Bill
Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Approval of Overseas Service) Bill 2020
before parliament, as at 2026-03-25.
- Sponsor
- Steele-John
- Portfolio
- Not recorded
Recorded stages
- introduced — 2020-12-07
- second reading — 2020-12-07
- second reading — 2021-08-30
- other — 2022-07-25
- other — 2022-07-27
- second reading — 2023-03-29
- second reading — 2023-03-29
- other — 2026-03-11
- second reading — 2026-03-25
- second reading — 2026-03-25
Divisions
- Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Approval of Overseas Service) Bill 2020 - Second Reading - Agree with bill's main idea — 2023-03-29, Senate: negative, ayes 12, noes 26
Plain-language summary
Written by a model from the explanatory memorandum; not the record, as at 2020-12-07.
This bill would require approval from both Houses of Parliament before Australian Defence Force personnel can be sent overseas for warlike actions.
It would insert a new section into the Defence Act 1903, with exceptions for emergencies where the Governor-General could authorise deployment on the Prime Minister's written advice.
Emergency proclamations would cease after seven days if Parliament is prorogued, and the Minister for Defence must report to Parliament every two months on any ongoing deployment.
- Requires parliamentary approval for overseas warlike service of Defence Force members.
- Allows emergency deployments by Governor-General proclamation on Prime Minister's advice.
- Sets a seven-day limit on emergency proclamations when Parliament is prorogued.
- Requires the Minister for Defence to report to Parliament every two months on deployments.
- Exempts normal non-warlike overseas service from the approval requirement.
Australian Defence Force personnel, the Parliament, the Governor-General, the Prime Minister, and the Minister for Defence.
Sources
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