The Justice Committee has called for public submissions on the Term of Parliament (Enabling 4-year Term) Legislation Amendment Bill.

The bill would create an option to extend the Parliamentary term to four years at the start of each term. The Parliamentary term could be extended to four years only if the overall membership of Parliament’s subject select committees was proportional to the party membership in the House of Representatives of the non-executive members.

This would mean that the opposition would have greater representation on select committees than if the membership were determined by the total membership of the House. The intention would be to ensure that a longer term of Parliament has improved checks and balances on the Government via the subject select committees.

The bill would do so by empowering the Governor-General to make a proclamation at the start of the term, on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Governor-General could only issue a proclamation if the House of Representatives passed a resolution in the first three months of the term confirming the proportionality requirements of subject select committees.

If passed, the changes of the bill would be put to the public via a referendum. If a majority of the public voted in favour of the referendum, the provisions of the bill except for section 3 would come into effect.

Hon James Meager, chairperson of the Justice Committee, said “any change to our constitutional arrangements should be carefully considered, and I welcome the public’s submissions on the proposed change to the length of the term.”

Tell the Justice Committee what you think

Make a submission on the bill by 1.00pm on 17 April 2025.

For more details about the bill:

• Read the full content of the bill
• Get more details about the bill
• What’s been said in Parliament about the bill?

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