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BTN: Passing a bill in parliament

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House of Representatives in session, image of man in parachute overlaid
BTN: Passing a bill in parliament

SUBJECTS:  Civics and Citizenship

YEARS:  5–6, 7–8


How is a law made by an Australian parliament?

This analogy of a battle plan and General Bill demonstrates the process of a political bill passing through the two houses of parliament on its journey to being made law.


Things to think about

  1. 1.In Australian democracy how important is it that citizens can see and hear debate on laws before they become official?
  2. 2.Who traditionally make up the two opposing sides when a bill is debated in the houses of parliament? The clip mentions allies, enemies, rogue agents and green soldiers. Who do these groups of characters represent? What is the difference between a bill and a law? What is the final step before a law becomes official?
  3. 3.Find out about the origins of our Commonwealth Parliament. How does it operate within the conventions of the Westminster system? Who were the key figures involved in the federation of Australia and how is this linked to our Parliament? Start with Sir Henry Parkes and Edmund Barton.
  4. 4.Research one of the laws listed below, using the internet to find out more about it. See if you can use the battlefield model to explain who opposed or supported the bill. Try to find out what Australian citizens thought about the law at the time. Were they able to express their opinions? Laws include: Constitution Alteration (Aboriginals) Act 1967; Sex Discrimination Act 1984; Migration Reform Act 1992; and Immigration Restriction Act 1901.


Date of broadcast: 23 Aug 2011


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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