Parliamentary+Committees

=__**Parliamentary Committees**__= Parliamentary Committees are used to discuss certain pieces of legislation that the House of Presentatives (HOR) and/or the Senate may not have time to cover. Committees scrutinise government activity, including policy and administrative decisions, and oversee the expenditure of public money. A committee usually includes members and senators from HOR. A 'joint committee' will have both Member and Senators.

Parliamentary Committees include 'Standing Committees' which are required to inquire and report any issues and matters referred to them by the HOR and the Senate. Things such as estimates of expenditure bills, and the performance of departments allocated to them are matters that the Standing Committees sometimes have to cover. An example of a standing committee is the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration.



Another form of committee is the 'Select Committee' which are only appointed for small, once-only tasks. Once a committee has been asked to look over an inquiry, the 'terms of reference' are drawn up. Submissions must be given by members of the public and expects in the field being covered. The committee hears witnesses, examines evidence, and formulates conclusions. The media then tend to report on committee proceedings.

All hearings are conducted in public leaving them to be easily found on the Internet and recordings left in Hansard (a full report of everything said in parliament). At the end of the inquiry the committee will write and table a report in parliament. //Committee Meeting Room// //Olivia and Bianca ARE AMAZING :)//