On 25 September 2014, the Senate referred the Rural Research and Development Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 for inquiry and report.

The purpose of the Rural Research and Development Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 is to amend legislation relating to research and development for primary industries, and for related purposes. The amendments would allow the government to recover the cost of membership fees to international commodity organisations and regional fisheries management organisations from the matching amounts paid to Rural Research and Development Corporations (RDCs).

The additional measures would also remove the requirement for the Minister to organise an annual co-ordination meeting for the chairs of RDCs and remove some parliamentary tabling requirements for some RDCs.

Submissions should be received by 16 October 2014. The report date is 24 November 2014. On 18 November 2014, the Senate granted an extension of time for reporting by 3 December 2014.