Best Practice Legislative Development Checklist
21 July 2025
This checklist is intended to facilitate parliamentary scrutiny of the legislative development process. Drawing on the Law Council’s many years of experience in engaging with legislative processes, it represents best practice in terms of design, consultation and impact assessment. If the steps below have not been followed—and a satisfactory explanation is not provided by Government—the legislation in question may produce undesirable outcomes, prove unworkable in practice, or even be constitutionally unsound. It is vital that Parliament hold Government to account in this regard, in accordance with their respective constitutional roles, to ensure that Australian society is regulated sensibly and fairly.
Last Updated on 21/07/2025