Acts Interpretation Act 1954
LegislationReferenced in 136 bills
Child Protection Reform Amendment Bill 2017
This bill rewrites large parts of Queensland's Child Protection Act 1999 to give children in long-term out-of-home care more stability and to strengthen cultural protections for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. It introduces a new 'permanent care order' lasting until age 18, limits successive short-term orders to two years, extends support for young people leaving care up to age 25, and simplifies how agencies share information to protect children at risk.
Education (Overseas Students) Bill 2017
This bill replaces Queensland's old overseas students law, creates a new statutory regime for international secondary student exchange programs, and sets up the legal framework for the new senior assessment system and ATAR that began with Year 11 students in 2019. It also makes minor amendments to home education rules, school councils and school terminology.
Mines Legislation (Resources Safety) Amendment Bill 2017
This bill strengthens safety and health laws for Queensland mines in response to the re-emergence of black lung disease. It delivers 15 improvements including higher penalties, proactive duties on company directors, a new civil penalty regime, mandatory safety systems for small opal and gem mines, and broader inspector powers.
Disaster Management and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
This bill restructures Queensland's fire and emergency services by splitting the former Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) into two dedicated services — Queensland Fire and Rescue (QFR) for urban firefighting and Rural Fire Service Queensland (RFSQ) for bushfire management and rural brigades. It also strengthens disaster management coordination by clarifying the Police Commissioner's role, creating new recovery coordination positions, and expanding the Queensland Reconstruction Authority's functions. Additionally, it requires smoke alarms in all registered caravans and motorised caravans.
Waste Reduction and Recycling (Waste Levy) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018
This bill introduces a waste disposal levy in Queensland, starting at $70 per tonne from 4 March 2019, to discourage sending waste to landfill and boost recycling. The levy funds a $100 million Resource Recovery Industry Development Program and stops Queensland being used as a cheap dumping ground for interstate waste.
Liquor and Fair Trading Legislation (Red Tape Reduction) Amendment Bill 2015
This bill cuts red tape for Queensland's liquor and tourism industries and repeals 14 obsolete church and community organisation Acts. It lets craft breweries sell their beer at festivals and farmers markets, gives clubs, bed and breakfasts and campdrafting events more flexibility, and introduces a new approval process for liquor events held in pub car parks.
Guardianship and Administration and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
This bill modernises Queensland's guardianship laws to better protect adults with impaired decision-making capacity and align them with international human rights standards. It also makes separate, unrelated changes to integrity advice rules for senior public servants and resolves a conflict between state and federal whistleblower laws for government-owned corporations.
Health Transparency Bill 2019
This bill makes it easier for Queenslanders to compare the quality of hospitals and aged care facilities by creating a public reporting framework. It also sets minimum staffing levels in public aged care homes and reforms how health complaints are handled between the Health Ombudsman and the national regulator AHPRA.
Planning and Development (Planning for Prosperity) Bill 2015
This bill was a complete rewrite of Queensland's planning laws, aimed at replacing the 700-page Sustainable Planning Act 2009 with a simpler, faster system. It simplified development categories, cut State planning instruments from four to two, increased maximum fines for illegal development to over $500,000, and gave councils new powers over party houses. The bill was introduced by the Newman LNP government shortly before the 2015 election and did not pass; Queensland's planning system was instead replaced by the Labor government's Planning Act 2016.
Planning and Development (Planning Court) Bill 2015
This bill would have created a separate Act to govern the Planning and Environment Court, which hears disputes about planning, development and environmental decisions. It moved the court out of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 into its own legislation, and expanded the powers of an Alternative Dispute Resolution Registrar to handle simpler matters cheaply. The bill was part of a 2015 LNP planning reform package and did not become law.
Planning and Development (Planning for Prosperity—Consequential Amendments) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015
This bill changes 67 Queensland Acts so they line up with a proposed new planning system (the Planning and Development Bill 2015 and Planning and Environment Court Bill 2015) that would have replaced the Sustainable Planning Act 2009. Most changes are technical — swapping old planning terms for new ones — but the bill also streamlines environmental approvals for major coordinated projects and clarifies the Coordinator-General's power to authorise entry onto land in State Development Areas such as the Galilee Basin.
Co-operatives National Law Bill 2020
This bill replaces Queensland's Cooperatives Act 1997 with the Co-operatives National Law, a nationally harmonised framework already adopted by every other Australian state and territory. It modernises how co-operatives are formed, registered and managed in Queensland, while reducing red tape and ensuring consistency across the country.
Major Sports Facilities and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
This bill bundles changes across gambling, land, sport and transport laws. It cuts gaming machine tax for clubs with multiple premises, lets Queensland keno join interstate jackpot pools, allows the State to lease the beds of working rivers and lakes, streamlines stadium event advertising rules, and relaxes a toll freeze on the Logan and Gateway Motorways to fund a $450 million upgrade.
Farm Business Debt Mediation Bill 2016
This bill forces banks and other lenders to offer farmers mediation before they can enforce a farm mortgage, giving struggling farmers a structured chance to negotiate outside of court. It also renames QRAA as the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority, lets industry bodies run their own biosecurity accreditation schemes, clears the way for viruses to be used as pest control, and allows Queensland cannabis growers to supply seed to medicinal cannabis producers.
Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2016
This bill removes the so-called 'gay panic' defence by stopping killers from using an unwanted sexual advance as grounds for reducing murder to manslaughter, except in exceptional cases. It also packages a long list of other criminal law tidy-ups, covering criminal proceeds confiscation, court evidence, juries, Magistrates Court procedure, and sentencing enforcement.
Racing Integrity Bill 2015
This bill creates the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission, a new independent watchdog for animal welfare and integrity in greyhound, thoroughbred, and harness racing. It responds directly to the 2015 Commission of Inquiry that found widespread live baiting and industry self-regulation failure. The bill strips Racing Queensland of its welfare and licensing role, leaving it to handle only commercial operations, and gives authorised officers stronger powers to investigate cruelty and share information with police.
