Laws were passed in August to standardise opening hours, allow hardware stores to trade from 6am on weekends and businesses to apply for 24-hour trading during special events, such as the Commonwealth Games.

But in a drafting oversight, the bill meant larger retailers, such as supermarkets and hardware stores, in regional areas without Sunday or public holiday trading would not be allowed to open on the Easter Saturday public holiday.

It would have meant supermarkets and other major shops in regional towns would have to shut for four days over Easter.

The simple mistake was caused because the words "including Easter Saturday" were left out of a schedule of trading hours in the Trading (Allowable Hours) Amendment Act.

Last week, Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace reintroduced an education bill that had lapsed when the election was called, and tacked on amendments to fix the trading hours issue.

By speeding up the process, the mistake can be fixed before Easter Saturday, on March 31.

The Education, Employment and Small Business Committee was asked to write a report on the bill by March 2.

Given the short time frame for reporting, the committee will not call for submissions from the public.

But submissions from previous committees, which reported on previous amendments to the Trading (Allowable Hours) Act 1990, will be considered.

A public briefing on the bill from departmental representatives will be held on Thursday.

Ms Grace said the National Retail Association recently drew the government's attention to the "inadvertent omission".

"There was never an intention by the government to stop trading on the Easter Saturday public holiday in those areas, which include towns such as Mount Isa, Kingaroy, Bowen, Ayr, Charters Towers, Proserpine, Weipa, Charleville and Longreach," she said.

Ms Grace said the issue would be rectified before Easter if the bill was passed, which it almost certainly would due to Labor's majority in the Parliament.

"This will provide early notice and assurances to businesses and consume

rs in the affected areas that existing Easter Saturday trading arrangements remain in place," she said.

In January, when the error was revealed, Ms Grace said the drafting omission was not immediately identified by stakeholders, during the committee process, or when the bill was debated in the Parliament.

The education bill will create a new regime for the regulation of providers of courses to overseas students.

It will also provide the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority with functions to administer new senior assessment and tertiary entrance systems, commencing for students entering Year 11 in 2019.