7 September 2022
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This is the Senate Economics Legislation Committee's (the committee) second report on annual reports for 2022.
Under Standing Order 25(20), the annual reports of departments, agencies and statutory office holders within the former Treasury and Industry, Science, Energy and Resources portfolios were referred to the committee for examination and assessment.1
Senate Standing Order 25(20)(f) requires the committee to report on annual reports tabled by 30 April each year by the tenth sitting day after 30 June of that year. In its first report for 2022, tabled on 18 May 2022, the committee decided to examine and report on all annual reports which had been presented to Parliament and thereby referred to the committee up until 5 May 2022.
No further relevant reports were presented to the Parliament and referred to the committee after 5 May 2022 and up until 2 September 2022.
The committee’s first report of 2022 noted that the Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman’s Annual Report 2020–21 was not received by the committee as of 5 May 2022. 2 The report has still not been presented as of 2 September 2022. While the committee acknowledges that there has been a change of government in the intervening period, it is still incumbent on the responsible Minister to table the annual report as soon as practicable.
The committee understands that the Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman’s Annual Report 2020–21 was presented for tabling to the previous Minister in October 2021. As the report was not tabled at that time, it has been re-issued and is in the process of being presented by the current Minister.
The committee welcomes this development and intends on examining and reporting on the Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman’s Annual Report 2020–21 in the Report on Annual Reports (No. 1 of 2023).
Senator Jess Walsh Chair
Chair
1 Journals of the Senate, No. 42, 13 February 2020, p. 1368.
2 Senate Economics Legislation Committee, Annual Reports (No. 1 of 2022), paragraph 1.26, p. 4.