Forensic Science Queensland Bill 2023
This bill establishes Forensic Science Queensland as an independent statutory body responsible for providing forensic services to support Queensland's criminal justice system. It implements the key recommendation of the Commission of Inquiry into Forensic DNA Testing, which found serious failings in how DNA evidence was tested and managed. Queensland becomes the first Australian state with dedicated legislation governing forensic science services.
Land and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
This bill makes a suite of administrative improvements to Queensland's Land Act 1994 and Land Title Act 1994. The biggest practical changes are replacing the current settlement notice with a nationally consistent priority notice to support electronic conveyancing, cutting red tape in titles registry processes, and allowing non-tidal watercourse or lake land to be dedicated as a community reserve with the adjoining owner's consent.
Disability Services and Other Legislation (NDIS) Amendment Bill 2019
This bill updates Queensland's disability services laws for the full rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme from 1 July 2019. It ensures state-level protections for people with disability continue under the new national framework, strengthens criminal screening of disability workers, and maintains coronial oversight and community visitor programs for NDIS participants receiving high-level supports.
Health and Wellbeing Queensland Bill 2019
This bill establishes Health and Wellbeing Queensland, a new statutory body with an initial budget of nearly $33 million dedicated to preventing chronic disease and improving the health of Queenslanders. It takes a whole-of-government and community approach, working across sectors like education, employment and housing to tackle the social factors that drive poor health outcomes.
Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games Arrangements and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
This bill makes changes across five unrelated policy areas bundled into one piece of legislation. It restructures the 2032 Olympics infrastructure authority, repeals the Path to Treaty Act 2023 (ending First Nations treaty and truth-telling processes), winds back workplace safety entry powers for union officials, clarifies planning rules for State Facilitated Development, and strengthens the independence of the Public Sector Commissioner.
Queensland Productivity Commission Bill 2024
This bill re-establishes the Queensland Productivity Commission as an independent statutory body to conduct public inquiries, research and provide advice on economic and social issues, regulatory matters and legislation. The Commission was abolished in 2015 and its re-establishment was a 2024 election commitment. Its role is advisory only — it cannot make binding decisions, but the government must respond publicly to its inquiry reports.
Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
This bill amends over 30 Acts and regulations within the justice portfolio to improve how Queensland's courts, tribunals, and administrative agencies operate. It modernises the coronial system, strengthens protections for vulnerable witnesses, speeds up the handling of property offences, and fixes various anomalies across the justice system.
Queensland Building and Construction Commission and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
This bill modernises Queensland's building and construction licensing framework to support digital licences and electronic communications. It removes the requirement for the QBCC to issue licences as physical cards, allows documents to be served electronically, and streamlines safety incident reporting so licensees only need to notify one regulator instead of two.
Electoral and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015
This bill toughens Queensland's political donation disclosure rules and removes voter ID requirements. It also sets up a judicial-style pension for the chairperson of the Crime and Corruption Commission.
Local Government and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015
This bill bundles three unrelated changes. It stops council CEOs from automatically running their own council's elections, delays the national heavy vehicle registration scheme until 1 July 2018, and extends the Queensland Reconstruction Authority past its original 2015 expiry date so it can keep helping disaster-hit communities.
Exhibited Animals Bill 2015
This bill creates a single law for exhibiting animals in Queensland, covering zoos, wildlife parks, aquariums, circuses and mobile animal shows. It replaces four overlapping Acts with one exhibition licence and a new legal duty to minimise animal welfare, biosecurity and public safety risks.
Environmental Protection (Great Barrier Reef Protection Measures) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
This bill strengthens protections for the Great Barrier Reef by toughening regulations on agricultural and industrial activities that contribute to poor water quality. It expands mandatory farming standards across all Reef catchments and introduces a national approach to classifying threatened species in Queensland.
Criminal Code (Child Sexual Offences Reform) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
This bill reforms Queensland's criminal justice system to better protect children from sexual abuse and improve access to justice for survivors. It implements key recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, strengthens sentencing for child exploitation material offences, and criminalises child abuse objects such as life-like child replicas.
Transport Operations (Marine Safety-Domestic Commercial Vessel National Law Application) Bill 2015
This bill closes a regulatory gap by bringing the last 5% of Queensland's commercial boats under the national marine safety system. It applies the Commonwealth's Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law to vessels owned by individuals, sole traders and partnerships that operate only in Queensland waters, so every commercial vessel in the state follows the same national safety rules.
Multicultural Recognition Bill 2015
This bill recognises the contribution of Queensland's diverse communities and sets up a framework for government to be more responsive to cultural, linguistic and religious diversity. It creates a Multicultural Queensland Charter, an Advisory Council to guide the Minister, and requires a multicultural policy and action plan with regular public reporting.
Waste Reduction and Recycling (Strengthening the Container Refund Scheme) Amendment Bill 2026
This bill overhauls the governance of Queensland's Container Refund Scheme — the 10-cent bottle and can return program — following a parliamentary inquiry that found significant weaknesses in how the scheme is run. It gives the government much stronger oversight of the scheme coordinator (currently Container Exchange), requires an independent board majority, and expands the scheme's purpose to include supporting environmental and community programs.
COVID-19 Emergency Response and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020
This bill extends Queensland's COVID-19 emergency response legislation from 31 December 2020 to 30 April 2021, keeping in place temporary measures across tenancy, court proceedings, health, and other areas. It also reforms by-election procedures during the pandemic, allows artisan distillers to sell spirits directly to the public, changes how local government councillor vacancies are filled, and bolsters youth detention centre staffing powers.
Biodiscovery and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
This bill strengthens protections for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditional knowledge used in biodiscovery — the process of collecting native biological materials for scientific analysis and commercial purposes like pharmaceuticals and bioplastics. It requires researchers and companies to obtain consent and negotiate benefit sharing with First Nations custodians before using their knowledge, aligning Queensland with the international Nagoya Protocol.
Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
This bill makes wide-ranging changes across Queensland's justice system, courts, electoral processes, and victims' rights. Major reforms include formally recognising the deaths of unborn children in criminal sentencing, allowing media to identify sexual offence defendants before committal, improving accountability for Justices of the Peace, modernising legal costs disclosure, and saving postal votes affected by envelope errors.
Labour Hire Licensing Bill 2017
This bill sets up a mandatory licensing scheme for labour hire companies in Queensland to crack down on worker exploitation and restore confidence in the industry. Providers must be licensed, pass a fit and proper person test and report every six months, while businesses that use them must only engage licensed operators. A public register and a new inspectorate back the scheme up, with penalties of up to three years' imprisonment or $3,000+ penalty units for corporations.
Building and Construction Legislation (Non-conforming Building Products - Chain of Responsibility and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2017
This bill strengthens Queensland's building safety laws after the Melbourne Lacrosse Tower cladding fire and the Infinity cables recall. It makes every link in the building product supply chain - designers, manufacturers, importers, suppliers and installers - legally responsible for making sure products are safe and fit for purpose. It also gives the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) new powers to investigate, seize dangerous products, and share safety information with other regulators.
Debt Reduction and Savings Bill 2021
This bill implements Queensland's Savings and Debt Plan by restructuring several government bodies and transferring the Titles Registry to a government-owned company within the Queensland Future Fund. It also introduces a fee unit model for regulatory fees, requires government agencies to publish online instead of in print, and makes safety improvements to tattoo ink regulation.
Mineral and Energy Resources (Financial Provisioning) Bill 2017
This bill creates a new pooled Financial Provisioning Scheme that makes mining companies share the cost of protecting Queensland from unrehabilitated mine sites. It also requires every mine to prepare a binding Progressive Rehabilitation and Closure Plan with enforceable milestones, audited every three years.
Education and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
This bill makes Prep the compulsory first year of school in Queensland and overhauls how teachers are regulated and disciplined. It also lets the government claw back overpaid funding from non-state schools and allows school regulators to share suspected criminal activity with police.
Healthy Futures Commission Queensland Bill 2017
This bill creates a new independent state body called the Healthy Futures Commission Queensland, focused on helping children and families live healthier lives. The Commission will fund community projects, partnerships and research aimed at promoting healthy eating, physical activity and reducing health gaps between different Queensland communities.
University Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
This bill modernises the governance of Queensland's seven public universities. It removes the power for universities to make statutes, requires each to publish a policy for electing staff and student representatives, loosens delegation rules, and imposes new disclosure duties on governing body members. It also lets James Cook University reshape the size and composition of its council.
Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
This bill bundles a series of changes to Queensland transport laws. It lowers the age for the state proof-of-age card from 18 to 15 and renames it the 'photo identification card', lets people apply for many transport products online instead of on paper forms, tightens rules that stop people convicted of attempted rape from driving taxis and buses, and updates public transport enforcement, dangerous goods and road works rules.
Court and Civil Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
This bill bundles many small justice-portfolio reforms into one Act. It speeds up how courts and tribunals work, brings Queensland's film and game classification laws in line with the national scheme, strengthens the Ombudsman, creates an automatic domestic violence notation on criminal records, and updates a long list of rules on wills, trusts, legal practice and retail shop leases.
Property Law Bill 2023
This bill replaces Queensland's nearly 50-year-old Property Law Act 1974 with a modernised framework for property transactions. It introduces a statutory seller disclosure scheme requiring sellers to provide standardised information to buyers before contract signing, facilitates electronic conveyancing and electronic deeds, and simplifies rules governing mortgages, leases, co-ownership, and trusts.
Natural Resources and Other Legislation (GDA2020) Amendment Bill 2019
This bill updates Queensland's positioning and mapping laws to adopt the new national standard (GDA2020), closes a growing 1.8-metre gap between GPS coordinates and government maps, and makes several unrelated improvements to state land management, Indigenous land grants, land titling, and Cape York Peninsula heritage protection.
Termination of Pregnancy Bill 2018
This bill decriminalises termination of pregnancy in Queensland by removing century-old Criminal Code offences and creating a new health-based legal framework. Based on 28 recommendations from the Queensland Law Reform Commission, it allows medical practitioners to perform terminations on request up to 22 weeks gestation, with clinical safeguards for later terminations. It also establishes safe access zones around clinics and protects women from criminal liability.
Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Bill 2017
This bill overhauls how subcontractors get paid in Queensland's building and construction industry. It creates 'Project Bank Accounts' that quarantine money owed to subcontractors in trust, combines existing security of payment laws into a single Act, and gives the Queensland Building and Construction Commission stronger powers to tackle unlicensed work and illegal phoenixing.
Hospital Foundations Bill 2017
This bill does two things: it replaces Queensland's 1982 law for hospital foundations with a modern framework for how these charities support public hospitals, and it amends drug laws to let Queensland farmers grow low-THC hemp for food. The changes modernise foundation governance and open Queensland to the new national hemp food market starting 12 November 2017.
Queensland Institute of Medical Research Bill 2025
This bill replaces the Queensland Institute of Medical Research Act 1945 — which is nearly 80 years old — with a modern governance framework for one of Australia's leading medical research institutes. It strengthens integrity and accountability requirements for Council members, modernises how researchers are rewarded for commercially successful discoveries, and streamlines leadership appointments.
Health Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2025
This bill makes changes across five health-related areas: strengthening Queensland's pharmacy ownership licensing rules before they fully commence, moving occupational lung disease reporting from a state register to a national one, improving mosquito monitoring for Japanese Encephalitis Virus, clarifying how an Acting Mental Health Commissioner can be appointed, and fixing a drafting error about who can dispose of radioactive material.
