Learning Outcomes
- LST-11-01: Describes legal principles and judicial processes used in the legal system
- LST-11-02: Explains the key features of Australian and international law
- LST-11-03: Explains the role, formation and reform of law
- LST-11-08: Uses legal concepts to communicate information and legal reasoning to form a judgement
- LAC-LS-05: Examines ways that laws are made and changed
Syllabus Links
Legal Studies 11–12 Syllabus 2025, implementation 2027
Topic: Legal themes and skills
Focus: Legal themes
Core content
- Relationship between law, justice and society
- Development of law as a reflection of society’s values
- Effectiveness of legal and non-legal measures in achieving justice for individuals, groups and society
Focus: Evaluation
Core content
- Construct and develop reasoned arguments supported by relevant evidence
- Evaluate the responsiveness of the legal system to changing values, events, the media, outdated laws and developments in technology
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the law using criteria.
Life skills
Focus: Changing rules and laws
Core content
- Ways to advocate for changes to rules in different contexts
- Changing the law through parliament and the courts
- Laws that have changed and reasons why the laws have changed
Passage of a Bill
The Parliament of NSW makes laws for the whole state of NSW.
To bring the parliamentary process to life for school students, we have created an animation that plots the passage of legislation in NSW.
Take students through this video, introduce them to the cast below.
The Cast
Many laws start as just an idea to improve the lives of the people in NSW. This idea is shaped through input from a variety of people including members of the NSW Parliament and the community they represent.
Learn more about each of these characters and their roles in the parliamentary process.
Ms Purple – The Premier
Ms Purple was elected to represent her local area at the last election and is a member of the Purple Party. Local representatives are members of the Legislative Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of NSW. The party with a majority of members in the Legislative Assembly is the government. The Purple Party have the majority at the moment and the party has chosen Ms Purple as their leader, making her the Premier of NSW.
Mr Mauve – The Minister for Education
Mr Mauve was elected to represent his local area at the last election. Like Ms Purple, he is a member of the Purple Party who currently form the government in NSW. He has been selected by Ms Purple to take on a special responsibility as the Minister for Education. In this role Mr Mauve is responsible for the Department of Education and looking after teachers, students and their learning in New South Wales.
Parliamentary Counsel’s Office
New South Wales Parliamentary Counsel are experts in law writing and draft bills and amendments based on members’ instructions.
Ms Peach – Member of the Orange Party
Ms Peach is also a member of the Legislative Assembly and was elected to represent her local area in the NSW Parliament. She is a member of the Orange Party, a different party to Mr Mauve and Ms Purple. The Orange Party has different views and policies than the Purple Party on some issues.
Mr Mustard – Member of the Yellow Party
Mr Mustard is a member of the Legislative Council, the upper house of Parliament in NSW. He is a member of the Yellow Party, who have different views and policies than the Purple or Orange Party on some issues.
The Governor of NSW
The Governor is the Queen’s representative and the formal head of state in New South Wales. As head of state, she plays many important constitutional roles, including providing assent for bills. That means she provides the formal approval required for a bill to officially become a NSW law.
