This bill became law on Jun 23rd, 2023.
Culture, sport & community
Australia’s main federal arts body keeps operating under the new name Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council., with the old Australia CouncilThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. law repealed as part of the changeover.
Creating Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. to replace the Australia CouncilThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. left a practical transition gap around the old law, boardThe governing group that oversees the organisation; the bill ends the old board so a new one can be appointed. appointments, staff, assets, liabilities and funding references. This bill repeals the old ActThe old law that set up the Australia Council and is being repealed by this changeover. and lets Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. automatically take over those roles, people, contracts and legal arrangements without disruption.
The Australia CouncilThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. had been operating under the Australia Council Act 2013The old law that set up the Australia Council and is being repealed by this changeover. as the federal government’s main arts funding body, but the Albanese government’s ReviveThe government’s national cultural policy that drove the move from the Australia Council to Creative Australia. cultural policy committed to replace and expand it as Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council.. That left a practical transition problem around the old law, boardThe governing group that oversees the organisation; the bill ends the old board so a new one can be appointed. positions, staff, contracts, assets, liabilities, reporting and appropriations. This consequential bill handled that handover: it received Royal Assent on 23 June 2023 and commenced with the main Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. Act on 24 August 2023.
The main criticism was that the package looked like a costly administrative rebrand that could shift money and power into arts bureaucracy instead of getting more support to artists and creative activity. Coalition speakers made that argument while still saying they would not oppose the bill; Malcolm Roberts, from One Nation, opposed it outright.
Tony Burke MPA parliamentarian; the page uses MP in a ministerial title and speeches. introduced this bill. It passed on the voices.
Did it become law?
Yes
Became law 23 June 2023
Final passage
Passed without a counted vote
Members called out ‘aye’ or ‘no’ — no individual votes were recorded.
Passage speed
29 days
From introduction to the latest recorded parliamentary step
Meaning
Australia’s main federal arts body keeps operating under the new name Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council., with the old Australia CouncilThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. law repealed as part of the changeover.
Existing Australia CouncilThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. boardThe governing group that oversees the organisation; the bill ends the old board so a new one can be appointed. members lose their positions at the changeover, except the chief executive officerThe top staff role at the arts body; the bill keeps that appointment running through the transition., so a new governing boardThe governing group that oversees the organisation; the bill ends the old board so a new one can be appointed. can be appointed.
Australia CouncilThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. staff move across to Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. automatically and keep the same pay and employment conditions when the new body starts.
Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. automatically takes over the Australia CouncilThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council.’s property and debts, so contracts and ownership do not need separate transfer paperwork.
Government funding already approved for the Australia CouncilThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. can keep flowing after the rename because appropriation laws are read as referring to Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council..
This item repeals the Australia Council Act 2013. The Australia Council is to cease to exist under this Act upon the establishment of Creative Australia, but will continue in existence as a body corporate under and subject to the Creative Australia Bill 2023.Creative Australia (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) explanatory memorandum
Item 10 provides that all persons who hold office as a member of the old Board immediately prior to the transition time, will cease to hold that office at the transition time. All such persons may be appointed to an office under the new Act. This does not apply to the Chief Executive Officer of the Australia Council.Creative Australia (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) explanatory memorandum
(1) A person who, immediately before the transition time, was employed by the Australia Council under section 43 of the old Act is taken, after the transition time, to be employed by Creative Australia under section 74 of the new Act on the same terms and conditions.Creative Australia (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) as-passed bill text
Assets and liabilities of the Australia Council immediately before the transition time continue, after the transition time, to be assets and liabilities of Creative Australia (without any conveyance, transfer or assignment).Creative Australia (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) as-passed bill text
For the purposes of the operation of an Appropriation Act after the transition time, references to the Australia Council are to be read as references to Creative Australia.Creative Australia (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) as-passed bill text
Context
The Australia CouncilThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. had been operating under the Australia Council Act 2013The old law that set up the Australia Council and is being repealed by this changeover. as the federal government’s main arts funding body, but the Albanese government’s ReviveThe government’s national cultural policy that drove the move from the Australia Council to Creative Australia. cultural policy committed to replace and expand it as Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council.. That left a practical transition problem around the old law, boardThe governing group that oversees the organisation; the bill ends the old board so a new one can be appointed. positions, staff, contracts, assets, liabilities, reporting and appropriations. This consequential bill handled that handover: it received Royal Assent on 23 June 2023 and commenced with the main Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. Act on 24 August 2023.