COVID-19 Emergency Response Bill 2020
This bill established temporary emergency powers to help Queensland respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. It protected renters and small businesses from eviction, allowed Parliament and courts to operate remotely, and gave government broad powers to modify legal requirements around documents, time limits, and proceedings. The entire Act expired on 31 December 2020.
Path to Treaty Bill 2023
This bill creates Queensland's legal framework for negotiating treaties with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It establishes two new institutions: the First Nations Treaty Institute, an independent statutory body to help First Nations communities prepare for and participate in treaty negotiations; and the Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry, a three-year process to document the impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Public Health and Other Legislation (Extension of Expiring Provisions) Amendment Bill 2022
This bill extended Queensland's COVID-19 public health emergency powers from 30 April 2022 to 31 October 2022, while allowing most other temporary COVID-19 measures to expire. It kept in place the Chief Health Officer's power to issue public health directions, emergency powers in corrective services and disaster management, and mental health patient leave provisions, with all measures tied to the ongoing public health emergency declaration.
Criminal Justice Legislation (Sexual Violence and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2024
This bill implements the third wave of reforms from the Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce, focusing on sexual violence and improving how women and girls experience the criminal justice system. It creates new offences to protect young people from sexual exploitation by people in authority, strengthens protections for vulnerable witnesses, allows expert evidence to help juries understand victim behaviour, and modernises rules about how past behaviour evidence can be used in criminal trials.
Manufactured Homes (Residential Parks) Amendment Bill 2024
This bill reforms Queensland's residential park laws to better protect manufactured home owners from excessive site rent increases and difficulty selling their homes. It caps annual rent rises, bans market rent reviews, creates a buyback scheme for unsold homes, and introduces new transparency requirements for park operators.
Police Powers and Responsibilities and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
This bill modernises Queensland's search and inspection laws to recognise trans and gender diverse people, replacing outdated same-sex rules with gender-responsive safeguards across police, corrections, mental health and public health legislation. It also restricts how often prisoners can reapply for parole after being refused and expands the health professionals who can assess prisoners at risk of self-harm.
Public Health (Infection Control) Amendment Bill 2017
This bill strengthens Queensland's infection control rules for hospitals, dental practices, medical clinics and acupuncture clinics. It was prompted by a Brisbane dental clinic incident where substandard sterilisation exposed staff and patients to blood-borne diseases. The changes give Queensland Health faster and stronger powers to investigate, require improvements, or order a clinic to stop a service.
Queensland Food Farmers’ Commissioner Bill 2024
This bill establishes the Queensland Food Farmers' Commissioner, an independent statutory office created in response to the Supermarket Pricing Select Committee's recommendations. The Commissioner will support Queensland farmers in their dealings with major supermarkets by improving price transparency, addressing power imbalances, and providing a safe avenue for complaints about unfair supplier practices.
Cross-Border Commissioner Bill 2024
This bill establishes Queensland's first Cross-Border Commissioner, a new statutory role dedicated to helping communities along Queensland's borders with New South Wales, South Australia, and the Northern Territory. The Commissioner will work across governments to resolve issues caused by different state regulations and improve service delivery for border residents, with a priority focus on disaster management capacity along the Queensland-NSW border.
Night-Life Economy Commissioner Bill 2024
This bill establishes a Night-Life Economy Commissioner to support and advocate for Queensland's night-life sector, including live music venues, bars, clubs, and entertainment businesses. Created in response to economic challenges facing the sector, the Commissioner will work with industry and all levels of government to promote the growth, sustainability, and vibrancy of businesses that operate between 6pm and 6am.
Economic Development and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
This bill significantly expands the role of Economic Development Queensland (EDQ) to tackle Queensland's housing shortage. It makes delivering social and affordable housing a core part of EDQ's mandate, gives EDQ new powers to acquire land and direct infrastructure delivery, and restructures EDQ as a more independent body with its own board, CEO, and employing office.
Mines Legislation (Resources Safety) Amendment Bill 2018
This bill strengthens safety and health protections for workers in Queensland's coal mining, quarrying, and metalliferous mining sectors. Prompted by the re-identification of coal workers' pneumoconiosis (black lung disease), it increases penalties for safety breaches, introduces civil penalties for corporations, requires company directors to proactively ensure safety compliance, and improves disease reporting and health surveillance for current and former mine workers.
Local Government (Empowering Councils) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
This bill reforms Queensland's local government laws to give councils and mayors more authority, simplify the councillor conduct and conflicts of interest frameworks, and cut red tape across a range of council operations. It responds to concerns from the local government sector about unnecessary regulatory burden, particularly around conduct complaints, mandatory training, and disaster recovery decision-making during election caretaker periods.
Heavy Vehicle National Law Amendment Bill 2019
This bill amends the Heavy Vehicle National Law to implement nationally agreed reforms for the regulation of trucks and other heavy vehicles across Australia. It updates vehicle standards definitions, streamlines defect notice processes, allows certain semitrailers greater road access, and formally empowers the Regulator to provide advice and education to the transport industry.
Justice and Other Legislation (COVID-19 Emergency Response) Amendment Bill 2020
This bill made temporary amendments to over 20 Queensland Acts as the state's third legislative response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It addressed issues that could not be dealt with under the existing COVID-19 Emergency Response Act 2020 modification framework, providing financial relief for workers, property owners and businesses, strengthening public health and emergency powers, and enabling corrections, disability and mental health services to operate safely during the emergency. Most provisions expired on 31 December 2020.
Counter-Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
This bill expands police powers to respond to terrorist attacks and other declared emergencies in Queensland. It lets police compel anyone to hand over information needed to manage an emergency, creates new 'evacuation area' powers, allows detention orders against terrorism suspects whose name isn't known, and makes operational changes to corrective services and Commonwealth intelligence agency assumed identities.
