The majority voted against a motion to agree with the bills' main idea, which means that the bills have been rejected by the Senate.
These bills have now been rejected by the Senate twice, which means that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull can now request a double dissolution election (read more about this on ABC News).
What is a double dissolution election?
A double dissolution election is different from a normal election because both the House of Representatives and the Senate are dissolved and all senators are up for election. Usually only half of the senators are up for election.
Main idea of the bills
The purpose of the bills is to re-establish the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC), which was dissolved by the Rudd Labor Government. Read more about the ABCC in the bills digest.