Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For the information of honourable members, I present a schedule of the status of government responses to committee reports as at 7 December 2017. Copies of the schedule have been made available to honourable members and will be incorporated in Hansard.

SPEAKER ' S SCHEDULE OF THE STATUS OF GOVERNMENT RESPONSES TO COMMITTEE REPORTS

(as at 7 December 2017)

The Speaker's schedule of the status of government responses to committee reports is presented at six monthly intervals, usually in the last sitting weeks of the winter and spring sittings. This schedule presents a list of committee reports that contain recommendations requiring a government response. The last schedule was presented in the House on 22 June 2017. After a government response is received by the committee it is tabled once on the schedule and then it is removed.

Government responses to House committee reports are required within a six month period from the presentation of the report in the House (as per the resolution adopted by the House, 29 September 2010). Government responses to Senate committee reports are required within three months of a report being tabled.A All Joint Committees adhere to Senate Standing Orders and therefore government responses are required within three months of tabling a report.

This schedule does not list reports that do not require a government response. In the past, the practice was to include all reports tabled in the House in the Speaker's schedule. However, the intent of this schedule is to provide an update to the House on the status of government responses to committee reports.

This schedule does not include advisory reports on bills introduced into the House of Representatives unless the reports make recommendations that are wider than the provision of the bill and would therefore be the subject of a government response. The Government's response to bill inquiry reports is apparent in the resumption of consideration of the relevant legislation by the House. Also not included are reports from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works, the House of Representatives Committee of Privileges and Members' Interests, and the Publications Committee (other than reports on inquiries). Government responses to reports of the Public Works Committee are usually reflected in motions for the approval of works after the relevant report has been presented and considered. The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights' regular scrutiny reports on the human rights compatibility of bills and legislative instruments are not listed, as the timeframe for a response is specified in correspondence to the relevant minister.

Reports of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit primarily make administrative recommendations but may make policy recommendations. A government response is required in respect of such policy recommendations made by the committee. Responses to administrative recommendations are made in the form of an Executive Minute provided to, and subsequently tabled by, the committee. Agencies responding to administrative recommendations are required to provide an Executive Minute within six months of the tabling of a report. Executive Minutes are included in this schedule.

A This practice has arisen from a Senate resolution of 14 March 1973, in which the Senate declared its opinion that the government should provide a response to committee reports within three months of tabling. Successive governments have affirmed their commitment to providing such responses.

The table below provides a summary of received and outstanding government responses spanning the last four parliaments.

Table of responses received and outstanding (as of 7 December 2017)

Notes

1 The date of tabling is the date the report was presented to the House of Representatives or to the Speaker, whichever is earlier. In the case of joint committees, the date shown is the date of first presentation to either the House or the Senate or to the President or Speaker (if presented earlier out of session). Reports published when the House (or Houses) are not sitting are tabled at a later date.

2 If the source for the government response date is not the Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives or the Journals of the Senate, the source is shown in an endnote.

3 For reports up to the end of 42nd Parliament, the time specified is three months from the date of tabling. The Government has undertaken to respond to committee reports within a six month period—see House of Representatives Standing Orders, resolution of the House of Representatives of 29 September 2010. This resolution also puts in place additional steps for reports not responded to within that six month period. The period from when the 44th Parliament was prorogued on 9 May 2016 to the commencement of the 45th Parliament on 30 August 2016 is not included in the response period.

4 On 22 June 2015, during debate on the Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill 2015, the Senate noted that the Government has not responded to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications reports on its inquiry into information technology pricing. The committee still awaits a response to this report.

5 On 4 December 2014 the Government provided an interim response to the report, advising that the committee's report is informing the Government's White Paper, which is being prepared. The White Paper will set out a clear and well defined policy platform for unlocking the full potential of the north, including actions through to 2030. The Government indicated that it will respond to the committee's specific recommendations through the White Paper. On 18 June 2015 the Government released the White Paper on Developing Northern Australia: Our North, Our Future. The committee has now received a final response to this report.

6 Executive Minute to Recommendation 7 from The Treasury received on 7 November 2017.

7 Executive Minute to Recommendation 1 from the Department of Education and Training received on 9 October 2017.

8 On 14 July 2014 the Government advised the committee that on 25 June 2014 it announced funding for the National FASD Action Plan, and that the plan would form the basis of the formal response to the inquiry. The committee still awaits a response to recommendations of the report.

9 The Committee has received a response from the Australian National Audit Office and is still awaiting a coordinated Government Response.