Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills
How to make a submission to a Senate
Committee inquiry
1. A
submission may be as short or as long as you like. It may contain facts,
opinions, arguments or recommendations. It may cover all the points in the
terms of reference or only some of them, depending on what interests you.
Supporting documents may be attached.
2. There is no prescribed
format. However, to make submissions most useful we suggest:
the terms of reference of the inquiry can be a
good guide to structuring a submission;
if the submission is longer than a few pages,
please include a summary at the front.
3. If
possible please provide submissions on computer disk (include a hard copy) or
by e‑mail. Otherwise please type or write clearly in black ink on A4
paper. We can read all documents created on Apple Mac and IBM PCs. The
preferred format is Microsoft Word.
4. Make
sure you sign the submission. E-mailed submissions must include your name,
phone number and postal address so we can verify them. If it is the submission
of an organisation, say so clearly. Show the signatory's position and say at
what level the submission was authorised.
5. A
submission to a committee becomes a committee document, and must not be
disclosed to any other person until it has been released ('published') by the
committee. Unless you have requested that the submission remain confidential,
it is normally published after the committee has received and examined it and
authorised its publication. Once a committee has authorised the release of a
submission, subsequent publication of it is protected by parliamentary
privilege (see below). The content of a submission may be published in another
form or for another purpose before the submission is released by the committee,
but this publication will not be protected by parliamentary privilege.
6. If
you want your submission to be kept confidential, please say so clearly at the
top or in a covering note. Say why you want it to be kept confidential. If you
want part of the submission to be confidential, please put that part on a separate
page(s). The committee will sympathetically consider requests for
confidentiality, but cannot make promises in advance. If you have concerns
about confidentiality, please discuss with the committee secretary before you
make the submission.
7. If
your submission 'reflects adversely' on another person (for example, accusing
them of lying or corrupt behaviour), the committee will send the comment to the
other person so they can reply. This applies even if the committee agrees to
keep your submission confidential.
8. Making
a submission is protected by parliamentary privilege. It is an offence for
anyone to try to stop you from making a submission by threats or intimidation.
It is an offence for anyone to harass you or discriminate against you because you
have made a submission. The content of the submission is also protected but
only after the committee has accepted it. This means that what you say in the
submission, once the committee has accepted it, cannot be used in court against
you or anyone else. More information is available in another brochure, entitled
'Procedures to be observed by Senate committees for the protection of
witnesses'.
9. A
committee may reject a submission that is not relevant to its inquiry. In that
case the content of the submission is not protected by parliamentary privilege.
10. If
you make a submission, the committee may invite you to give evidence at a
public hearing.
11. For more information contact the Secretary of the Scrutiny of Bills Committee,
phone: (02) 6277 3050, fax: (02) 6277 5838
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