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The Western Australian Legislative Process
To put this topic in context, it is necessary to give a brief explanation of the legislative process in Western Australia.
The Parliament of Western Australia is bicameral, which means it has two legislative chambers.
The lower house is called the Legislative Assembly, members of which are known as Members of the Legislative Assembly, so you will see the abbreviation MLA after their names.
The political party which holds the majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly forms the state government. The Premier (the head of the State Government) sits in the lower house.
The upper house is called the Legislative Council, members of which are known as Members of the Legislative Council, so you will see the abbreviation MLC after their names.
Hansard is the name by which the official edited transcripts of parliamentary debates and committee proceedings is usually known.
The Encyclopaedic Australian Legal Dictionary describes extrinsic materials as those materials which do not form part of an act but which may assist in the interpretation of the act.
Such materials include, among many other things, second reading speeches, explanatory memoranda and parliamentary committee reports.
For an Act to become law, it is first drafted by the relevant government department, then given to the relevant Minister to introduce to Parliament.
(Private members (backbenchers) of Parliament can also introduce private members’ bills.)
This document is a Bill.
It has an accompanying volume, called the Explanatory Memorandum, which explains the Bill.
The Minister introduces the Bill, with the First Reading Speech.
The normal flow of the legislative process is that a bill is introduced into one of the two houses by a minister or member, giving the First Reading Speech.
The Minister then gives a Second Reading Speech, where they explain the purpose of the Bill (it is basically a sales pitch to convince the other politicians to vote for passing this Bill).
Members can ask questions about the Bill, such as its impact, cost to implement, etc.
The Second Reading Speech is recorded in Hansard.
The Bill must then pass through a number of stages before it is transmitted to the other house for its agreement (concurrence).
If agreed to by the other house, it is then given the royal assent by the Governor.
The Bill then becomes an Act of Parliament.
The Structure of a Bill
The text of the Bill is set out in much the same way as an Act.
The provisions of a Bill are numbered and called clauses.
Clauses may be further divided into sub-clauses and paragraphs.
To cite a Bill see rule 3.5 of the Australian Guide to Legal Citation.
Passage of a Bill
Bills will be introduced into the House of Parliament in which the member is sitting. If the responsible minister is sitting in the Assembly, the Bill will be introduced into the Assembly. If the responsible minister is sitting in the Council, the Bill will be introduced into the Council.
A Bill passes through several stages in Parliament before it becomes law (when it is called an Act or Statute).
These stages are:
- 1st reading
This stage is a formal one where only the title of the Bill is read. There is little or no debate, and a date is set for the second reading. - 2nd reading
The Minister or Member responsible for the Bill introduces it and explains its purpose. This is known as the second reading speech. The second reading speech is a good source to find the policy background to the Bill. The broad principles of the Bill are then debated, sometimes over several days. - Committee Stage
This stage involves a detailed examination of the Bill, clause by clause, either by the whole House, or by a standing or select committee of a few members. The Bill may be amended during this stage, and is voted on clause by clause. - 3rd reading
This stage is largely a formality. The Bill is then sent to the other chamber, where the procedure outlined above is repeated. - Royal Assent
Once the Bill has passed through both Houses of Parliament, it is sent to the Governor where it receives Royal Assent. It is now an Act. It may or may not come into force on Assent. See the Topic in this tutorial History of an Act - WA for more discussion on an Act coming into force.
The WA Parliament's Passage of Legislation provides more detail.
Each Bill's home page lists the dates of a Bill's passage through Parliament.
Follow the steps in the Source Bills tab to access a Bill's home page.
Parliament of Western Australia Website
Parliament of Western Australia has extrinsic materials freely available from 1997+.
Bills considered prior to 1997 are available in print in Bills / Western Australia, available in the Law Library at R 348.94101 W527.
These include:
- second reading speeches
- explanatory memoranda
- parliamentary debates (recorded in Hansard)
- parliamentary committee reports
- Royal Commission inquiry papers
Extrinsic materials assist in understanding legislation, and determining the purpose of the proposed legislation.
Bill's Home Page
A Bill's home page on the Parliament of WA website has a wealth of useful information, all on one page
- Bill's long title, which often explains the purpose of a Bill
- date of assent, and Act number
- downloadable copy of the Bill
- Explanatory Memorandum, which explains each clause of the Bill
- dates of passage through the Houses of Parliament
- links to Second Reading Speeches
Look at the Civil Liability Bill's Home Page.
This page does not have a link to the Second Reading Speech.
However, it does have the dates of the Second Reading Speeches.
Look at these dates in Hansard to source the Second Reading Speeches.
