On 17 August 2017, the Senate established the Select Committee into the Political Influence of Donations to inquire into and report on the following matters:

1. the level of influence that political donations exert over the public policy decisions of political parties, Members of Parliament and Government administration;
2. the motivations and reasons why entities give donations to political parties and political candidates;
3. the use of shell companies, trusts and other vehicles to obscure the original source of political donations;
4. how to improve the integrity of political decision-making through our political donations regime and the public funding of elections;
5. any other related matters.

The closing date for submissions is ​9 October 2017​. 

On 7 September 2017, the Senate agreed to amend the committee resolution to extend the time to report to 7 December 2017. On 28 March 2018, the Senate agreed that the time for the presentation of the report of the committee be extended to 10 May 2018. On 10 May 2018, the Senate granted the committee a further extension for the presentation of the report to 6 June 2018.