unbeliavable

The legislative process Bills (proposed laws) may be introduced first in either the House of Representatives or the Senate but must be considered by each House in turn.

Hi there, please have look on it: "When a law comes into effect Acts do not necessarily come into operation immediately on assent, although this is common. An Act may specify a particular date for commencement, perhaps retrospective, or the day of a stipulated event, or a date to be decided later by the government and announced (‘proclaimed’) by the Governor-General. If no commencement date is specified in an Act, it comes into effect on the 28th day after it receives assent." In my opinion the DIBP should continue to process the applications as they normally do, for the moment the reforms are just a bill that needs to be approved by the Parliament. If the proposed bill will become law so it can be retrospective. Some statistics from the 44th Parliament A total of 547 bills were introduced. Of these roughly 98% originated in the House of Representatives. Approximately 69% of bills introduced finally became Acts. The consideration of legislation took up some 45% of the House’s time. Font: http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/Powers_practice_and_procedure/00_-_Infosheets/Infosheet_7_-_Making_laws