Start with the Second Reading Speech to the Legislative Assembly on 14 Aug 2002
Use the Advanced Search for Hansard
Select the 36th Parliament (2001-2004) from the Parliament drop down menu
Select the Civil Liability Bill 2002 from the Bill drop down menu
Scroll up and select the Search icon
Navigate don the results list to 14 August 2002.
You can also see that this Bill was considered in Detail in September and October.
These discussions are valuable for discovering controversial points with the proposed legislation.
The Second Reading Speech is useful, as it includes the purpose and intent of the Bill.
Your task: Find the Bill, second reading speech and explanatory memorandum for the Civil Liability Act 2002 (WA).
Step 1:
Select Bills from the Parliamentary Business drop-down menu on Parliament of Western Australia
Step 2:
Select All Bills tab
Step 3:
Select the Civil Liability Bill 2002 from the alphabetical list
Step 4:
The Bill's home page provides:
- Bill
- Bill’s passage through Parliament
- Sessional details of Bill’s Act
- Explanatory Memoranda
- Second Reading Speeches*
- Committee Reports
* if link to the Second Reading Speeches is not given, note the date of the Second reading Speech, and search Hansard at this date
| Complete the Sourcing Bills from the Parliament of Western Australian website tutorial to learn the skills for sourcing Bills. |
Explanatory Memoranda
The purpose of Explanatory Memorandum (EM) is to explain in detail the content and purpose of a Bill.
An Bill is read in conjunction with an EM - they are a companion set.
The EM is located on the Bill's home page on the Parliament of Western Australia website.
Follow the steps in the Source Bills tab to access a Bill's home page.
Most legislation made since 2000 has an EM.
Pre 2000 Explanatory Memoranda are rare.
The WA Parliamentary Library provides a list of Explanatory Memoranda for Bills before 2001.
Tip:
If you encounter a broken link, use the Wayback Machine to attempt to source content.
Webcrawlers travel across the Internet taking snapshots of websites.
You can look at websites as they appeared on specific dates and times.
All that is needed is the URL.
As the WA Parliament website was redesigned in 2019, links were broken during the transition to the new format.
Therefore, you can pop the WA Parliament URL into the Wayback Machine, and choose an earlier date (pre-redesign).
Legal research often requires a lot of sleuthing, so using alternative methods to source material is a valuable skill to develop.
Parliament of Western Australia
Bills are generally introduced to Parliament from the Legislative Assembly.
Therefore, when Second Reading Speeches (2RS) are referred to, they are the 2RS given in the Assembly (not to the Legislative Council).
The Bill home page generally includes links to:
- second reading speeches
- parliamentary debates (recorded in Hansard)
However, not all Bills have a link to the second reading speech.
A search of Hansard will have to be conducted to access the second reading speech.
Bill Home Page with 2RS Links
Your task: Find the second reading speech for the Civil Liability Amendment (Child Sexual Abuse Actions) Bill 2017 (WA) |
2RS in HansardBill Post-1997,
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2RS in HansardBill Pre-1997,
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Step 1: Navigate to Bills on the Parliament of Western Australia website
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Step 1: Navigate to the home page for the Civil Liability Bill 2002 on the Parliament of Western Australia website
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Step 1: Navigate to Hansard (Debates) on the Parliament of Western Australia website
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Step 2: Select All Bills
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Step 2: Record the date of the 2RS to the Legislative Assembly: |
Step 2: Select Hansard archive (1870-June 2000)
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Step 3: Navigate to the home page for the Civil Liability Amendment (Child Sexual Abuse Actions) Bill 2017
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Step 3: From the drop down menu for Parliamentary Business, select Hansard (Debates)
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Step 3: Select Advanced search
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The Bill home page generally includes links to:
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Step 4: Select Advanced search (August 2000 until present)
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Step 4: Complete fields on the search page with known details
Tip: do not include the word Act, nor the year However, to limit the time, you could include the approximate years |
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Step 5: Complete the search page: Add the Bill title to the Search box: "Civil Liability Bill"
Tip: Check the box for Detailed Word and Phrase Searching for a more detailed search
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Step 5: Click on Search |
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Step 6: Click on Search |
Step 6: Navigate down the Results (listed chronologically) to possible dates Tip: open a Hansard Index for a relevant date, then search using Ctrl+F for a key word Example: Hansard Index 1973 Search for Firearms
Note the Explanation of Abbreviations: Explanation of Abbreviations.— 1r., 2r., 3r.: First, Second, Third Reading of a Bill; Com.: Committee of the whole House; Intro.: Introduction of a Bill; Recom.: Recommittal of a Bill |
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Step 7: Navigate down the Results to 14 August 2002 |
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Step 8: Click on the date and page numbers for |
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