Australia Council Act 2013The old law that set up the Australia Council and is being repealed by this changeover. establishes the existing arts body
The Australia CouncilThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. operated under this Act until the government moved to continue the same body corporateA legal entity that can own property, hold debts and enter contracts in its own name. under a new name and legal framework.
Creative Australia (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) explanatory memorandum ↗ReviveThe government’s national cultural policy that drove the move from the Australia Council to Creative Australia. policy commits to replacing the Australia CouncilThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. with Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council.
The government launched its five-year national cultural policy and made Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. the centrepiece of a broader arts package after describing the sector's recent period as its hardest in decades.
Department of Infrastructure ↗Arts leaders welcome the funding package and planned new body
The Australian Financial Review reported that major arts organisations backed the policy's rhetoric and funding, with the replacement of the Australia CouncilThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. identified as the policy's centrepiece.
Australian Financial Review ↗Government introduces the transition bill to avoid disruption
In the second reading speech, the government said the bill was needed to repeal the old ActThe old law that set up the Australia Council and is being repealed by this changeover. and keep funding and services flowing while the Australia CouncilThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. became Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council..
Hansard ↗Parliament passes the bill
Both houses passed the bill in the same form, clearing the way for the legal handover of staff, boardThe governing group that oversees the organisation; the bill ends the old board so a new one can be appointed. arrangements, assets, liabilities and appropriation references.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Royal Assent makes the transition Act
Royal Assent turned the bill into an Act, but the legal handover commenced later with the main Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. Act.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. transition starts
The Federal Register commencement table records 24 August 2023 as the commencement date, when the consequential transition operated with the main Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. Act.
Federal Register of Legislation ↗Legislative route
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second reading moved
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Referred to Federation Chamber
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Reported from Federation Chamber
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
Second reading agreed to
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.
Third reading agreed to
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second reading moved
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
Second reading agreed to
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.
Third reading agreed to
Both houses passed the bill in the same form, completing parliamentary passage.
Finally passed both Houses
The Governor-General gave Royal Assent, turning the bill into an Act.
Key criticism
The main criticism was that the package looked like a costly administrative rebrand that could shift money and power into arts bureaucracy instead of getting more support to artists and creative activity. Coalition speakers made that argument while still saying they would not oppose the bill; Malcolm Roberts, from One Nation, opposed it outright.
The Coalition criticised the bill but did not oppose it. One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts opposed it outright, so the debate included both conditional support and direct opposition.
More bureaucracy, not more support for artists
Coalition speakers argued the change was largely a name change and restructuring exercise that risked adding bureaucracy, centralising decision-making and absorbing resources that they said should go directly to artists and creative industries instead.
One Nation opposed arts rebrand spending
Malcolm Roberts opposed the bill, calling Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. an unnecessary and expensive rebranding of arts bureaucracy during an economic crisis.
Further sources
Votes
The bill passed both chambers on the voices, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes for final passage.
House agreed to the bill's third reading on the voices, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes for final passage in that chamber.
Passed on the voices
In a voice vote, members call out Aye or No and the presiding officer judges which side has it. Individual names are only recorded if a formal division is called.
Senate agreed to the bill's third reading on the voices, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes for final passage in that chamber.
Passed on the voices
In a voice vote, members call out Aye or No and the presiding officer judges which side has it. Individual names are only recorded if a formal division is called.
Parliamentary debate
Start here — lead voices
Mr Burke supports the bill, saying it is the technical measure needed to move Australia CouncilThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. functions into Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. without disrupting funding, services, staffing or governance.
Read in Hansard ↗Roberts opposes the bill, arguing it is an unnecessary and expensive rebranding of the arts bureaucracy that rewards a left-wing agenda instead of supporting real artists.
Read in Hansard ↗Sam Birrell supports the bill and says the National Party will back it, because he wants the new arts arrangements to help regional artists and get more funding to creative people rather than bureaucrats.
Read in Hansard ↗Spender supports the bill and says the government’s cultural policy measures are overdue and essential to help the arts sector survive and then thrive after years of neglect and the pandemic.