Crocodile Control and Conservation Bill 2025
This bill sought to establish a Queensland Crocodile Authority based in Cairns to manage all aspects of crocodile control and conservation in the state. It responded to rising crocodile numbers and sightings in North Queensland by creating zero-tolerance zones in populated waterways where crocodiles would be immediately killed or relocated, while also building a sustainable crocodile industry through egg harvesting and farming. The bill was introduced as a private member's bill and its second reading failed — it did not become law.
Child Death Review Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
This bill reforms Queensland's system for reviewing child deaths connected to the child protection system. It requires multiple government agencies — not just Child Safety — to conduct internal reviews when a child known to the system dies, and establishes an independent Child Death Review Board to identify systemic failures and recommend improvements.
Environmental Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020
This bill creates a new Rehabilitation Commissioner to independently oversee mine site rehabilitation in Queensland, strengthens the residual risk framework for managing former resource sites after mining companies hand back their environmental authorities, and establishes a dedicated fund to manage the payments mining companies make towards the long-term costs of looking after those sites.
Public Health and Other Legislation (Public Health Emergency) Amendment Bill 2020
This bill gave Queensland authorities the legal powers needed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, including lockdowns, quarantine orders, business closures, and restrictions on gatherings. It also amended electoral and planning laws to provide flexibility during the public health emergency, with most emergency powers set to expire one year after commencement.
Queensland Academy of Sport Bill 2025
This bill establishes the Queensland Academy of Sport as an independent statutory body, removing it from the Department of Sport, Racing and Olympic and Paralympic Games. The change is designed to give the Academy the agility, operational independence, and financial flexibility it needs to prepare Queensland athletes for success at the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Trusts Bill 2025
This bill replaces Queensland's 50-year-old Trusts Act 1973 with a modernised framework for managing trusts. It implements recommendations from the Queensland Law Reform Commission's review, updating trustee powers and duties, strengthening beneficiary protections, and making trust disputes easier and cheaper to resolve through expanded District Court jurisdiction.
Constitution (Fixed Term Parliament) Amendment Bill 2015
This bill would fix Queensland's parliamentary term at four years, with state elections held on the second Saturday in March every four years. It would stop the Premier from calling early elections for political advantage and would only take effect if approved at a referendum.
Relationships (Civil Partnerships) and Other Acts Amendment Bill 2015
This bill restores the right for adult couples of any gender in Queensland to hold an official civil partnership ceremony before registering their relationship. It renames the Relationships Act back to the Civil Partnerships Act, sets up a new scheme for registering civil partnership notaries who can conduct ceremonies, and modernises the Births, Deaths and Marriages registry by moving to electronic lodgement of birth and death records.
Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
This bill overhauls Queensland's workers' compensation system based on a 2023 independent review, while also updating industrial relations and labour hire licensing laws. It strengthens rehabilitation requirements, speeds up payments to injured workers, expands cancer protections for firefighters, and lays the groundwork for future gig worker coverage.
Child Protection (Mandatory Reporting - Mason’s Law) Amendment Bill 2016
This bill adds early childhood education and care workers to Queensland's list of mandatory child abuse reporters. From 1 January 2017, qualified staff, nominated supervisors and individual approved providers at child care centres, kindergartens and family day care services must report suspected physical or sexual abuse to Child Safety.
Tobacco and Other Smoking Products (Dismantling Illegal Trade) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
This bill gives Queensland Health significantly stronger powers to shut down shops selling illegal tobacco and vapes, and hold their landlords accountable. It responds to the rapid growth of the illicit tobacco and vaping market, which is increasingly linked to organised crime and poses serious public health risks, particularly for young people.
Police Legislation (Efficiencies and Effectiveness) Amendment Bill 2021
This bill streamlines Queensland Police Service operations by cutting red tape and updating outdated processes. It lets senior police officers witness certain affidavits instead of requiring a Justice of the Peace, expands police powers to seek court-ordered access to seized digital devices, introduces faster saliva drug testing for officers after critical incidents, and makes several changes to weapons licensing administration.
Jobs Queensland Bill 2015
This bill creates Jobs Queensland, a new independent body that advises the state government on what skills Queensland will need, how to plan for future workforce needs, and how the apprenticeship and traineeship system should work. It is intended to give industry, unions, and regional Queensland a stronger voice in shaping training priorities.
Limitation of Actions (Institutional Child Sexual Abuse) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
This bill does four things at once. It removes the time limit for survivors of institutional child sexual abuse to sue for damages (even for abuse that happened decades ago), creates a modern class action system in the Supreme Court, closes a trust fund that helped pay for legal services, and makes permanent the scheme that lets Justices of the Peace hear minor civil disputes in QCAT.
Grammar Schools Bill 2016
This bill replaces Queensland's 1975 grammar schools law with modern legislation covering the eight grammar schools at Brisbane, Ipswich, Rockhampton, Toowoomba and Townsville. It modernises board governance, cuts financial red tape, and permanently closes the door on new grammar schools being created.
Gene Technology (Queensland) Bill 2016
This bill replaces Queensland's gene technology law with a new Act that automatically applies the Commonwealth's gene technology laws as Queensland laws. It lets the Queensland Government 'opt out' of specific Commonwealth changes by regulation if needed, and carries over existing GMO licences and approvals.
Evidence and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2021
This bill makes changes across several areas of Queensland's justice system. It introduces shield laws to protect journalists' confidential sources, creates a pilot program allowing domestic violence victims' police-recorded statements to be used as court evidence, and establishes new rules for handling deceased persons' remains in criminal cases following the Daniel Morcombe inquest.
Police Powers and Responsibilities and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2021
This bill makes broad changes across policing, corrective services, and child protection law. It tackles knife crime in entertainment precincts, overhauls parole rules for the most serious murderers, strengthens 'No Body, No Parole' laws, creates tougher penalties for harming police and corrective services animals, and updates child sexual abuse offence lists to include modern Commonwealth offences.
