Australian House of Representatives committees

The committees of the Australian House of Representatives are committees of Member of Parliament, established by the Australian House of Representatives, for purposes determined by that body.

Contents 1 Purposes of committees 1.1 The Main Committee 1.2 Joint committees 1.3 Standing committees 2 House Committees of the 41st Parliament 2.1 Standing Committees 2.2 Select Committees 2.3 Joint Committees administered by the House 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

Purposes of committees

The functions of committees depend on the type of committee and on the work it is undertaking.

The Main Committee

The Main Committee is an additional debating chamber for uncontroversial committee reports and papers presented to the House.

Joint committees

Joint committees are established by both chambers of the Australian parliament and include members of both chambers. e.g. Public Accounts and Audit Committee.

Standing committees

The House has a two types of standing committees [1]:

• investigative — inquiries on matters of public policy or government administration. They usually match the portfolios of the Government. e.g. Education and Vocational Training

• domestic or internal — operation of the House. e.g. Procedure, Privileges, Members' Interests

Under the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives, standing committees are appointed for the life of the Parliament.

House Committees of the 41st Parliament

The 40th Parliament was prorogued and the House of Representatives dissolved at 4:59pm on 31 August 2004 for the Australian general election held on 9 October that year. The 41st Parliament first met on 16 November 2004.^[1]

Standing Committees

There are 18 house standing committees [2]:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs
• Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
• Communications, Information Technology and the Arts
• Economics, Finance and Public Administration
• Education and Vocational Training
• Employment, Workplace Relations and Workforce Participation
• Environment and Heritage
• Family and Human Services
• Health and Ageing
• Industry and Resources
• Legal and Constitutional Affairs
• Members' Interests
• Privileges
• Procedure
• Publications
• Selection
• Science and Innovation^[2][3]
• Transport and Regional Services

Select Committees

There are currently no House Select Committees.

Joint Committees administered by the House

There are 9 joint committees administered by the House:

• Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings
• Electoral Matters
• Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade
• Intelligence and Security
• Migration
• National Capital and External Territories
• Public Accounts and Audit
• Public Works
• Treaties

See also

• Ministerial Committee

References

1. ^ "1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2006". Australian Bureau of Statistics. http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/721CE262272EA686CA2570DE0003C3FD?opendocument. Retrieved 2007-02-06. 
2. ^ "Science and Innovation committee introduced". Biotech News, Allens Arthur Robinson. 2002-03-13. http://www.aar.com.au/pubs/bt/26mar/bio06.htm#Scien. Retrieved 2007-02-07. 
3. ^ "Output 1.1 - Economic and Industry Policy, Annual Report 2002-2003". Commonwealth of Australia. 2003. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/annual_reports/2002-03/performance/output1_1.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-07. 

External links

• Official website of the Australian House of Representatives