Commonwealth Bills

A bill is a proposed law. See ‘Making Laws‘ (House of Representatives Infosheet) for information on how bills are considered and passed by Parliament.

Sources of Commonwealth Bills

Parliament	Coverage: 1996- Note that the search defaults to the current Parliament. Click on ‘more options’ to search for earlier bills. To conduct a more precise search, use ParlInfo. Select ‘Bills and Legislation’ in the ‘search collections’ section of the screen, then use the advanced search fields on the right hand side of the screen. Each bill has a ‘home page’ which gives details of the bill’s passage through Parliament, plus links to the Second Reading speech, explanatory memoranda and bills digest. Provides all versions of bills – vital if the bill has been amended. Provides the ability to monitor current bills, though may not be as reliable as subscription services. Locate the bill, then click on the ‘track’ button. Requires (free) registration as bill updates are sent via email.
AustLII	Coverage: 1967- (coverage is very selective for the earlier years) Browse alphabetically or use the search box to find bills. The search box defaults to ‘this database only’ and ‘full text’. You can change this setting to ‘titles only’ by clicking on the arrow on the left hand side of the search box. An advanced search option is also available. Only contains the first print of the bill, i.e. as first introduced into Parliament. Use the Parliament website to access subsequent versions of a bill. Click on the ‘related items’ link to access explanatory memoranda, including supplementary and revised EMs. Classic AustLII is still available. May contain downloadable versions and links to related items that are not available on the new interface.
Federal Register of Legislation	Coverage: 1996- Only contains the first print of the bill (i.e. as first introduced into Parliament). Use the Parliament website to access subsequent versions of a bill. Click on the ‘download’ tab once you have located the bill to access versions formatted for printing etc, plus the explanatory memorandum for the bill as introduced. Formerly known as ComLaw.
GovPubs	Contains information about print holdings of Commonwealth bills in the National Library and State / Territory Libraries.

Information about Commonwealth Bills

Parliament	Each individual bill from 1996 onwards has a ‘home page’ which contains detailed information about that bill including the passage through Parliament, schedules of amendments, the bills digest and more. Search tips are provided in the ‘sources’ section above. Current bills list for each House ‘Bills before Parliament‘ ‘Making Laws‘ (House of Representatives Infosheet) information on how bills are considered and passed by Parliament. Parliamentary Committees bills may be referred to committees for detailed consideration and public consultation Parliamentary glossary
Bills Digests	Coverage: 1976- Bills digests are published by the Parliamentary Library. They provide an independent perspective and are written to assist Members in their consideration of the bill. Bills digests are listed by year. You can also search the full text of bills digests. Also available on AustLII and Classic AustLII from 1976 onwards.
Bills Lists	Coverage: 1981- See the last item in the ‘Bills and Explanatory Memoranda’ section of the guide for links to bills lists (guide created by the Parliamentary Library). Bills lists contain detailed information about every bill introduced in each Parliamentary session, including important dates in the bill’s passage through Parliament, whether the bill was amended, Committee reports and so on. The Parliament’s ‘Bills & Legislation’ page also contains direct links to the current bills lists.
GovPubs	Contains information about various indexes to Commonwealth bills, along with details of where to find them – some are online, others can be found in hard copy in the National Library and State / Territory Libraries.

Last updated: 17 March 2019