Standing Orders of the Parliament of New South Wales

Standing Orders of the Parliament of New South Wales
Name	Standing Orders of the Parliament of New South Wales
Jurisdiction	New South Wales
Established	1856
Legislature	Parliament of New South Wales
Chamber	Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council
Source	Parliament of New South Wales

Standing Orders of the Parliament of New South Wales are the formal rules that regulate debate, decision-making, and procedure in the Parliament of New South Wales chambers, the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and the New South Wales Legislative Council, and interrelate with statutory instruments such as the Constitution Act 1902 (NSW), the Electoral Act 2017 (NSW), and precedents from the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Australian Parliament, and the New South Wales Ministry. The Standing Orders guide interactions among members including the roles of the Premier of New South Wales, the Leader of the Opposition (New South Wales), the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly (New South Wales), the President of the Legislative Council (New South Wales), and committee systems such as the Legislation Review Committee (NSW), and they sit alongside instruments like the Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament in New South Wales and rulings from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in historical context. They are informed by constitutional crises such as the Dismissal of the Whitlam Government precedent, debates over supply traced to the Constitutional Convention (Australia) 1891, and comparative practice in legislatures such as the Parliament of Victoria, the Parliament of Queensland, and the Parliament of Western Australia.

History

The Standing Orders derive from procedures adopted after responsible government was established in New South Wales in 1856 alongside the New South Wales Constitution Act 1855 and were influenced by procedural practice in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, the Imperial Parliament of the United Kingdom, and colonial assemblies such as the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales (1856) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (1856). Over successive parliaments, amendments responded to episodes involving figures such as Henry Parkes, William Gladstone, and later premiers including Jack Lang and Robert Askin, and institutional reforms spurred by inquiries like the Giles Inquiry and commissions akin to the Cole Commission. Key historical reforms paralleled statutory milestones such as the Constitution Act 1902 (NSW), developments in electoral law exemplified by the Electoral Act 1858 (NSW), and procedural shifts echoing practices at the Australian Senate and the House of Representatives (Australia).

Scope and Application

The Standing Orders apply to sittings, questions, motions, divisions, and the conduct of committees in both chambers and interface with provincial instruments such as the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987 (NSW) and the Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth) when privilege or judicial review arises, and they regulate the participation of officeholders including the Clerk of the Parliaments (New South Wales), the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly (NSW), and officials from the New South Wales Electoral Commission. Their application extends to public business like bills introduced by ministers such as those in the Cabinet of New South Wales, private members' business championed by figures like Peter Primrose, and estimates and scrutiny processes run by committees including the Public Accounts Committee (NSW), the Committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption and joint investigatory bodies such as the Joint Standing Committee on the Corruption and Crime Commission.

Structure and Key Provisions

Standing Orders are organized into parts covering sittings, order of business, questions, motions, debate, amendments, voting and divisions, privileges, and committee procedure, mirroring chapters found in standing orders of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and the Senate of Canada. Provisions define the powers of presiding officers such as the Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, the President of the New South Wales Legislative Council, the roles of party leaders including the Leader of the Opposition (NSW), and the management of legislative instruments including appropriation bills tied to the Treasury (New South Wales). They contain rules on question time influenced by practices in the Australian House of Representatives, limits on debate akin to guillotine motions seen in the United Kingdom Parliament, and detailed procedures for committee inquiries comparable to those of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights (Australia) and state committees like the Legislative Council Select Committees.

Procedure and Enforcement

Enforcement of Standing Orders rests with presiding officers who may call for points of order, name members, suspend sittings, and refer breaches to privileges committees such as the Committee on Parliamentary Privilege (NSW), with penalties ranging from censure to suspension and referral for contempt similar to remedies used by the Parliament of Tasmania and the Parliament of South Australia. Procedural tools include orders for the production of documents, summonses enforceable under the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987 (NSW), routine office functions performed by the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly (NSW), and enforcement of ethics rules that intersect with bodies like the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Judicial Commission of New South Wales.

Amendments and Review

Standing Orders are amended by resolution of the relevant chamber, often following reports from committees such as the Procedure Committee (New South Wales Legislative Assembly) or the Procedure Committee (New South Wales Legislative Council), and reforms have followed reviews prompted by incidents involving figures like Barry O'Farrell and policy changes echoed in reports from inquiries similar to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, with comparative analysis drawn from the Standing Orders of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and the Standing Orders of the Australian Senate.

Comparison with Other Jurisdictions

Compared with the Parliament of the United Kingdom and the Australian Parliament, New South Wales Standing Orders reflect a hybrid of Westminster convention and state-specific enactments such as the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987 (NSW), differing from practices in the Parliament of Victoria and the Parliament of Queensland on questions like committee powers, broadcasting of proceedings similar to reforms in the House of Commons of Canada, and entitlements oversight comparable to arrangements in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly and the Western Australian Legislative Assembly.

Category:Parliament of New South Wales