Parliamentary Committees (VCE SSCE Legal Studies): Revision Notes

Parliamentary Committees

What are parliamentary committees?

A parliamentary committee is a small working group consisting of both government and non-government members of parliament. These committees are given specific responsibilities to investigate particular issues, policies, or proposed laws (bills) and report their findings back to the full parliament.

The committee system operates across federal, state and territory parliaments in Australia. This system involves creating separate working parties that can investigate a wide range of legal, social and political issues. The committees then report back to parliament about whether law reform is needed.

Importantly, unlike the Victorian Law Reform Commission, parliamentary committees are composed entirely of elected members of parliament, giving them a unique political dimension in the law reform process.

Role of parliamentary committees in law reform

Parliamentary committees play several important roles in the law reform process:

Community consultation and input: One of the committee's primary functions is to consult with and consider views from the broader community. This includes interested individuals, experts, advocacy groups, business organisations, and government departments. This consultation process enables committees to gather and measure an extensive range of perspectives on any given issue. The committee system provides a vital channel for community members to contribute to issues being investigated and have their views considered in parliamentary decision-making.

Informed decision-making: The final reports produced by parliamentary committees help ensure parliament is better informed before making important decisions, such as whether to support a particular bill. By gathering evidence, hearing testimony, and analysing submissions, committees provide parliamentarians with comprehensive information about complex issues.

Accountability and oversight: Parliamentary committees can be established to provide checks on government activities. They have the power to call individuals, experts, and government department employees to give evidence and answer questions about specific areas under investigation. This accountability function ensures transparency in government operations.

Processes used by parliamentary committees

While different types of parliamentary committees exist, each with specific tasks, most follow similar procedures:

Receiving terms of reference: The committee receives formal terms of reference that specify the precise purpose of the inquiry, the specific issues that must be investigated, and the deadline for completing the final report. These terms define the scope and boundaries of the committee's work.

Publicising and seeking submissions: Once established, the committee publicises its terms of reference widely to seek input from interested parties. This includes advertising through broadcast media (newspapers, television, radio) and digital media (including social media platforms). Community members, experts, organisations, and groups are invited to provide written submissions addressing the matters under investigation.

Conducting public hearings: The committee undertakes public hearings (or occasionally private ones where appropriate). During these hearings, the committee invites various people to participate, including subject matter experts, representatives from interested groups and organisations, and other relevant stakeholders. These individuals provide input, give evidence relating to the investigation, and answer specific questions from committee members.

Preparing written reports: After all submissions have been received and considered, and all hearings concluded, the committee prepares a comprehensive written report. This report contains recommendations for law reform or specific actions. The report is then presented to parliament for consideration. Generally, all written submissions and hearing transcripts are published in Hansard (the official written record of parliamentary proceedings) and made publicly available on the parliament's website.

Types of parliamentary committees

Four main types of parliamentary committees operate in both Victorian and Commonwealth parliaments:

Standing committees: These are ongoing committees appointed for the life of a parliament and usually re-established in successive parliaments. They investigate a range of specific issues and provide continuous oversight of government activities. Standing committees can be established within a single house or as joint committees with members from both houses. For example, the Victorian Standing Committee on Legal and Social Issues is an ongoing committee that examines matters related to community services, education, gaming, health, and law and justice.

Select committees: These are temporary committees appointed to investigate a specific issue as the need arises. Once the inquiry is completed and the report delivered, the committee ceases to exist. Select committees comprise members from only one house of parliament. They are particularly useful when a focused, time-limited investigation is required.

Joint investigatory committees: These committees are appointed each parliamentary term to examine various issues or matters. They consist of members from both houses of parliament. In Victoria, several joint investigatory committees are established under the Parliamentary Committees Act 1968 (Vic). These are typically long-standing committees that investigate issues on parliament's behalf, though they can also function as select committees for particular inquiries. Examples include the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee, the Integrity and Oversight Committee, and the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee.

Domestic committees: These specialised committees examine issues relating to parliament's internal operations and practices, including administrative and procedural matters. They comprise members from one house only. For example, the Legislative Assembly has a Privileges Committee that investigates complaints about breaches of parliamentary privilege in the lower house.

Committee composition and support

Victorian parliamentary committees typically consist of six to ten members of parliament, supported by a secretariat—parliamentary employees who provide administrative assistance and help organise hearings. At the federal level, committees generally range from seven to 32 members. At the state level, serving on committees is considered a core duty of elected members of parliament.

Case study 1: Inquiry into anti-vilification protection

Existing legislation: The Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 (Vic) (RRTA) was designed to protect particular groups, including First Nations Victorians and members of multifaith and multicultural communities, from racial and religious vilification. The Act bans conduct that "incites hatred against, serious contempt for, or revulsion or severe ridicule of" a person based on their race or religion. It also makes victimising someone for making a vilification complaint an offence.

However, concerns emerged that sections of the RRTA had become outdated. The committee noted that the Act's definition of vilification differed from how people who experienced vilification actually described their experiences, failing to adequately reflect hate speech, cyber-bullying, and trolling.

Inquiry process: Following receipt of the terms of reference, the committee invited public submissions from individuals and organisations on any aspect of the investigation. The committee received 73 submissions from diverse sources, including Lifeline Australia, the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, Gender Equity Victoria, various multifaith organisations, and legal bodies such as the Law Institute of Victoria, the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, and Victoria Legal Aid. The committee also conducted seven days of public hearings, allowing submitters to share their experiences, views, and suggestions for reform in greater detail.