Read in Hansard ↗All speeches by bloc
13 speakers · 14 contributions · 13 support
“The Albanese government is proud to build upon the proud legacy and visionary commitment to the arts of previous Labor governments with the introduction of the Creative Australia Bill 2023. It recognises the invaluable role of the creative sector in our society and seeks to provide it with the necessary resources and infrastructure for it to thrive. Unlike the previous government, the Albanese government has listened to the voice of the creative arts. We have listened to their voices at 14 town hall meetings attended by 800 stakeholders, and I was very pleased to attend the first town hall meeting in Hobart. And we've heard their voices in the more than 1,200 submissions to the National Cultural Policy inquiry. This extensive consultation has led us to the formation of the government's National Cultural Policy, Revive, and the establishment of Creative Australia—restoring, modernising and expanding the Australia Council, created, as I said, under the Whitlam government in 1975. This legislation will strengthen the capacity of the Australia Council and provide greater strategic oversight and engagement across the sector. Importantly, it will ensure that funding decisions will continue to be made based on artistic merit and at arm's length from the government.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill delivers on key elements of Revive, the government's national cultural policy, to establish Creative Australia, return the Brandis cuts and, within the new entity, establish Music Australia and creative workplaces to support and grow the sector.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Creative Australia”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The arts are too important to be treated like a personal fiefdom or a political plaything. They're too important to be abandoned to a policy vacuum. They're too important to be starved of the support that they need. We believe that these reforms and new investments will close one chapter and open a new one. A modernised, expanded and properly funded Australia Council will be better equipped to serve Australia's artists and allow them to make the contribution that we and future generations will value so profoundly. I commend the bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This Creative Australia Bill 2023 provides legislation to establish Creative Australia as a modern organisation that will carry this policy forward. It includes the establishment of Music Australia and Creative Workplaces. It will ensure our arts and entertainment are strongly supported through what is now a federal entity. The bill delivers specific elements of Revive, the government's cultural policy, which I've touched on.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Supporting Creative Australia is incredibly important. As others have said, the workers in this industry were abandoned during the pandemic and were not supported in the way that other workers in this country were, to our national shame. I think this legislation turns and pivots Australia back to a place where there's going to be money to support the industry and the creatives in this country. But, more importantly, it will ensure that they have safe work places, because some of the stories that we've heard that have emerged out of our creative industries have also been distressing, and it's very important that we create safe work places.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Ultimately this bill represents a continuing and ambitious commitment to significantly improve the quality of federal involvement in every aspect of the arts sector, which will unequivocally result in wide-ranging benefits for Australian artists, arts organisations and our greater community. We are doing this work now to pave the way for immediate support for jobs and quality content for this industry. Passing this bill in the winter sittings will enable Creative Australia to start its work without delay for the benefits of the arts and artists as soon as 1 July.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Following from this, I would like to commend this bill to the House because it's a policy that will set a new vision for our cultural landscape. We need this, but we need to do this with the support of the arts sector.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The establishment of Creative Australia is a reimagined and properly funded Australia Council that will encompass new functions, including Music Australia to support the Australian music industry and the Centre for Arts and Entertainment Workplaces, within Creative Australia, to provide advice on issues of pay, safety and welfare in the arts and culture sector. There's more to come, including Writers Australia, which will provide direct support to the literature sector from 2025, and the establishment of a poet laureate for Australia. There will be a dedicated First Nations governance body within Creative Australia to invest in, create and produce First Nations works and with priorities and funding decisions determined by First Nations leaders.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Hansard records 2 separate contributions by Tony Burke on this bill. They are grouped here so the speaker is listed once.
Second reading speech
Mr Burke supports the bill, saying it is the technical measure needed to move Australia CouncilThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. functions into Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council. without disrupting funding, services, staffing or governance. He says it is part of ReviveThe government’s national cultural policy that drove the move from the Australia Council to Creative Australia. and will deliver much needed support to the creative sector.
