About OPC

Functions

The Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) was established under the Parliamentary Counsel Act 1970. Its principal functions are drafting Bills for introduction into either House of the Parliament and drafting amendments of Bills.

Objective

The objective of OPC is to enable the Government to carry out its legislative program and (subject to Government priorities) to assist Private Members with their legislative requirements, by drafting Bills and amendments of Bills and supplying them to the Parliament.

Description

Before each Parliamentary sitting the Government formulates a program of Bills that it requires to be drafted for the sittings. In recognition that it may not be possible for all Bills on the program to be drafted, it decides on a drafting priority for the drafting of each Bill.

Based on this program, agencies instruct drafters in OPC on the policy to be effected by the proposed Bills. The drafters consider the constitutional and legal background against which the legislation is to be framed, analyse the policy and determine the structure of the legislation. Then they draft the legislation in terms intended to give effect, as precisely as possible, to the policy.

When a Bill is finally drafted copies are obtained from a commercial printer in sufficient numbers for consideration by the Parliament.

If the Government decides to amend a Bill during its passage through the Parliament, drafters prepare the necessary amendments and provide sufficient copies to the Parliament.

The Government keeps its legislative program under continuous review during the sittings and makes adjustments as necessary.

Staffing

OPC has a staff of approximately 50 people. This consists of 3 statutory officers-the First Parliamentary Counsel and 2 Second Parliamentary Counsel-and staff employed under the Public Service Act 1999. There are approximately 35 drafters and 20 corporate services staff comprising executive assistants, legislation officers, administrative officers, a librarian and IT staff.

Functional statement

The function of OPC is the continued delivery of quality legislation-legislation that embodies good legislative practice, that accurately reflects the client's instructions and that is presented in a form and structure that promotes ease of use and understanding.

Corporate objectives

The corporate objectives of OPC are:

to provide a timely and high quality service in the performance of its functions;
to draft legislation in as clear a style as possible, consistent with maintaining precision;
to promote the development of new approaches to legislative drafting to reflect changes in legal policy and in the expectations of the community;
to pursue staff development so that the best use is made of the resources available to OPC and career and advancement opportunities for all staff are enhanced; and
to promote the efficient and effective management of the resources of OPC.

OPC promotes its objectives by, amongst other things, regularly reviewing its work practices and operating methods to ensure that they:

promote the production of draft legislation that is effective to achieve its purposes and is in a clear style;
are consistent with speed and efficiency in the work of OPC; and
are consistent with the provision of adequate development opportunities for staff.

Business future

The demands made on OPC have grown in quantity and altered in their nature in recent years. OPC is expected to produce much more legislation and is also expected to meet demands from both Government and the business community to simplify its end-product. These trends are expected to continue.

OPC continues to develop and implement procedures for making laws easier to read and understand through the use of plain English and other modern drafting techniques. There is also an increasing pressure to rewrite existing Acts using such techniques.

More information

Further information about OPC is available from the OPC documents on this site.

The Office also conducts Legislation Process Courses for staff of Australian Public Service agencies to explain the process of developing legislation.