Page:Australian Government Legislation Handbook.pdf/15

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  • Ministerial legislation contact officer—a nominated person in each minister's office who acts as the first point of contact for all legislation matters that require the minister's attention (often the Departmental Liaison Officer (DLO)).
  • Office of Best Practice Legislation (OBPR)—an office in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet which administers the Government's regulatory impact analysis system, including assisting agencies in preparing regulation impact statements (RISs) and advising on the quality of RISs.
  • Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC)—a statutory agency within the Attorney‑General's portfolio responsible for drafting bills for introduction into the Parliament and drafting government amendments to those bills, drafting a range of subordinate legislation, the compilation of various laws and the publication of all laws, predominantly through the Federal Register of Legislation.
  • Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) client adviser—a senior drafter from whom client agencies can obtain quick, informal advice on options for legislative approaches and related matters (see paragraphs 5.11 to 5.12).
  • Parliamentary Business Committee of Cabinet (PBC)—committee of the Cabinet which manages the Government's legislation and parliamentary business programme, and allocates priorities to legislation proposals. The PBC meets at the beginning of every sitting week, usually on a Monday morning, to consider issues relating to the legislation and parliamentary business programme, including requests for variations to the programme.
  • Parliamentary Liaison Officer (PLO)—PM&C officers who assist the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Government and the Manager of Government Business in the Senate in the programming of government business in the Parliament. Once a bill has been introduced, departments can contact the PLO in each house for information about the programming of the bill for debate.
  • Prime Minister (or the Legislation Minister acting on behalf of the Prime Minister)—considers requests for policy approval not previously considered by the Cabinet and approves legislation for introduction.
  • Regulatory Reform Division—a division in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet that oversees the Government's regulatory reform agenda. It has a number of oversight roles to facilitate the reduction of red tape and help the Government to reduce the cost of unnecessary regulation.
  • Regulatory reform units—units located within portfolios that are responsible for each portfolio's regulatory reform activity and ensuring understanding of, and compliance with, RIS requirements.
  • Table Office(s)—the offices in the Department of the Senate and the Department of the House of Representatives (the chamber departments) responsible for coordinating the documentation to enable introduction of legislation and for ensuring the progress of all legislation through its subsequent stages.