‘negatived’ by the members voting.

Amendments of Bills are drafted by OQPC. If a Bill is amended by the Parliament during its passage, OQPC publishes a version of the Bill that incorporates the amendments the Parliament agreed to. This version of a Bill is called the 'third reading draft' and is accessed via the legislative history for the Bill on the Queensland Legislation website. (Read more about finding legislative history information on the Queensland Legislation website.)

A record of amendments of a Bill moved by a Member of Parliament, and how the members voted on the amendment, is included in the record of proceedings in the Parliament, known as Hansard. Hansard can be accessed from the Queensland Parliament website.

In force Acts (Reprints)

A reprint is a version of Queensland legislation that shows the legislation as it is in force on a particular date. OQPC produces reprints for all Acts that are in force. Read more about reprints of legislation.

Reprints of legislation are published on the Queensland Legislation website under the heading 'In force legislation'.