“Together with the Creative Australia Bill 2023, this bill will deliver much needed support to Australia's creative sector. It demonstrates this government's commitment to the arts and delivers on the National Cultural Policy.”Read this contribution in Hansard ↗
Second reading speech
Burke supports the bill because it creates Creative AustraliaThe new name for the federal arts body that continues on from the Australia Council., restores funding, and sets up new bodies like Music AustraliaA new body mentioned in the broader arts reforms, aimed at supporting the music sector. and Creative WorkplacesA new body or program area in the arts reforms focused on workplace issues and safer conditions for creative workers. to better support artists and safer creative workplacesA new body or program area in the arts reforms focused on workplace issues and safer conditions for creative workers.. He says it is part of implementing ReviveThe government’s national cultural policy that drove the move from the Australia Council to Creative Australia. and will help the sector grow and adapt.
“Effectively what this legislation will do—presuming the Senate is kind enough to get through it in the same way we have—is give us a new organisation, Creative Australia, with the Brandis cuts returned and the funding that was meant to be there a decade ago finally possible again. We get a works-of-scale fund so that not only are they able to do the work for small and medium companies but they're able to start the investments that deliver the big works of the future.”Read this contribution in Hansard ↗
“I again thank the member for Watson for all he has done for our creative partnerships. I've seen firsthand in my electorate what a difference it makes when you fund everybody, from the community grassroots level to the big picture. I commend the bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“At the centre of Revive is the establishment of Creative Australia, which will be facilitated by the passage of this legislation. Under this legislation, Creative Australia will be the government's new principal arts investment and advisory body—not just public servants, as has been suggested. Creative Australia will expand on and modernise the work of the Australia Council. The additional funding of over $200 million over four years will restore significant swathes of money cut by the previous government. Creative Australia will strengthen the capacity of the Australia Council and provide for a greater strategic oversight and engagement across the sector to ensure that funding decisions continue to be made on the basis of artistic merit, at arm's length from the government, which we believe is the appropriate way to do it.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The legislation demonstrates a strong commitment to support arts and culture, and it is clear from the debate that arts is crucial to everything that we do. It strengthens communities, enhances health and wellbeing and provides the skills of the future. The formation of Creative Australia through this bill transforms Australia's principal arts funding body into a modern entity that is able to harness the current opportunities available to the art and entertainment sector by bringing together public, philanthropic and commercial support for the arts. This is a strategic shift that will create greater leverage opportunities in the arts. Creative Australia will provide more support to our valued art and culture sector through restoring the Brandis cuts and increasing funding and services for artists, arts workers and businesses.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
9 speakers · 8 support · 1 oppose
“I'm a real supporter of the arts—it's one of the things I came up here for. I want so see regional arts continue to thrive. I believe they have done well under the previous coalition government, despite what some may say. I've had more than a few people from arts organisations come up to me and say, 'We're all lefties, we probably vote for Labor and the Greens, but I have to admit the coalition government probably supports the arts more than Labor governments, traditionally.' But I'm pleased with this bill and I'm pleased with the commitment. I think that's great and we're supporting the bill. I would also point out that I think this should lead to better outcomes for actual artists and not just bureaucrats, even though the art of bureaucracy is a beguiling one. I'm heartened by the indication that regional arts will receive some support and funding under this new national policy. I'm keen to see how and how much. I'm looking forward to working with the member for Macquarie, who is going to come to my electorate. Let's get on and work together. This should be a bipartisan one. We all believe in the arts. We all want to see artists do well. We all want to see creativity at the forefront of the Australian national identity. For me, as a regional MP, particularly seeing how that works for regional people and regional stories and regional arts, I indicate my support for the bill. I'd like to be able to debate appropriations—I'll get that in before my time runs out, though it looks like I won't be able to and I'm disappointed about that. I commend the Creative Australia Bill and look forward to seeing if we can get some more action in regional arts.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Although the coalition will not be opposing these bills, as I've outlined, the case has not been made for these changes, as they are not, in the main, things we would choose to do. In fact, during a cost-of-living crisis, it is interesting that the government has prioritised increasing an already large board size to something even larger and to prioritise making name changes over actually delivering. These two bills are a clear change to Labor's very different focus: more Commonwealth arts officials and more bureaucracy. I will always advocate for our Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges artists, musicians, sculptors and exhibitors.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I conclude by observing that, although the coalition will not be opposing these bills, the case has not been made for the changes contained within them, and they are not in the main things we would choose to do, as I think I have made clear.