 One of state parliament’s main roles is to make law  Parliament sometimes needs to investigate and seek community views regarding the introduction of new laws, and Parliamentary Committees are therefore established  The committees after extensive consultation, present recommendations to parliament  The government can then decide if they wish to accept any of these recommendations

Types of parliamentary committees  Often parliamentary committees will be “joint investigatory committees”-from both houses of parliament (upper and lower)  Drugs and Crime Prevention committee  Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee  Education ad Training Committee  Road Safety Committee  Law Reform Committee

Example:  The Law Reform Committee has commenced an inquiry into sexting  Sexting refers to creating, sharing, sending or posting sexually explicit messages or images via the internet and mobile phones, particularly by young people  The committee ha called for submissions from interested parties  This is one way the parliament can learn more about a particular issue and, after investigating further, the committee will make recommendations to parliament

Groups and individuals can influence the law-making process  Ideas for new laws, changes to existing laws and party policy can come from a variety of sources  You, as an individual in society, can have your say  Pressure to change the law can come from the political system, political parties, individual members and public servants, or from the community in the form of pressure groups eg-Victorian Farmers Federation

The Media and Public Opinion  These also play vital roles in influencing what laws are ade  The views of the community are usually made known to politicians through petitions, demonstrations, the media, lobbying and talking directly to a member of parliament  What is lobbying-putting pressure on politicians or government in an attempt to persuade them to support a particular cause