On 26 September 2022, the Senate referred an inquiry into the Influence of international digital platforms to the Senate Economics References Committee for inquiry and report by 7 December 2023.
As of 30 November 2023, the Senate Economics References Committee tabled its final report for the inquiry into the Influence of International Digital Platforms.
Submissions
The committee welcomes submissions to this inquiry.
The closing date for the committee receiving submissions is 28 February 2023.
However, it is important to note that the committee is not obliged to accept every document it receives as a submission. The committee has the option to accept a document as correspondence, or not accept it at all depending on its content.
Odgers' Senate Practice clearly indicates:
"…a submission made to a committee becomes a committee document, and it is for the committee to decide whether to receive it as evidence and whether to publish it."
Further information can be found in our procedural documents.
Drafting a submission
To assist your document being received and accepted as a submission to the inquiry, we recommend your comments stay focussed on the terms of reference.
Documents that don't address the terms of reference and diverge onto extraneous issues are unlikely to be accepted as submissions. Further guidance on making a submission can be on the Senate’s Making a submission webpages.
Form letters or documents containing repetitive themes
Form letters that are received as part of letter writing campaigns are likely to be received in the following way: a sample of the document may be accepted as a submission and published with a written indication of how many such documents were received.
Similarly, documents received that are not strictly form letters but demonstrate repetitive themes are also highly likely to be acknowledged in the same way: a certain number taken as samples with a written indication of how many such documents were received.
Treatment of correspondence
If your document is received as correspondence, the committee will consider its content and it will inform the committee's consideration of the terms of reference. However, it will not be individually referenced in the final report of the inquiry.
The committee hopes this information will assist you in the drafting of your submission.