Youth Justice and Other Legislation (Inclusion of 17-year-old Persons) Amendment Bill 2016
This bill raises the age of a 'child' in Queensland's youth justice system from under 17 to under 18, so 17-year-olds are treated as young people rather than adults in the criminal justice system. It also sets up transitional rules to move 17-year-olds currently in adult prisons, on remand or in adult court proceedings into the youth justice system. Queensland was the last state to treat 17-year-olds as adults, and the change aligns with national practice and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Queensland Productivity Commission Bill 2015
This bill establishes the Queensland Productivity Commission as an independent body that advises the Treasurer on productivity, economic development and industry. It holds public inquiries when directed, investigates competitive neutrality complaints about government-run businesses, and takes over these functions from the Queensland Competition Authority.
Liquid Fuel Supply (Ethanol and Other Biofuels Mandate) Amendment Bill 2015
This bill creates Queensland's first mandatory biofuels targets, requiring larger fuel retailers to ensure 2 per cent of their regular petrol sales are ethanol or other biobased petrol, and fuel wholesalers to ensure 0.5 per cent of diesel sales are biodiesel or other renewable diesel. The mandate is designed to grow Queensland's biofuels industry, create regional jobs, and cut transport emissions while protecting consumer choice by excluding premium unleaded petrol from the target.
Guide, Hearing and Assistance Dogs Amendment Bill 2015
This bill updates Queensland's guide, hearing and assistance dog laws so that people with disability who need a support person to handle their dog (like a child with autism and their parent) are properly recognised. It also cuts red tape by letting approved trainers issue handler ID cards directly, and gives inspectors stronger powers to enforce the Act.
Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018
This bill gives the Director-General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet and the Clerk of the Parliament formal legal authority to conduct criminal history checks on people working in ministerial offices, electorate offices, and the Parliamentary Service. It formalises interim arrangements that were already in place since December 2017, bringing these checks in line with the powers that already exist for Queensland public service employees.
Crime and Corruption and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
This bill reforms Queensland's Crime and Corruption Commission to make it more accountable, independent and effective. It overhauls the CCC's enforcement powers into a unified framework, requires the Director of Public Prosecutions to advise on corruption charges before they are laid, extends journalist shield laws to CCC proceedings, and introduces fixed seven-year non-renewable terms for commissioners.
Criminal Code (Decriminalising Sex Work) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
This bill decriminalises sex work in Queensland by repealing criminal offences that made most forms of sex work illegal and abolishing the brothel licensing system. It implements recommendations from the Queensland Law Reform Commission to treat sex work as legitimate work, while introducing new offences specifically targeting the exploitation of children and coercion in commercial sexual services.
Guardianship and Administration and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018
This bill modernises Queensland's guardianship laws to better protect adults who lack capacity to make their own decisions. It aligns the system with international human rights standards, strengthens safeguards against financial exploitation by attorneys and administrators, and creates new protections for people who report abuse or neglect. It also makes separate amendments to the Integrity Act and government corporation corruption reporting laws.
Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018
This bill improves Queensland's main tribunal (QCAT) and strengthens consumer protections for vehicle buyers. It raises QCAT's jurisdictional limit for motor vehicle disputes from $25,000 to $100,000, reinstates statutory warranty protections for older used vehicles sold by dealers, and introduces conciliation as a new dispute resolution option.
Queensland Future Fund Bill 2020
This bill establishes the Queensland Future Fund framework, starting with a Debt Retirement Fund that sets aside money exclusively for paying down State debt. It also legislates a 100% guarantee that the State will fully fund public sector defined benefit superannuation entitlements. The model is based on similar NSW legislation designed to satisfy credit rating agency requirements.
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation (Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
This bill improves workers' compensation for Queensland coal miners and others with dust-related lung diseases, sets up a committee so families of workers killed or seriously injured at work have a formal voice, and strengthens electrical licensing safety rules. It responds to the re-identification of coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) in Queensland.
Legislation (Declaration) Amendment Bill 2016
This bill fixes administrative errors that happened when two recent Acts were sent to the Governor for sign-off. Wrong versions of the Mental Health Act 2016 and Racing Integrity Act 2016 were presented for assent, so this bill declares both Acts valid from the start and confirms the correct wording.
Therapeutic Goods Bill 2019
This bill adopts the Commonwealth Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 as a law of Queensland, ensuring all manufacturers of therapeutic goods — including sole traders and partnerships — meet national safety and quality standards. It closes a regulatory gap where small manufacturers trading only within Queensland were not subject to any therapeutic goods regulation.
Health Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 3) 2025
This bill amends eight Queensland health Acts to fix implementation issues with the new fertility clinic regulatory framework, create a legal basis for organ donation procedures before circulatory death, require cosmetic surgery safety standards at private hospitals, and give the government broader powers to remove health board members. It is the third health legislation amendment bill for 2025.
Defamation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
This bill modernises Queensland's defamation laws for the digital age by implementing nationally agreed reforms. It creates new protections for digital platforms and online service providers regarding defamatory content posted by third parties, gives courts stronger powers to order removal of defamatory material online, and extends absolute privilege to complaints made to police.
Integrity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022
This bill strengthens the independence of Queensland's key integrity watchdogs — the Auditor-General, the Integrity Commissioner, and the Ombudsman — following the 2022 Coaldrake Report into public sector culture and accountability. It makes the Auditor-General an officer of Parliament, creates the Office of the Queensland Integrity Commissioner, and introduces a criminal offence for unregistered lobbying.
Rail Safety National Law (Queensland) Bill 2016
This bill brings Queensland into Australia's national rail safety regime from 1 July 2017. It applies the Rail Safety National Law as a law of Queensland, repeals the Transport (Rail Safety) Act 2010, and makes the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator responsible for rail safety here. It also strengthens drug and alcohol rules for rail workers and funds federal investigators to look into rail accidents.
