Chapter 16 - Committees
Access
to other committees’ documents
Committees are occasionally given the
power to consider the documents of other committees or of their predecessor
committees. This is done where committees would not otherwise have access to
such documents.
The legislative
and general purpose standing committees have the power to consider the
documents of their predecessor committees (SO 25(4)). This, however, is only a
transitional provision consequent on past restructurings of the committees and
designed to carry inquiries over the restructuring. When the committees
conclude inquiries the documents they have received in the course of those
inquiries are in the custody of the Senate (SO 25(15)), so that an order of the Senate
would be necessary to enable them to use such material, but published evidence
and documents may be freely cited. (For a legislative and general purpose
standing committee presenting to the Senate documents of a completed inquiry
closely related to material in its report, see additional information tabled by
Finance and Administration Committee, 8/8/2006, J.2390.)
Select
committees are sometimes given access to the documents of earlier committees to
provide a bridge between inquiries or to conclude unfinished inquiries. If a
select committee replicates a predecessor it may be taken that it has access to
the documents of the earlier committee.
Committees which
have continuing functions, such as the legislative scrutiny committees, are
taken to have continuing access to documents acquired in earlier parliaments.
As most
committees publish their evidence and submissions, which are therefore freely
available for reference, access to the documents of other committees is
significant only in relation to unpublished evidence and submissions,
correspondence, minutes, working papers and the like.
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