Parliamentary role play

Looking through the doorway into an empty Legislative Assembly chamber.  The Executive table and Speaker's chair are  visible.

Parliamentary role plays give your students the opportunity to act out the various roles in Parliament to pass a law.

Our interactive activity allows your students to experience the law-making process firsthand by taking on the roles of Speaker, Clerk, Serjeant-at-Arms, Premier, Leader of the Opposition and other members of Parliament. This experience is conducted over 90 minutes and includes a short tour of Parliament House.

 

Our role play sessions have been designed to align with the Victorian curriculum. 

 

Role play topics for grades 5/6

We have a number of different topics for our role plays that we will ask your students to vote on during your session.

Our Current topics are:

  • E-scooters Bill
  • Video Game Curfew Bill
  • Gambling Advertising Bill.

You can also prepare your own topic with your class by following these instructions:

How to prepare a self-guided role play script

 

 

Role play topics for VCE Legal Studies

We use real bills that have been passed through the Parliament as case studies to show your students how the Parliament makes laws.

At the time of booking, you will be asked to choose one of the following bills:

  • Crimes Amendment (Bullying) Bill 2011 (Brodie’s Law)
  • Crimes Amendment (Sexual Offences and Other Matters) Bill 2014 (known as the Sexting Bill)*
  • Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017*
  • Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment (Medically Supervised Injecting Centre) Bill 2017*.

*These bills are examples of law reform coming from a Parliamentary committee inquiry.

 

 

Program details

Cost Free
Year level 5—6 & VCE legal Studies students in 11—12
Group size Maximum 30 students per session
Duration 90 minutes
Availability Monday—Friday, 10:30 am & 1:30 pm


If your school is located in metropolitan Melbourne

We can visit your school and conduct our role play in your classroom. You can follow the link to our metropolitan Melbourne school visits page for more information.


We also take our role play on the road and visit regional schools
You can follow the link to our regional visits page for more information on the locations we will be visiting in 2025.

 

Book your role play

Bookings for 2025 will open in late January 2025.

We do not take bookings online.

 

First, view our availability below.

  November: December:
10.30 am 25 16, 18, 19
1.30 pm   9, 11, 12, 13, 16, 18, 19

Next, choose your preferred dates and times.

Then, send your booking request to tours@parliament.vic.gov.au

Make sure to include the following details in your booking request:

Selected program Role Play 
Selected date/s  
Selected time/s  
Number of students per time slot   
Class year level  
Role-play topic/bill (VCE Legal Studies students)  
School name and address  
Contact number for the booking  

Please remember, this is only a booking request, not a confirmed booking. You will receive a confirmation email once your request is processed.

 

Enquiries

Our committment to child safety

For more information on our child safe policy, please click the button below.

Child safe policy

Details


Contact

To discuss your school's needs, contact our Tours and Customer Service Unit.

Phone: (03) 9651 8572
Email: tours@parliament.vic.gov.au

Address

Parliament House
Spring Street
East Melbourne Victoria 3002

Getting here


Tours depart from the Vestibule, located inside the main building entrance on Spring Street.

Public transport

By train: exit Parliament station at Bourke Street.

By tram:

  • route 35 – stop 0 (Spring St/ Bourke St)
  • routes 86, 96 – stop 9 (Bourke St/Spring St).

Parking/bus drop-off

There is no public parking at Parliament House.

There is a bus drop off area on Spring Street.

Entry to Parliament


Entry requirements

Anyone visiting the Parliamentary precinct must provide their name and address, and present one of the following forms of identification:

  • driver's licence
  • learner's permit
  • proof of age card
  • passport
  • Australian birth certificate
  • Australian citizenship certificate.

All visitors to the Parliamentary precinct must adhere to the following:

Banned items

The following items are not permitted at Parliament:

  • weapons
  • any types of blades (e.g. Swiss army knives, lock knives, eating utensils), hooks, scissors and other sharps
  • liquids over 100ml and glass bottles (except water)
  • any alcohol
  • 'selfie' camera sticks and camera tripods
  • chains and padlocks
  • voice recorders, two-way radios and speakers
  • handcuffs
  • any tools (e.g. screwdrivers, multi-tools, bike tools, measuring tapes, metal rulers)
  • helmets (e.g. bicycle and motorcycle)
  • whistles
  • permanent markers
  • aerosols
  • jet lighters
  • long umbrellas
  • balls and balloons
  • signs or placards
  • studded belts.

Any of the above items will be held by security for the duration of your visit. They will be returned when you leave or may be confiscated permanently in some cases.

Security

Visitors to Parliament House must to pass through a security checkpoint to enter the building. This involves a walk-through scanner and baggage scanning. Visitors with pacemakers should ask to be scanned using handheld scanners.

Bags must be left at reception when taking part in a tour or sitting in the public galleries.

If you have any accessibility needs or concerns with security screening, please email security.team@parliament.vic.gov.au or call us on 03 8682 2980 ahead of time so we can accommodate your visit.

Accessibility


Accessible entrance

People with a mobility or physical disability can access Parliament House through the side entrance on Spring street or the rear entrance on Macarthur Street.

Map

Toilets

Accessible toilets are located on the ground level and level one.

Audio loop & Auslan Tour

Audio loops are available in the Legislative Chambers. These can be used in conjunction with hearing aids.

Auslan videos are provided at points of interest on our public tours by scanning QR codes with your smartphone.  

Contact

If you have any accessibility needs or concerns with our entry requirements, please email security.team@parliament.vic.gov.au or call us on 03 8682 2980 ahead of time so we can accommodate your visit.

For any enquiries regarding disability access and inclusion please email disabilityaccess@parliament.vic.gov.au

Social stories

Two social stories are available to accompany a visit to Parliament House. These have been designed for visitors who are neurodiverse who may like to read them in preparation for their visit. One is intended for readers of all ages, the other focuses on the experience of a school visit to parliament house.

Privacy Collection Notice


Our Privacy collection notice - visitors to Parliament House applies to your visit to Parliament House and the parliamentary precinct.

It explains what personal information is collected when you visit Parliament House and the parliamentary precinct.

For information about our broader privacy practices and how we handle personal information generally, please refer to our Privacy Policy.