Bill Writing Guide for
Sponsoring Teams
2013 YMCA Queensland
Youth Parliament
Table of Contents
Page 3:
Introduction from Christien & Steph (Parliamentary Team)
Page 4:
What is a Bill?
Page 5:
Bills in QYP
Page 6:
Components of a Bill
Page 8:
Bill Writing Tips & Rules
Additional contents of this package:
• 
OQPC Style Guide for Youth Parliament
• 
Bill Writing Template
• 
Explanatory Notes writing guide
(Sponsoring team leaders only)
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Hi Youth Member!
By now, you would know that you are a member of the Sponsoring Team of your
committee. This means that you, along with your team, will be responsible for writing a Bill
on the topic you agreed to at Training Camp (Forum).
This process is very important and will be your showpiece of your time in Youth
Parliament. Although a significant amount of research, planning and writing is required the
result will be something you can be very proud of. With the assistance of your mentor, this
process shouldn’t be one that is daunting but one that is exciting!
This package is all about Bill writing and providing you with information that will assist you
during the Bill writing process. It will look at what is a Bill and how QYP Bills different to
‘real parliament’ Bills. It will discuss the differences between your team and the Refuting
Team of your committee. As well as this, and more importantly, it will go through the
different components of a Bill and tips that will assist you in confronting these.
Along with this Bill Writing Guide, there is a Style Guide for Youth Parliament Bills, as well
as a bill writing template. These have been kindly provided by the Office of Queensland
Parliamentary Counsel (OQPC). If you are a Sponsoring team leader you would have also
received additional information on the writing of Explanatory Notes for your teams Bill.
Bills are due to your mentors by Sunday 12th May 2013, in which afterwards they will
be submitted to the Office of Queensland Parliamentary Counsel (OQPC) for final
formatting. Between now and then, your mentors will be in touch with you about organising
times for your team to meet to discuss your Bills and the individual parts that you will be
responsible for.
Best of luck in your Bill writing! We can’t wait to read through the finished product. If you
have any questions or would like any further information on Bill writing please speak to
your mentor, or alternatively you can contact us via our email addresses below.
Happy Bill writing!
Christien & Steph
Christien Duffey
Parliamentary Coordinator
[email protected]
Steph Toft (Youth Governor)
Parliamentary Officer
[email protected]
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What is a Bill?
A Bill is not as boring as it sounds. It will be the
showpiece of your time in Youth Parliament and
is the result of blood, sweat and tears (or
research, planning and writing). However,
despite the effort, it is something you that you
can be proud of!
A Bill is drafted (usually by the current
government), introduced to Parliament,
debated, possibly amended and put to a vote. If
a majority of members vote in favour of it, a Bill
becomes a law or an ‘Act of Parliament’.
Relevant departments and public servants are
responsible for putting a Bill into force, upon it
becoming an Act.
Ministers are responsible for introducing Bills
into Parliament. But before this occurs the
Minister must receive Cabinet authority to draft
a Bill on a specific issue relevant to their
portfolio.
Individual members who are not ministers may
introduce bills as well, and such bills are known
as ‘Private Members Bills’.
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Bills in QYP
Come residential, Youth Bills will be debated in the Queensland Legislative
Assembly, with each committee presenting theirs to the house.
The difference between QYP and ‘real parliament’ is that both the
government and opposition introduce Bills to the house, where this is rarely
the case in ‘real parliament’.
We do follow the real process as best as we can however due to time
constraints and lack of resources we expect Bills to be correspondingly less
detailed then if they were to be presented to ‘real parliament’. Unlike ‘real
parliament’, we do not introduce money bills either.
Sponsoring & Refuting teams
By now you have been divided into sponsoring and refuting teams. If you are
reading this document you are, obviously, a member of a sponsoring team.
Your team will be responsible for drafting the Bill, along with its
accompanying Explanatory Notes. Where as, the Refuting Team will draft the
amendments to improve or change parts of your bill.
