Australian Senate committees
Senate committees are part of the operation of the Australian parliament, and have for some decades been involved in maintenance of government accountability to the Australian parliament, particularly through hearings to scrutinise the budget, and through public inquiries on policy questions.
The introduction of a wide-ranging committee system will make the red-carpeted Upper House potentially the most powerful parliamentary chamber in Australia.
Second, in 1989 the Senate adopted procedures for the systematic referral of bills to committees, increasing the level of legislative scrutiny taking place within parliament.
The legislation committees are responsible for scrutinising bills referred to them by the chamber; examining the government's budget and activities (in what is called the budget estimates process);[5] and for examining departmental annual reports and activities.
This may occur when a particular group of Senators wishes to examine an issue in depth, or where there is no existing committee suited to addressing a particular topic.
One exception to this was the Senate Select Committee on Superannuation[dead link] which in various forms existed for a decade.
[9] The protections afforded by parliamentary privilege are essential to parliament and its committees to be able to operate effectively.
[12] The purpose of the scrutiny of bills committee is to assess "legislative proposals against a set of accountability standards that focus on the effect of proposed legislation on individual rights, liberties and obligations, and on parliamentary propriety".
[14] The inquiry into the destruction of 46,000-year-old caves at the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia was referred to this Committee in June 2020.
This gives them the same rights as full members, with the important exception of being unable to vote on motions in private meetings of the committees.
[21] Committees are able to order the production of documents and the appearance of witnesses (powers that are in practice used very sparingly).
The minutes of private meetings are confidential (in contrast, for example, to those of New South Wales parliamentary committees).
Each of these inquiries will usually result in a report tabled in the Senate (there may be exceptions if an election intervenes during the committee's deliberations).
These hearings may be held anywhere in Australia, are often broadcast, and result in a published transcript (Hansard) that records the evidence taken.
[29] Committees also frequently ask relevant government agencies to respond to issues raised by submissions or evidence given to the inquiry.
During these hearings ministers, assisted by senior public servants, answer questions put to them by any Senator that relate to the operations and expenditure of departments and agencies that receive federal government funding.
The work of the regulations and ordinances committee has led to revisions of subordinate legislation in significant respects.
[38] Statistics published by centrist political party the Australian Democrats have been used to support the contention that committee operations have been inhibited by government control of the Senate, particularly in respect of selection of topics for committee inquiry.
[42] Other high-profile inquiries included the Community Affairs committee's inquiry into Children in Institutional Care[dead link], which brought to wide public notice the experiences of children who had been placed in care in sometimes inhumane circumstances and was directly responsible for state governments and churches making public apologies to the victims of abuse or neglect;[43][44] the Select Committee on Mental Health[dead link], which contributed to widespread discussion of mental health issues and to a major funding boost for services in 2006;[45] and the 2006 inquiry into the Migration Amendment (Designated Unauthorised Arrivals) Bill,[46] which contributed to a government decision not to proceed with controversial migration legislation.
