Governor in Council
Role / OfficeReferenced in 40 bills
Appropriation (Parliament) Bill 2020
This bill authorises funding for Queensland's Parliament. It approves $519,000 in supplementary funding for unexpected costs in 2019-20, and provides an additional $50.5 million in interim funding for 2020-21 because the regular state budget was postponed due to the 2020 state election.
Appropriation Bill 2020
This bill authorises government spending across two financial years. It formally approves $1.114 billion in supplementary funding for unforeseen costs during 2019-20, and provides $28.635 billion in additional interim supply for 2020-21 because the regular state budget was postponed due to the state election and COVID-19.
Work Health and Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015
This bill restores workplace safety protections that were wound back in 2014 and re-establishes key electrical safety oversight bodies. It gives trained health and safety representatives the power to order unsafe work to stop, lets union safety inspectors enter workplaces immediately to investigate suspected breaches, and requires employers to notify the regulator when a worker is off for more than four days due to injury.
Appropriation (Parliament) Bill (No. 2) 2017
This bill gives formal parliamentary approval for an extra $2.411 million spent on running Queensland's Parliament in the 2016-17 financial year. The money had already been drawn from the Consolidated Fund to cover unforeseen costs and needed to be authorised by an Act, as required by the Queensland Constitution.
Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2017
This bill retroactively authorises $2.27 billion in government spending that exceeded the original 2016-17 budget. It is a routine accountability step required by the Queensland Constitution whenever departments spend more than Parliament originally approved.
Appropriation (Parliament) Bill (No. 2) 2018
This bill authorises $5.14 million in supplementary funding for Queensland Parliament to cover unforeseen expenditure during the 2017-18 financial year. It formally approves spending that has already occurred, as required by the Queensland Constitution.
Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2018
This bill authorises $494.9 million in supplementary funding for seven Queensland Government departments to cover unforeseen spending during the 2017-18 financial year. The expenditure has already occurred, and this bill provides the formal parliamentary approval required under the Queensland Constitution.
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.
Appropriation (Parliament) (Supplementary 2024-2025) Bill 2025
This bill provides formal parliamentary approval for $5.407 million in supplementary funding for Queensland Parliament that was spent during the 2024-25 financial year. The Queensland Constitution requires all government spending to be authorised by Parliament, so this bill retrospectively approves unforeseen expenditure that has already occurred and been reviewed by the Auditor-General.
Appropriation (Supplementary 2024-2025) Bill 2025
This bill formally approves $5.741 billion in government spending that exceeded the original 2024-25 budget across 16 departments. The money has already been spent and reviewed by the Auditor-General, and Parliament must now formally authorise it as required by the Queensland Constitution.
Public Health and Other Legislation (Extension of Expiring Provisions) Amendment Bill 2020
This bill extended Queensland's COVID-19 emergency powers from their original expiry in late 2020 and early 2021 until 30 September 2021. It maintained the Chief Health Officer's ability to issue public health directions, continued hotel quarantine cost recovery, and preserved emergency provisions in the Mental Health Act to allow mental health patients to comply with health directions.
Queen's Wharf Brisbane Bill 2015
This bill creates the legal framework for the Queen's Wharf Brisbane casino and entertainment precinct on state-owned land in the CBD. It ratifies a 99-year casino agreement with the Destination Brisbane Consortium, exempts the precinct from parts of Queensland's property, tenancy and planning laws, and introduces tight probity controls over who can own or influence the casino.
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.
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.
Local Government (Dissolution of Ipswich City Council) Bill 2018
This bill dissolved Ipswich City Council and removed all councillors from office following a Crime and Corruption Commission investigation that found serious, long-running corruption and governance failures. An interim administrator was appointed with full council and mayoral powers to run the council until Ipswich residents could elect new councillors at the 2020 local government elections.
Honourable Angelo Vasta (Reversal of Removal) Bill 2017
This bill aimed to reverse the Queensland Parliament's 1989 removal of Justice Angelo Vasta from the Supreme Court. It would have declared that removal invalid and treated him as having retired instead. The bill lapsed and did not become law.
Appropriation (Parliament) Bill (No. 2) 2019
This bill authorises $639,000 in supplementary funding for the Queensland Parliament to cover unforeseen expenditure during the 2018-19 financial year. It is a routine budget measure that formally approves spending already incurred, as required by the Queensland Constitution.
Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2019
This bill provides formal Parliamentary approval for $1.397 billion in supplementary government spending that occurred during 2018-19. The spending exceeded the original 2018 Budget and was initially authorised by the Governor in Council, but Queensland's Constitution requires all government expenditure from the Consolidated Fund to be approved by Parliament.