Writing the Bill
Writing your Bill will be easier than it sounds.
Just remember to keep it simple, although also
remember there is no limit on the number of
parts your would like to include.
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Components of a Bill
Bills consist of a number of components including:
•  Explanatory Notes – accompanies the Bill for the aid of members to
secure a better understanding of the Bills purpose;
•  Part One – preliminary including the Bills long time, date of
commencement and definitions;
•  Part Two – substantive clauses;
•  Part Three/Four/Five etc. – more substantive clauses.
Explanatory Notes
Explanatory Notes are attached to the front of each each Bill and are written
by the Sponsoring Team leader, who come Residential will be either a
Minister or Shadow Minister. The purpose of Explanatory Notes is to provide
for further explanation of the Bill in sentence form on paper, including the
WHY & HOW of the Bill. It is a good place for including research, statistics
and other information that is conveyed better on paper than orally.
Clauses
Clauses are the very basic building blocks of Bills and should be focused on
one narrow change or idea. Each clause is numbered and has a title.
There are three basic types of clauses:
— 
— 
— 
<Title of Clause>
<one sentence outlining one change>.
<Title of Clause>
(1)<subsections, all relating to the title of the clause, but each an independent sentence>.
(2)<subsections, all relating to the title of the clause, but each an independent sentence>.
(3)<subsections, all relating to the title of the clause, but each an independent sentence>.
<Title of Clause>
<a list of points, all relating to one introductory sentence> –
(a) <point one>; and
(b) <point two>; and
(c) <point three>.
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Parts
All Bills have one central idea, but have different methods for achieving the
desired change. Parts serve as a way of organising a Bill and splitting the
different methods for achieving the desired change.
For example: If part of a Bill required the establishment of a committee it
would be sensible to include all the clauses relating to this in a clearly
defined part.
All Bills have at least two parts and Part One of every Bill contains the same
information, that being the ‘Preliminary’.
For example:
PART ONE – PRELIMINARY
1. Short Title This Youth Bill may be cited as the <insert the name of your bill>.
2. Commencement
This Youth Bill commences on <insert date of commencement – if you don’t care write ‘a day to
be fixed by proclamation’>.
3.  Main Purpose of Youth Bill
The main purpose of this Youth Act is to <insert a statement/s summarising the purpose of your
Bill>. 4. Definitions
In this Youth Bill –
<“insert word”> means <insert definition – define all necessary words and write out all
acronyms>
<“insert word2”> means <insert definition2 – define all necessary words and write out all
acronyms>
Long Title
A Long Title is one sentence that explains your Bill in a clear and concise way. It contains
what the main purpose of the Bill is, providing a one sentence outline of what it will do. For
Bills that do many things the core component should be stated with ‘and related purposes’
following.
For example:
A Youth Bill for a Youth Act to implement an arts incentive programme, to encourage
participation in and improve accessibility to cultural pursuits.
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Bill Writing Tips & Rules
Four tips for bill writing
1.  A Bill is not a speech – so don’t write one.
2.  Bills provide concrete directions on what you hope to become law.
3.  They are not just a bunch of words – they are instructions. Don’t write
what isn’t necessary. Such extra description that helps others to
understand the bill goes in explanatory notes.
4.  Don’t forget when writing the parts of the bill what the bill actually does.
Christien & Steph’s Golden Rules
1.  Write in plain English. Clear, concise language without ‘big’ words.
2.  Use strong and definite wording. Always use ‘must’ or ‘will’ and never use
‘should’ or ‘shall’.
3.  Each clause is one idea only.
4.  Don’t write long, chunky sentences. Where possible break it down into
subsections.
5.  Keep it brief. Your bill isn’t ‘real’ legislation and can’t include everything,
just the essential information.
6.  Adhere to deadlines. If one bill is not submitted on time it slows the entire
process down.
Have questions or need help?
Talk to your mentor, or if they’re struggling
to answer your questions email your
Parliamentary Education Team at
[email protected].
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