On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, after the lunch break, the Speaker announces the topic of the Public Interest Debate, which is conducted at 5 pm the same day.

The Public Interest Debate is forty minutes in duration, with up to seven Members speaking, including the mover of the motion who speaks for seven minutes with a three minute reply, and six other Members speaking for five minutes each. At least one Member must be from the Crossbench

Tuesday topics are submitted by the Government.

Wednesday topics are submitted by the Opposition on two out of every three sitting Wednesdays and by the Crossbench on the third sitting Wednesday.