Recommendations: In March 2021, the committee released its report containing 36 recommendations to strengthen Victoria's anti-vilification laws. Key recommendations included:

• Extending anti-vilification provisions to cover additional attributes: race, religion, gender and/or sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, sex characteristics and/or intersex status, disability, HIV/AIDS status, and personal association
• Funding ongoing research into why people engage in vilification and effective prevention strategies
• Implementing education programs in primary schools to strengthen respect, diversity, and social cohesion
• Developing community education campaigns about vilification laws, hate conduct, and online vilification
• Reforming serious vilification offences, including reviewing maximum penalties
• Creating a new criminal offence banning the public display of Nazi symbols, including the Nazi Hakenkreuz (swastika), recognised as a highly offensive symbol of extreme racism and hatred

Government response and outcomes: In September 2021, the Victorian Government committed to strengthening anti-vilification laws, giving "support" or "support in principle" to all but two recommendations. "Support in principle" indicates the government agrees with the recommendation's general intent but may not implement it exactly as proposed. The government also indicated it would conduct further community consultation before implementing certain recommendations.

Case study 2: Inquiry into online gambling

Inquiry process: The committee initiated a comprehensive consultation process, inviting interested individuals and organisations to share their experiences of online gambling harm and suggest ways to address the issues outlined in the terms of reference. The committee received 161 written submissions from diverse stakeholders, including community health experts, medical organisations (such as the Australian Medical Association), academics, members of parliament, sporting bodies (including Racing Victoria and the Australian Football League), and gambling companies (such as Sportsbet). To protect privacy, individuals could submit confidentially with names withheld.

The committee held 13 days of public hearings, allowing individuals and organisations to provide detailed accounts of their experiences and suggestions for legal change. These hearings also enabled the committee to question organisations about specific reform proposals. For example, the committee discussed with the Alliance for Gambling Reform its recommendation to ban gambling advertisements in broadcast media and establish a national gambling regulatory body.

Key findings: After extensive community consultation, the committee prepared its report, highlighting the increasing prevalence of online gambling and the harm it causes. The report emphasised the need for greater consumer protections. Online gambling was identified as particularly risky because:

• It is extremely accessible (people can gamble at home, and apps are never "closed")
• Players often forget they are spending real money when using tokens or gambling credits purchased with debit or credit cards
• Gambling apps encourage continued play through promotional prompts and notifications

Recommendations: The report included 31 recommendations to better regulate online gambling and gambling advertising while reducing online gambling harm. Key recommendations included:

• Banning all forms of online gambling advertising (including on social media and online platforms) over a three-year period
• Establishing an online gambling public education program to increase awareness of gambling harm and encourage affected individuals to seek help

Ongoing challenges: The report acknowledged that online gambling remains a broad and difficult area to regulate. Despite implementing increased protections (such as national restrictions on sports betting advertising on television introduced in 2017) and various education programs over the past decade, the easy accessibility and addictive nature of online gambling means reducing harm remains an ongoing challenge for federal, state, and territory governments and anti-gambling organisations.

The ability of parliamentary committees to influence law reform

Parliamentary committees have an important role in investigating specific issues, policies, and legal matters, reviewing existing laws, and reporting findings and recommendations to parliament. However, they have both strengths and limitations in their ability to influence law reform.

Strengths

Broad investigative capacity: Committees can investigate a wide range of legal, social, and political issues and concerns, reporting back to parliament about law reform needs. This flexibility allows parliament to respond to emerging issues and community concerns.

Power to compel evidence: Parliamentary committees possess the power to request (and often compel) specific individuals and organisational representatives to appear at hearings, give evidence, and answer questions. This enables committees to gather extensive and valuable information for their considerations, including from reluctant witnesses or government officials.

Efficiency: Committees can examine issues more efficiently—more quickly, economically, and in greater detail—than if the entire parliament were involved in investigations. This allows for focused, expert examination of complex issues without tying up the full parliament's time.

Member expertise development: Committees allow members of parliament to become involved in investigations and gain knowledge, expertise, and understanding in specific areas of suggested law reform. This builds parliamentary capacity and ensures informed debate when reforms are eventually considered.

Community participation: Committees provide a crucial avenue for community members to contribute to issues being investigated and have their views considered in parliamentary decision-making. This enhances democratic participation and ensures laws reflect community needs and values.

Informed parliamentary decisions: The final reports prepared by committees enable parliament to be better informed before deciding whether to support bills or implement reforms. This evidence-based approach improves the quality of legislative decisions.

Weaknesses

Resource limitations: Due to limited resources (including funding and time constraints on members of parliament), committees cannot be formed to examine all issues and concerns. This means some important matters may not receive the attention they deserve.

Restricted scope: Committees are restricted to examining matters and issues within their terms of reference. They cannot expand their investigations beyond what they have been specifically directed to investigate, even if they identify related issues.

Time and cost: Committee investigations can be time-consuming and costly, particularly for complex issues requiring extensive consultation and evidence gathering.

Deterrent factors: The large number of committees and significant time commitment involved may deter some members of parliament from sitting on committees, potentially limiting the pool of available expertise.

Public awareness: Members of the public may not be aware that a committee inquiry is being undertaken or that calls for public submissions have been made. This can limit community participation and the breadth of views considered.

No binding obligation: There is no obligation on parliament to support or introduce law reforms suggested by committees. However, recommendations may be more likely to be implemented given that committees consist of members of parliament who understand parliamentary processes and political realities. Parliament can choose to ignore, modify, or delay implementing committee recommendations.

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