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The coalition, despite all the rhetoric from the current minister, has a very, very strong record of support for the arts. In the 2021-22 financial year, when it was so tough during COVID and the arts industry was hit so hard, our Liberal-National government delivered record arts funding of over $1 billion. No Labor government has ever matched this level of funding for the arts. While the coalition government's focus was on stimulating more arts activity, the present government has a very different focus. More arts officials is their solution to all the so-called needs. So the two bills before the Senate are reflective of the very different philosophy and very different focus of the current government compared to the previous government. While we are supporting these bills, we remain profoundly disappointed in the government's focus and lack of focus on the arts funding that is desperately required in this country.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Nonetheless, we're not standing in the way of this bill. I think we've outlined that maybe this is not the most significant way in which we could be assisting this sector or spending the time of the House of Representatives, but, if this is the big priority of the government when it comes to supporting those in the creative industries, we will not stand in their way. We will let this great, totemic piece of legislation pass and watch the unbelievable dividend, the return from it, echo and reverberate across the creative industries throughout my electorate and across the nation. I conclude my contribution on this bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“As I said earlier, I will be supporting this, because I really do genuinely support the intent. But I will be looking at the detail and its implementation.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“So it is important, and this bill is important. As I said, there are minor differences. I'm proud to support it. The true thing going forward is that we have that continuity. If we develop the emerging talent and they don't have to travel overseas, as was mentioned before, and can stay in Australia—I know there are lots of things about content quotas and everything going forward at the moment—we will make that industry big enough. It's not just theatre, screen and film, live performance or music. It is everything. But we can work across these areas.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“But what we are seeing here is an increase in bureaucracy. According to the budget, the average number of staff at the Australia Council will increase by 32 per cent—from an estimated 108 in 2022-23 to 143.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“My overriding concern with the re-creation and expansion is that I hope a lot of this money doesn't just go into more bureaucracy rather than supporting artists. I hope the new entities, Music Australia and the creative workplace entity, which will operate under the new entity, won't destroy the flexibility, nimbleness and freedom of the creative gig economy and turn it into a unionised workplace. As I said, the coalition won't be opposing this bill, but I want to put on the record all those matters and all the great work we did in the coalition, supporting the creative and cultural industries in this country.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
1 speaker · 1 support
“The Greens will support this package. There are lots of good things in here, but we need to ensure the funding gap is met. I urge you: if you really care about the next generation of creative workers in this country, start funding art classes in schools. Make it a right of every student in this country—every child—to access music classes, art classes and performance classes. We will have a much better generation, fit for the future workforce, if we do that. I commend the bills to the Senate.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
1 speaker · 1 oppose
“In the middle of an economic crisis, as a result of government overreaction and wastage in the COVID years, the government has decided to undertake an unnecessary refurnishing of the arts, using money taken from places where it would have actually done some damn good. Modernising the arts and needlessly rebranding its bureaucracy is something a bored government does on a slow day when it's rolling in a surplus, not when we're in a crisis—a financial crisis, an economic crisis, a moral crisis, a social crisis.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
1 speaker · 1 support
“The support provided in the government's cultural policy and partially implemented in the Creative Australia Bill 2023 is therefore imperative to the sector's survival and ultimately to its thriving. It's long overdue, and it's critical that it's passed and then built on.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Record
House · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
House · Second reading moved
Second reading opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
House · Second reading debate
Second reading debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
House · Referred to Federation Chamber
Referred to Federation Chamber
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
House · Returned to House for further consideration
Returned to House for further consideration
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
House · Reported from Federation Chamber
Reported from Federation Chamber
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
House · Second reading debate
Second reading debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
House · Second reading debate
Second reading debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
House · Second reading agreed to
Second reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
House · Third reading agreed to
Third reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.
Senate · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Senate · Second reading moved
Second reading opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Senate · Second reading debate
Second reading debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Senate · Second reading debate
Second reading debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Senate · Second reading agreed to
Second reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
Senate · Committee of the Whole debate
Committee of the Whole debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Senate · Third reading agreed to
Third reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.
Parliament · Finally passed both Houses
Passed both houses
Both houses passed the bill in the same form, completing parliamentary passage.
Assent · Assent
Assent
The Governor-General gave Royal Assent, turning the bill into an Act.