Serious and Organised Crime Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
This bill dismantles Queensland's 2013 anti-bikie laws and replaces them with a new Organised Crime Regime. It repeals the VLAD Act and Criminal Organisation Act 2009, removes mandatory minimum penalties targeting gang members, and introduces a new consorting offence, control orders, public safety orders and a mandatory seven-year jail 'top-up' for serious organised crime. It also toughens laws on online child exploitation, boiler-room fraud and drug trafficking, and restores fair process rights for people applying for licences in regulated industries such as tattooing and security.
Water (Local Management Arrangements) Amendment Bill 2016
This bill changes Queensland's water laws to let SunWater's regional channel irrigation schemes be handed over to new entities owned and run by the irrigators who use them. It sets up a formal transfer process, starting with the Emerald, Eton, St George and Theodore schemes, and provides tax exemptions, staff protections and rules for moving assets, contracts and licences across to the new operators.
Environmental Protection (Underground Water Management) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
This bill tightens the environmental assessment of underground water taken by mining and petroleum projects, improves protections for landholders whose water bores are damaged by resource activities, and fixes gaps in how local councils enforce heritage laws. It also creates a transitional 'associated water licence' process for mining projects that were partway through approval when Queensland's 2014 water reforms commenced.
Revenue Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
This bill implements several 2023-24 State Budget revenue measures and makes technical amendments to Queensland tax legislation. It creates tax concessions to encourage build-to-rent housing developments with affordable housing, simplifies the land tax home exemption, extends payroll tax relief for regional employers and apprentice wages, and closes off common law tax refund claims.
Health Practitioner Regulation National Law and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
This bill brings paramedics under Australia's national health registration scheme for the first time, meaning anyone calling themselves a paramedic must be registered and meet national standards. It also recognises nursing and midwifery as separate professions, gives regulators stronger powers to act quickly against practitioners who pose a public risk, and creates new offences (with fines up to $30,000) for deregistered practitioners who ignore prohibition orders.
Revenue Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
This bill rolls several 2017-18 State Budget tax measures into one package. It extends the boosted $20,000 First Home Owners' Grant for another six months, introduces a new 1.5 per cent land tax surcharge on overseas-based landowners, tightens foreign buyer duty rules, and restores tenant protections against landlords passing on land tax on older commercial leases.
Corrective Services (Promoting Safety) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
This bill amends Queensland's corrective services laws to improve safety for victims, frontline officers, prisoners, and the community. It strengthens the Victims Register, cracks down on prisoners misusing phone systems to perpetrate domestic violence, extends police monitoring powers for dangerous child sex offenders, and introduces body-worn cameras and gel blaster protections for corrective services officers.
Environmental Protection (Powers and Penalties) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
This bill strengthens Queensland's environmental protection laws by making regulation more proactive rather than reactive. It introduces the precautionary principle and polluter pays principle as core guiding principles, creates new offences for breaching environmental duties, establishes a duty to restore the environment after contamination, and streamlines enforcement tools into a single environmental enforcement order.
Personalised Transport Ombudsman Bill 2019
This bill creates a Personalised Transport Ombudsman to independently handle complaints about taxis, rideshare, and booked hire services in Queensland. It also updates transport laws to support new contactless ticketing technology for public transport and makes several improvements to operator and driver licensing requirements.
Family Responsibilities Commission Amendment Bill 2015
This bill updates the Family Responsibilities Commission Act 2008 to strengthen how the Commission works in the five welfare reform communities (Aurukun, Coen, Doomadgee, Hope Vale and Mossman Gorge). Its main change adds a domestic violence 'trigger' so courts must notify the Commission when a protection order is made against a community resident, implementing Recommendation 93 of the 'Not Now, Not Ever' report.
Working with Children (Risk Management and Screening) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
This bill overhauls Queensland's blue card (Working with Children Check) system. It introduces a new risk-based decision-making framework replacing the current 'best interests' test, expands the types of work and businesses that require blue cards, simplifies the disqualification process, removes blue card requirements for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kinship carers, and improves information sharing between agencies.
Child Safe Organisations Bill 2024
This bill creates a mandatory child safe organisations system for Queensland, requiring organisations that work with children to meet 10 child safe standards and report allegations of child abuse by their workers. It implements key recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and gives the Queensland Family and Child Commission new powers to oversee child safety across sectors including schools, childcare, health services, religious bodies, sport clubs, and government agencies.
Betting Tax Bill 2018
This bill introduces a 15% point-of-consumption betting tax on the net wagering revenue that betting operators earn from customers located in Queensland. It replaces the old wagering tax (which was based on where the operator was located) and brings Queensland into line with similar taxes in South Australia and Victoria.
Nature Conservation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
This bill puts the legal framework in place for government electronic systems to automatically issue low-risk environmental and nature conservation permits. It also retrospectively confirms that permits issued automatically since 2017 are legally valid, giving certainty to the thousands of permit holders who have relied on them.
Criminal Code and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
This bill strengthens Queensland's criminal law response to child homicide, following a Sentencing Advisory Council inquiry that found community expectations were not being met. It requires courts to treat a child's vulnerability as an aggravating factor in manslaughter sentencing, expands the definition of murder to include reckless indifference to human life, and increases the maximum penalty for failing to supply necessaries to dependants from 3 to 7 years.
Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Amendment Bill 2019
This bill creates a formal certification process so experienced Queensland teachers can be officially recognised as highly accomplished or lead teachers. It gives the Queensland College of Teachers the legal authority to run this voluntary certification, consistent with a national framework already operating in other states.
Planning Bill 2015
This bill replaces Queensland's entire planning and development system with a simpler framework, repealing the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 and introducing a new Planning Act. It reduces red tape, streamlines how councils make planning schemes, clarifies the rules for approving or refusing development applications, and increases penalties for breaking planning laws.
Planning and Environment Court Bill 2015
This bill gives the Planning and Environment Court its own stand-alone Act instead of being buried inside the Sustainable Planning Act 2009. It keeps the existing court running, pairs with the Planning Bill 2015 to handle development disputes, and encourages more use of mediation and other alternative dispute resolution to settle cases faster and more cheaply.
