Legislative Assembly
Procedural Publications
Factsheet No. 2 – What does the Legislative Assembly do?
The Legislative Assembly of New South Wales was established in 1856 with the introduction of Responsible Government, where
the government is drawn from and responsible to the Parliament. It is the House where the Government is formed and where
the Premier of NSW sits. The Legislative Assembly’s special role stems from its representative nature, it being directly elected by
the people since its inception. This fact sheet gives an overview of those things that the Legislative Assembly does to uphold the
principles of “…peace, welfare and good government…” for NSW. The NSW Parliament is a ‘bicameral’ parliament, which means
that it has two Houses, the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council.
Contents
Representing the people
Forming the Executive Government
Making laws
Approving the Government’s requests for money
Other functions
Representing the people
The Members of the Legislative Assembly are elected by the people. NSW is divided into 93 electorates, with one Member
representing each electorate. Members of the Assembly are elected for four year terms under a system of Optional Preferential
Voting. Optional Preferential Voting is the method of voting whereby a voter indicates an order of preference for the candidates
on the ballot paper. For more information on Optional Preferential voting, see the NSW Electoral Commission website.
There are a number of ways that Members can represent their constituents and communities and raise matters of concern in the
House. Two ways they can do this are Private Members Statements and Community Recognition Statements. As representatives
of their electorates, it is the role of Members to raise issues that concern their constituents and communities in the Parliament.
Private Members’ Statements are five-minute statements about a matter of concern to the Member’s electorate or constituents.
Community Recognition Statements are one-minute statements congratulating or acknowledging the achievements of people or
groups in their community.
Forming the Executive Government
The leader of the party or parties that has a majority of Members elected to the Legislative Assembly is commissioned by the
Governor to form the Executive Government.
The Executive Government remains in office for as long as it commands the confidence of the Legislative Assembly.
By convention the Premier is a member of the Legislative Assembly.
Making laws
The Parliament makes laws by passing bills. A bill is a proposed law that is presented to a House of Parliament. In a bicameral
Parliament, to become an Act a bill must pass through both Houses in the same form and be assented to (or approved) by
the Governor. The exception to this are bills that appropriate money or impose taxes (‘money bills’), which may be sent to the
Governor for assent even if the Legislative Council does not pass them.
Bills may be introduced in either the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council, although money bills can only be initiated in
the Assembly.
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Making laws cont.
Ministers introduce Government bills as part of the Government’s legislative program, while Private Members’ bills can be
introduced by any other Member (NB: There are also Private Bills affecting the interests of companies and individuals).
The majority of bills that are passed by the Parliament are Government bills.
Approving the Government’s requests for money
The Legislative Assembly is responsible for considering the Government’s requests for money. The Government must introduce
any legislation appropriating money for expenses, such as the Annual State Budget or legislation imposing new taxes or levies, in
the Legislative Assembly.
Other functions
Other important functions of the Legislative Assembly are to scrutinise the activities of the Government and make it accountable
to the people of NSW, and to advise the Government on public policy.
Members of the Legislative Assembly do this by:
Debating bills and motions;
Asking questions of Ministers (either written questions or oral questions asked during Question Time);
Moving motions in the House that raise concerns or express opinions;
Raising matters that concern their electorates or affect their constituents, by making Private Members’ Statements or
discussing Matters of Public Importance;
Serving on parliamentary committees that examine and report on a wide-range of matters;
Presenting petitions to the Assembly on behalf of constituents; and
Examining documents that are required to be tabled in the Assembly, such as annual reports of government departments
and agencies.
What will you read next?
Other Fact Sheets can be found on the Procedural
Publications section of the Parliament’s website.
Legislative Assembly
www.parliament.nsw.gov.au
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