What is policy?
Policy is a broad concept that is difficult to define. It features across many areas of society and impacts our daily lives in often unseen ways. Let’s look at what policy is and how it’s used in different settings.
Policy is a broad concept that is difficult to define. It features across many areas of society and impacts our daily lives in often unseen ways.
In short, a policy is a statement of standards and actions formed by an organisation, or government to give consistent guidance, direction, clarity, or regulation on a specific topic.
Policies will have objectives and a body to provide a path towards practicable outcomes. Your school, workplace, the Australian and South Australian Governments, as well as local councils have policies to ensure standards of safety, wellbeing, communication, and other important aspects within their work[BME-b1] . Policies are a framework to achieve long-term aims and they should help us to understand what and why organisations or governments want to achieve.
You may have come across policy in the form of a code of conduct in the workplace, a mobile phone or dress code policy at school, or a privacy policy online. Another type of policy that likely influences your life is public policy which is created and implemented by government and government entities. Public policy is our system of laws, regulations, funding allocation and other legislation worked on by policymakers in government. Each level of government has a responsibility to develop policy for different things. To learn more about the responsibilities of the different levels of government read you can read our post on that here.
Public policy can cover a broad range of topics including social policy, public health policy, environment policy and urban planning. Social policy aims to improve society in areas that impact on quality of life like criminal justice, employment, education, and inequality. Public health policy is the laws and regulations made to promote wellness in society, like Medicare and the pharmaceutical benefits scheme (PBS). Environmental policy focuses on needs resulting from humankind’s impact on the environment and concerns issues like air quality, water, climate change and pollution. Urban planning policy guides the formation of cities and towns and considers resource allocation, human and population development, climate change resilience and sustainability to varying degrees.
Creating public policy is complicated. It typically begins with identifying a problem or need and then the development of a resolution through creating new policy or reforming existing policy. Making public policy is an involved task where Bills are introduced, consultation occurs, and debates are held. To learn about the stages a Bill goes through to become an Act check out our post How a Bill Becomes an Act. Another factor that makes policy a challenging task is policymakers and other community members do not always agree and can have different ideas that compete with one another.
Policymakers are our elected representatives across the levels of government. When making policy decisions they are influenced by a range of factors including different ideologies, interpretations, and values. At the same time, they also must consider aspects like cost, existing policy, potential consequences, and political opposition. Other people outside of government can also directly or indirectly effect public policy too. Non-government organisations, corporations, community-based groups, lobbyists, and individuals can influence policymakers and their decisions through advocacy, mobilisation, and activism.
Public policies impact all our lives in many ways and engaging in the development of policy is possible through community groups, activism, or political participation as an individual! If you’re passionate about getting involved you can learn more about political processes, advocacy, campaigning and policy, and use these skills to keep decision makers accountable by becoming a YACSA Young Member. It’s free and sign up only takes 20 seconds, find out more here.
The levels of government (& their responsibilities)
Let’s look at the main differences between federal, state/territory and local government and what each level is responsible for
There are three levels of government in Australia: federal, state or territory, and local. At each level, eligible voters vote to elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf.
SA is set for a trifecta election year in 2022, with federal, state and local elections all to take place.
While these are all part of the same system of government there are lots of differences between them, from where they are to what they’re in charge of. Let’s look at the main differences and what each level of government does:
Are you enrolled to vote? Even if you’re not 18 yet you can enrol ahead of time once you’re 16! You can do so here.
How a Bill Becomes an Act in South Australian Parliament
Before legislation comes into force, it begins as a Bill before Parliament. Let’s look at that process
Before legislation comes into force, it begins as a Bill before Parliament. South Australian Parliament has two Houses – the Legislative Council (Upper House) and the House of Assembly (Lower House). A Member of either House will write a Bill, essentially drafting legislation, and they will introduce it to their House for consideration.
A Bill must pass several stages within both Houses of Parliament and then receive Royal Assent, where the South Australian Governor formally agrees to make the bill into an Act in the Queen’s name, before it becomes legislation.
Stage 1: Introduction and First Reading
A Member will request “leave” (permission) to introduce a Bill which is then included on the Notice Paper (like an agenda) for the next sitting day. On that sitting day, a Member will again ‘seek leave’ and present a copy of a Bill to be read for the first time.
A Bill can be introduced by a Member in either House first, except for ‘Money Bills’ that concern revenue, taxation, public funds or loans, which must be introduced to the House of Assembly first.
Stage 2: Second Reading
After a Bill is introduced and read a first time, a ‘second reading’ may happen immediately or be considered for a future sitting day.
For the second reading to occur, a Member will rise and move that the bill now be read a second time. This Member then reads their main speech to a Bill which usually outlines the principles of the Bill, intended benefits to the community, and the reasons for introducing the Bill. Following the speech, debate is usually adjourned to give other Members time to review a Bill and speech before debating the matter further at a later date.
Other Members may make second reading speeches for or against a Bill. The second reading debate is finished when the Member that introduced a Bill replies to the debate. The President of the Legislative Council, or Speaker in the House of Assembly will put the question ‘that this Bill be now read a second time’ to the Members of the House.
If majority of Members agree, a third reading may proceed immediately or if other Members wish to table amendments to a Bill or raise questions, the Bill will move to be ‘in committee’.
Stage 3: Committee Stage
‘In committee’ means Members of the House considering the Bill in detail, including any amendments to be considered. Each clause of a Bill is considered independently and either agreed to, amended and then agreed to, or rejected by Members. During this process, Members speak to a Bill or amendments, and they can speak more than once on each clause or amendment.
Some Bills may be referred to a Select Committee at this stage. A Select Committee is a small group of Members that take evidence from witnesses and then report back to the House on if a Bill should proceed.
Stage 4: Third Reading
At the third reading, Members decide if a Bill agreed to in committee should be passed by the House. This stage usually does not feature debate as the details of a Bill have been clarified or agreed to either during second reading speeches or while in committee. Agreement by the majority of the House at the third reading completes a Bill’s passage in that House.
Stage 5: Consideration of the other House
Once one House as agreed to a Bill at the third reading it is sent to the other House for consideration. A Bill then goes through the three-reading process and possibly a committee stage before being agreed to by Members of the second House.
If the second House passes amendments to a Bill, these will be considered by the original House for agreement once the Bill passes the second House. If agreement cannot be reached, a conference between five representatives from each House may occur to reach a compromise. If unsuccessful, a Bill will be laid aside in the second House.
Stage 6: Assent
Once a Bill and any amendments passes both Houses, copies are printed and certified by the President (in the Legislative Council) or Speaker (in the House of Assembly) and the Clerk of the House where it originated. A Bill is then presented to the Governor for assent where the Governor’s signature is added, and the public seal of the State is impressed to represent a Bill converting into an Act.
For a PDF version of this chart see here.
YACSA's 2019 Federal Election survey
We want to know what issues are most important to you in the lead up to the 2019 Federal Election!
IT’S TIME TO START GEARING UP FOR THE 2019 FEDERAL ELECTION!
The federal election will be held on May 18, and we want to know what issues will be important to you!
Complete our short survey, whether your old enough to vote or not, and tell us what issues you are most concerned about going into the election.
If you want to know more about voting, the election, or how powerful your vote can be, check out our election hub!
