On 28 March 2023, the Senate referred an inquiry into the administration of the referendum into an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to the Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee for inquiry and report by 9 June 2023.
The committee's final report was presented to the Senate on 9 June 2023, concluding the inquiry.
PLEASE NOTE that this inquiry is separate and not related to the Joint Select Committee on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice Referendum who are inquiring into the Constitution alteration.
Closing date for submissions: 24 April 2023
The closing date gives the Committee time to consider submissions prior to hearings. The Committee may not have time to consider late submissions.
How to prepare a personal submission:
- Address the submission to the Committee and cover some or all of the terms of reference.
- Be concise.
- Outline the issues and how they can be addressed, without naming people.
- The Committee may not accept submissions that fail to comply with the above criteria.
- Clearly identify in the header, filename and subject line whether you are requesting to make:
- a public submission published with your name on the internet; or
- a confidential submission, kept confidential by the Committee. While committees are respectful of such requests, they do have the power to refuse to accept or to publish submissions following consultation with the submitter.
The Committee's role
- The Committee's powers allow it to report to Parliament with recommendations for changes to legislation, regulation and government policy.
- The Committee welcomes individual stories that may identify issues and recommendations.
Parliamentary privilege
Submissions to the inquiry become committee documents upon receipt and are made public only after a decision by the Committee. You should not release your submission to anyone until the Committee advises you that it has been accepted and published. Submissions are protected by parliamentary privilege once they are accepted by the Committee, their unauthorised release before this is not.
For further information see:
https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/How_to_make_a_submission