8.1 Queensland Parliamentary Committees
8.1.1 Submissions to Committees
The DPC must be consulted on all submissions to Parliamentary Committees, including those made to parliamentary committees outside Queensland. Individual agency submissions should be of a factual nature only and approved by the relevant Minister/s.
If the matters being canvassed by the Parliamentary Committee or in the submission to the Parliamentary Committee relate to more than one agency, a whole-of-government submission should be prepared in consultation with affected agencies. All whole-of-government submissions to Parliamentary Committees must receive Cabinet approval prior to submission to the Parliamentary Committee. Consultation must occur with DPC to determine the appropriate department to lead the preparation of the whole-of- Government submission.
Submissions to Parliamentary Committees should be prepared as if they were public documents. These documents should be concise and well-written and acknowledge all relevant Government activity.
8.1.2 Responses to Reports of Committees
When a report of a Parliamentary Committee recommends that action be taken (or not be taken) by the government or a Minister, the responsible Minister must provide a response to the Legislative Assembly. The Parliament of Queensland Act 2001 provides that a response must state:
- what recommendations contained in a report are to be adopted and the method and time-frame for the implementation of the recommendations
- what recommendations contained in a report are not to be adopted and the reasons for not adopting them.
The Parliament of Queensland Act 2001 provides that a Minister must table a response within three months of the tabling of a Committee's report.
If a final response to a Committee report, cannot be tabled within three months, the Minister must table an interim response by way of a letter to the Clerk of the Parliament together with reasons for the delay. A final response must then be tabled within six months of the tabling of the Committee’s report.
Where the Committee report relates to a Bill, the Minister must table the response prior to or at the commencement of the second reading debate.
Where Ministerial responses to reports of Parliamentary Committees significantly depart from the scope of the ATI, these responses must be prepared in consultation with DPC and receive Cabinet approval prior to their being tabled in the Legislative Assembly. Otherwise, the Premier’s approval, via letter, will usually be sufficient for Ministerial responses to reports of Parliamentary Committees to be tabled in the Legislative Assembly. Sufficient time should be allowed for Cabinet consideration of the response and to incorporate any changes post-Cabinet consideration prior to tabling deadlines.
Agencies should ensure proposed responses are concise and well-written, and that they acknowledge all relevant Government activity.