Protecting Queenslanders from Violent and Child Sex Offenders Amendment Bill 2018
This bill sought to make supervision orders for dangerous sex offenders indefinite rather than fixed-term, and to create automatic lifelong electronic monitoring for repeat sex offenders. It was a private member's bill introduced by Mr Janetzki MP that lapsed at the end of the 56th Parliament and did not become law.
Building Queensland Bill 2015
This bill creates Building Queensland, an independent statutory body that provides expert advice to the Queensland Government on major infrastructure projects. It is modelled on the Commonwealth's Infrastructure Australia and was a 2015 election commitment. The body will assess business cases, publish cost-benefit analysis summaries, and maintain a priority pipeline of infrastructure proposals.
Constitution (Fixed Term Parliament) Referendum Bill 2015
This bill was the machinery for putting a proposed change to Queensland's Constitution to the people in a referendum. The proposed change would have introduced fixed four-year terms for state Parliament, replacing the current flexible terms of up to three years.
Appropriation (Parliament) Bill (No. 2) 2015
This bill gives Parliament formal approval to have spent an extra $2.934 million on itself during the 2014-15 financial year. The Legislative Assembly and parliamentary service went over their original budget, and this supplementary appropriation retrospectively authorises that unforeseen expenditure.
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.
Corrective Services (Parole Board) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
This bill replaces Queensland's three separate parole boards with a single, professionalised Parole Board Queensland led by a former judge. It also gives corrective services officers clearer power to electronically monitor parolees through GPS devices and curfews. The reforms respond to the 2016 Sofronoff review of the parole system.
Appropriation (Parliament) Bill (No. 2) 2021
This bill formally authorises $1,795,000 in supplementary funding for the Queensland Parliament to cover unforeseen expenditure during the 2020-21 financial year. Under Queensland's Constitution, all government spending from the Consolidated Fund must be approved by Parliament, so this bill provides that approval for spending that has already occurred.
Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2021
This bill formally authorises $447.5 million in additional government spending that occurred during the 2020-21 financial year. The spending had already been incurred but required parliamentary approval under Queensland's Constitution. It is presented as a separate bill for timely transparency rather than being bundled with the next annual budget.
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.
Penalties and Sentences (Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council) Amendment Bill 2016
This bill re-establishes the Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council, an independent body that advises on sentencing, researches how sentences are set, and seeks community views. The council had been created in 2010 and dissolved in 2012; this bill brings it back in permanent legislation.
Nature Conservation (Special Wildlife Reserves) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
This bill creates a new kind of protected area in Queensland called a 'special wildlife reserve', letting private landholders lock in permanent, national-park-level protection over land of outstanding conservation value while keeping it in private ownership. It also makes sure existing conservation agreements on leasehold land are not lost when the lease is renewed, converted or transferred, and closes a small regulatory gap for activities straddling Queensland and Commonwealth waters in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Tackling Alcohol-Fuelled Violence Legislation Amendment Bill 2015
This bill targets alcohol-fuelled violence by cutting late-night liquor trading hours, banning rapid intoxication drinks after midnight, and stopping new extended trading approvals for takeaway alcohol. It also reforms drug and alcohol bail conditions to focus on treatment instead of punishment, and tidies up a range of liquor rules covering craft beer, community clubs, bed and breakfasts and car park events.
Appropriation (Parliament) Bill (No. 3) 2022
This bill authorises $2,185,000 in supplementary funding for the Queensland Parliament to cover unforeseen expenditure from the 2021-22 financial year. It is a routine accountability measure required by the Queensland Constitution to formally approve spending that has already occurred.
Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2022
This bill authorises $2.82 billion in supplementary government spending for the 2021-22 financial year. It formally approves expenditure that exceeded original budget allocations across 14 Queensland Government departments and agencies, as required by Queensland's Constitution.
Appropriation Bill 2024
This bill authorises the Queensland Government to spend $90.4 billion in 2024-25 to fund all state government departments and services. It also provides $45.2 billion in interim supply for early 2025-26 and retrospectively authorises $6.15 billion in unforeseen expenditure from the previous year.
Appropriation (Parliament) (Supplementary 2023–2024) Bill 2024
This bill formally authorises $4.207 million in additional spending for Queensland's Parliament that occurred during the 2023-24 financial year. Under the Queensland Constitution, all government spending from the Consolidated Fund must be approved by Parliament, including costs that exceeded the original budget.
Appropriation (Supplementary 2023–2024) Bill 2024
This bill formally authorises $1.128 billion in additional government spending that occurred during the 2023-24 financial year across 13 departments. It is a routine constitutional requirement ensuring Parliament approves all payments from Queensland's Consolidated Fund, including expenditure that exceeded original budget allocations.
Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2023
This bill authorises $1.24 billion in supplementary government spending for the 2022-23 financial year. When government departments spend more than their original budget allocations, Parliament must formally approve that spending under Queensland's Constitution. This is separate from the main budget appropriation bill.
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.