Background information
The two Bills – the State Administrative Tribunal Bill 2003 and the State Administrative Tribunal (Conferrral of Jurisdiction) Amendment and Repeal Bill 2003 were originally introduced into the Legislative Assembly in June 2003.
As the single largest Bill ever tabled in the WA Parliament, the State Administrative Tribunal (Conferral of Jurisdiction) Amendment and Repeal Bill 2003 covered amendments to some 144 Acts and was more than 630 pages and 1402 clauses long, with a further 96 pages and 171 clauses making up the Principal Bill. On September 16 2003, the Legislative Council referred both Bills to the Standing Committee on Legislation for consideration and to report back to the House by November 11 2003.
Over the course of its inquiry into the Bills, extending to 13 months, the Committee received 48 written submissions, held public hearings involving a total of 24 witnesses, conducted site visits, and met with relevant parties in Melbourne and Sydney. Full details of these can be found on the parliamentary web site
The Report of the Standing Committee on Legislation in relation to State Administrative Tribunal Bill 2003 and the State Administrative Tribunal (Conferrral of Jurisdiction) Amendment and Repeal Bill 2003 was tabled in the Legislative Council on Wednesday, 27th October 2004. CAWA members received copies of the 443 page a week later. The Report had to be read in conjunction with the legislation so that the amendments proposed could be mapped. At the time CAWA believed that interested parties would be given time to evaluate the Report and the Legislation, and that it would not be passed without this consideration.
The Legislation was in fact passed by both Houses on the 11th November 2004, with all amendments proposed in the Report. The Passage of the Bills is summarised in the table below.
| Legislative Assembly | Date |
| Introduced | 06/24/2003 |
| First Reading | 06/24/2003 |
| Second Reading | 06/24/2003 |
| Second Reading Speech | p. 9104 |
| Second Reading Agreed | 08/21/2003 |
| Consideration in Detail | 08/20/2003 |
| Amendments | 08/21/2003 |
| Third Reading | 08/21/2003 |
| Legislative Council | Date |
| First Reading | 09/09/2003 |
| Second Reading | 09/09/2003 |
| Second Reading Speech | p. 10735 |
| Second Reading Agreed | 11/09/2004 |
| Committee of the whole | 11/10/2004 |
| Amendments | 11/10/2004 |
| Third Reading | 11/10/2004 |
| Messages between Houses | Date |
| Legislative Council sent to the Legislative Assembly | 11/10/2004 |
| Other procedures | Date |
| Referred to Standing Committee on Legislation | 09/16/2003 |
| Legislative Council Second Reading - Committee Report Tabled | 10/27/2004 |
| Amendments agreed to by Legislative Assembly | 11/10/2004 |