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What is the role of OPC?The role of the Office of Parliamentary Counsel is to draft Bills for introduction into Parliament. In general, this is done on instructions from Government Departments or agencies. Further information about OPC is available in the About OPC and the Guide to Working With OPC sections of this Web site. How can I get advice on drafting matters before I give drafting instructions to OPC?Client advisers are senior drafters from whom client agencies can obtain quick off-the-cuff advice about drafting matters that arise, for instance, in the course of preparing a Cabinet submission or drafting instructions. Advice on programming issues should be sought from First Parliamentary Counsel rather than the agency's client adviser. How do I give written drafting instructions to OPC?A guide to giving written drafting instructions is available on the OPC Documents section of this web site. How do I find out about jobs at OPC?Vacancies at OPC will be advertised in the Public Service Gazette. Positions are often also advertised in a newspaper. Notice of vacancies at OPC will also be put on this web site. All public service vacancies are available on the Web. Does OPC draft regulations or other statutory instruments?OPC does not draft regulations or other statutory instruments. Most of these are drafted by the Office of Legislative Drafting and Publishing in the Australian Government Attorney-General's Department. How do I find out if there are regulations made under an Act?To find out if Regulations have been made under an Act, you should check the Regulations that are available on the ComLaw site. If you are still unable to find the answer, you should check with the Office of Legislative Drafting and Publishing in the Australian Government Attorney-General's Department. Can OPC give information about how an Act operates?OPC does not give information about the operation of particular Acts. For any information about a particular Act, you should contact the Department that is responsible for the Act. How do I find out which Minister or Department is responsible for an Act?The Administrative Arrangements Order that is made by the Governor-General sets out which Departments and Ministers are responsible for particular subject matters and particular Acts. The Administrative Arrangements Order is set out in order of Department and is available on the ComLaw site. How do I find out if a Bill is being drafted?OPC is not able to advise you whether or not a particular Bill or a Bill on a particular subject matter is being drafted. For any information about a particular Bill, you should contact the Department that is responsible for the Bill. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet site keeps a list of Legislation Proposed for Introduction. How do I find out whether an Act has been amended?A Table of Acts is maintained on the ComLaw site. This Table includes information about Acts that have amended other Acts. You will need to check the Table for each year since the last amendment that you are aware of. Alternatively, this information can be obtained from tables at the end of the consolidated versions of Acts that are maintained on the ComLaw site. You will need to download the Act to see the table. How do I find out what stage a Bill is at in Parliament?To find out what stage a Bill is at in Parliament, you should check the BillsNet site maintained by Parliament House. How do I find a copy of a Bill?You can purchase a hard copy of a Bill by e-mail from sales@infoservices.com.au. You can obtain an electronic copy of a Bill that is currently in Parliament from the BillsNet site maintained by Parliament House. The ComLaw site has copies of Bills that are currently in Parliament and some Bills that are no longer in Parliament. Copies of Explanatory Memorandums are available from the same locations. How do I find a copy of an Act?You can purchase a hard copy of an Act by visiting the Canprint website. The ComLaw site has Acts in the form originally enacted and consolidated versions of Acts. Links to Acts from States, Territories and New Zealand and overseas Acts are also available. How do I find an Explanatory Memorandum for a Bill or Act?You can purchase a hard copy of an Explanatory Memorandum by e-mail sales@infoservices.com.au. You can obtain an electronic copy of an Explanatory Memorandum for a Bill that is currently in Parliament from the of the BillsNet site maintained by Parliament House. The ComLaw site has copies of Explanatory Memorandums for Bills that are currently in Parliament and some Bills that are no longer in Parliament. Copies of Bills are available from the same locations. The OPC Library has a complete set of Explanatory Memorandums in hard copy. Copies of these can be provided on request (a fee applies). How do I find out when an Act commenced?Tables of Commonwealth Acts are on the ComLaw site. Each table includes information about the commencement of Acts and of parts of Acts. If you have a copy of the Act, you can find out when it commences by looking at the commencement provision. This is usually section 2. Sometimes the whole Act commences at the same time. Sometimes different parts commence at different times. The most common commencement times are:
If there is no commencement specified, the Act will commence 28 days after it receives the Royal Assent (see subsection 5(1A) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901). What is the process for a Bill to get Royal Assent?Once a Bill has been passed by the Parliament, copies of the Bill bearing a certificate from the Speaker of the House of Representatives or the President of the Senate are given to the Governor-General by the House of introduction. OPC prepares a certificate for the Attorney-General's signature. When the certificate is signed by the Attorney-General it is sent to the Governor-General. The Governor-General then gives the Royal Assent to the Bill by signing 2 copies of the Bill. In rare cases, the Bill is assented to by the Queen. How long does it take an Act to receive the Royal Assent?The exact time that it takes for an Act to receive the Royal Assent after it is passed by Parliament varies. However, it is usually between 7 and 10 working days. How can I find out when an Act is going to receive the Royal Assent?The Royal Assent is given by the Governor-General after he or she receives the necessary documentation from the Attorney-General and the Parliament. Therefore, we are not able to tell you exactly when any Act will receive the Royal Assent. How can I find out when the commencement of an Act is going to be proclaimed?Proclamations fixing commencement dates for Acts, or sections of Acts, are drafted by the Attorney-General's Department on instructions from the Department responsible, and are published in the Gazette. OPC does not hold this information before it is published in the Gazette. You will need to contact the Department that is responsible for the Act. Information on how to find which Department is responsible is set out above. |
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