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Department of the House of Representatives Annual Report 2019-20

Chamber and Federation Chamber

This appendix contains summary information on the business of the Chamber and Federation Chamber in 2019–20.

Meetings of the House of Representatives 2019-20
Events	Winter–Spring 2019	Autumn–Winter 2020	Total
Sitting weeks	9	9	18
Sitting days	35	27	62
Hours of sitting:^a
» including suspensions	321	249	570
» excluding suspensions	312	237	548
Sittings after midnight	0	0	0
Government bills introduced	141	72	213
Private members’ bills introduced^b	23	12	35
Private members’ motions moved	16	9	25
Committee reports presented	41	52	93
Days on which:
» the adjournment motion was debated	30	24	54
» matters of public importance were discussed	25	20	45
» private members’ business occurred	8	4	12
Divisions	206	166	372
Closure of question agreed to	28	22	50
Closure of member agreed to	43	42	85
Bills subject to debate management motions	3	15	18

a. Hours are rounded to the nearest hour. Discrepancies in totals are due to rounding.
b. Includes two private senators’ bills.

Meetings of the Federation Chamber 2019-20
Events	Winter–Spring 2019	Autumn–Winter 2020	Total
Number of meetings	32	22	54
Hours of meeting (excluding suspensions)^a	116	68	185
Bills referred	3	0	3
Private members’ bills debated	0	0	0
Private members’ motions moved	60	25	85
Committee reports presented	0	0	0
Committee and delegation reports referred	4	11	15
Days on which:
» the adjournment motion was debated	8	6	14
» grievance debate occurred	8	5	13
» private members’ business occurred	8	5	13

a. Hours are rounded to the nearest hour. Discrepancies in totals are due to rounding.

Bills and amendments dealt with by the House of Representatives (Chamber and Federation Chamber) 2015–16 to 2019–20
Events	2015–16	2016–17	2017–18	2018–19	2019–20
Government bills introduced:
» initiated in the House	136	206	172	112	196
» initiated in the Senate	5	7	15	13	17
» total	141	213	187	125	213
Private members’ bills introduced^a	21	35	35	30	35
Second-reading amendments moved	16	40	45	37	110
Consideration-in-detail amendments moved:
» government	60	58	453	471	32
» opposition	38	44	44	63	89
» non-aligned	21	71	9	32	18
» amendments to private members’ bills	0	0	93	0	0
Consideration-in-detail amendments passed:
» government	60	58	453	471	32
» opposition	2	0	3	2	3
» non-aligned	0	1	0	10	0
» amendments to private members’ bills	0	0	0	0	0

a. Includes private senators’ bills.

https://www.transparency.gov.au/annual-reports/department-house-representatives/reporting-year/2019-20-51