One of state parliaments 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