Planning (Consequential) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015
This bill updates 68 other Queensland laws so they work with the new Planning Act 2016 and Planning and Environment Court Act 2016, which together replace the Sustainable Planning Act 2009. It mostly changes terminology and cross-references, removes duplicated or outdated planning steps, and sets transitional rules so any application already lodged is finished under the old system.
Health Legislation Amendment Bill 2015
This bill changes six Queensland health laws at once. Its main change is a new menu labelling scheme that requires large fast-food chains, cafe and bakery chains and supermarkets to show kilojoule information on their menus. It also lets health authorities publicly name unsafe food businesses, makes it easier to fill temporary vacancies on health boards, gives registered midwives direct access to the Pap Smear Register, and clarifies that cord blood can be donated to stem-cell registries.
Information Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
This bill modernises Queensland's information privacy and right to information laws. It introduces mandatory data breach notifications so agencies must tell you if your personal information is compromised, replaces the old dual privacy principles with a single set of Queensland Privacy Principles aligned with federal law, and supports the proactive release of Cabinet documents for greater government transparency.
Water Legislation Amendment Bill 2022
This bill strengthens how non-urban water take is measured and reported in Queensland, delivering on commitments made after the 2018 Independent Audit of Queensland Non-Urban Water Measurement and Compliance and the Murray-Darling Basin Compliance Compact. It creates a new regulatory framework requiring water entitlement holders to use approved measurement devices, measurement plans, and in some cases telemetry to accurately track and report their water use.
Small Business Commissioner Bill 2021
This bill permanently establishes a Queensland Small Business Commissioner to provide advice, advocacy, and affordable dispute resolution for small businesses. It replaces the temporary commissioner created during COVID-19 with a permanent statutory office and transfers administration of retail tenancy dispute mediation to the new commissioner.
Criminal Law (Historical Homosexual Convictions Expungement) Bill 2017
This bill creates a scheme for people to apply to have historical convictions or charges for consensual adult homosexual activity wiped from their criminal records. It covers offences from before homosexuality was decriminalised in Queensland on 19 January 1991. Once expunged, a person is treated in law as never having been convicted or charged.
Electoral Laws (Restoring Electoral Fairness) Amendment Bill 2025
This bill makes a series of changes to Queensland's electoral laws covering political donations, prisoner voting, party preselections and campaign transparency. It removes the ban on property developer donations at the state level, resets donation caps on a financial year basis, allows political parties to borrow from banks for campaigns, removes Electoral Commission oversight of preselection ballots, tightens prisoner voting restrictions, and extends election material authorisation requirements to 12 months before a general election.
Cross River Rail Delivery Authority Bill 2016
This bill sets up the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority, a new independent statutory body to build the Cross River Rail project connecting Brisbane across the river by underground rail. The Authority will operate commercially, with power to compulsorily acquire land and to drive economic development around new stations, and will be wound up once the project is complete.
Fighting Antisemitism and Keeping Guns out of the Hands of Terrorists and Criminals Amendment Bill 2026
This bill responds to the December 2025 Bondi Beach terrorist attack by strengthening Queensland's laws against hate speech and antisemitism, and significantly toughening firearms regulations. It bans hate symbols of terrorist organisations, criminalises prohibited expressions that incite hatred, creates new protections for worshippers at religious sites, and imposes some of Australia's strongest penalties for weapons offences including new crimes targeting 3D-printed firearms.
Plumbing and Drainage Bill 2017
This bill replaces Queensland's Plumbing and Drainage Act 2002 with a new Plumbing and Drainage Act 2017, modernising how plumbing work is regulated. It streamlines how plumbing work is approved, toughens penalties for unlicensed work, and creates a new mechanical services licence that covers heating, air-conditioning and medical gas work in large buildings and hospitals.
Superannuation (State Public Sector) (Scheme Administration) Amendment Bill 2021
This bill facilitates the merger of QSuper and Sunsuper into Australia's second largest superannuation fund, with around $200 billion under administration. It retires the QSuper Board as trustee, moves the trust deed out of legislation into a non-statutory instrument, and ensures the merged entity stays headquartered in Queensland.
Industrial Relations Bill 2016
This bill replaces Queensland's Industrial Relations Act 1999 with an entirely new framework governing work for the state's public service, local councils and Brisbane City Council. It sets new minimum employment conditions, makes collective bargaining the main way to negotiate pay and conditions, introduces paid domestic and family violence leave for the first time, and makes Easter Sunday a public holiday from 2017.
Electoral and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
This bill reforms Queensland's electoral laws to improve transparency, modernise voting operations, and align with four-year fixed parliamentary terms. It implements recommendations from the Crime and Corruption Commission's Operation Belcarra report and an independent review of the 2016 elections, requiring disclosure of the true source of political donations and making it easier for voters to cast absentee and postal votes.
Crime and Corruption Amendment Bill 2015
This bill reforms the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC), Queensland's anti-corruption watchdog, by restoring its independence and broadening how people can report corruption. It reverses several changes made in 2014, separating the CEO role from the commissioners, requiring cross-party agreement on senior appointments, and bringing back the CCC's power to prevent corruption and run its own research.
Further Education and Training (Training Ombudsman) and Another Act Amendment Bill 2015
This bill creates an independent Training Ombudsman for Queensland to handle complaints about vocational education and training, apprenticeships, and traineeships. The Ombudsman is an independent statutory position appointed by the Governor in Council and backed by a public service office, with powers to investigate, refer, and report on complaints.
Plumbing and Drainage and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015
This bill sets up a new plumbing industry regulator inside the Queensland Building and Construction Commission, strengthens protections for renters against unfair tenancy database listings, lets community housing providers give tenancy guarantees to private landlords, and confirms that public housing development has been lawfully carried out.