Chapter 16 - Committees
Meetings during sittings
Meetings of committees during sittings
of the Senate are regulated by standing order 33:
33. (1) A
committee of the Senate and a joint committee of both Houses of the Parliament
may meet during sittings of the Senate for the purpose of deliberating in
private session, but shall not make a decision at such a meeting unless:
(a) all
members of the committee are present; or
(b) a
member appointed to the committee on the nomination of the Leader of the
Government in the Senate and a member appointed to the committee on the
nomination of the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate are present, and the
decision is agreed to unanimously by the members present.
(2) The restrictions
on meetings of committees contained in paragraph (1) do not apply after the
question for the adjournment of the Senate has been proposed by the President
at the time provided on any day.
(3) A committee shall
not otherwise meet during sittings of the Senate except by order of the Senate.
(4) Proceedings of a committee at
a meeting contrary to this standing order shall be void.
Originally there was a complete prohibition on committees meeting while
the Senate is sitting, but this was significantly modified. The prohibition was
based on two principles: that a senator’s duty lay first with the Senate and
should not be subordinated to a lesser duty; and that it was an infringement of
the rights of individual senators to participate in debates in the Senate and
meetings of committees if the two were scheduled concurrently. From early days,
however, the Senate granted permission, in certain circumstances, for
committees to meet while the Senate was sitting. In 1987 the
prohibition was modified to allow committees to deliberate in private session
provided that decisions were not taken unless all members were present. The
current provision was adopted in 1994.
Not every private
meeting of a committee falls within the category of deliberating in
private session. Generally, a deliberative meeting is one where a draft report
is being considered or other committee business, such as the settling of
inquiry programs, is being undertaken. No one other than the members and
officers of a committee may be present when the committee is deliberating (SO 36). Thus, a briefing
involving persons other than committee members or officers is not a
deliberative meeting and may not occur while the Senate is sitting in the
absence of express authority from the Senate.
The rule in the
standing order applies to Senate committees and joint committees on which
senators serve. It provides sufficient flexibility for committees to proceed
with their business during sittings without having to reconvene in non-sitting
periods to take decisions formally.
Committees must seek the agreement of the Senate to hear evidence in
private session or to hold public hearings while the Senate is sitting. This is
usually done by giving notice of a motion to that effect, but may also be done
by motion moved by leave in emergencies. The Select
Committee on Political Broadcasts and Political Disclosures, for example, did
not complete its examination of an interstate witness before the Senate
convened on 14 November 1991. A motion was moved by leave authorising the committee
to take further evidence later that day (J.1710). There have been many
occasions when the Senate has authorised committees to take evidence during the
sittings of the Senate and refusal of such authorisation would now be regarded
as highly unusual. Committees may also be authorised to hold deliberative
meetings other than in accordance with the standing order. The importance of
committee meetings being duly authorised is underlined by paragraph (4) of
standing order 33 which provides
that proceedings of a committee at a meeting contrary to the standing order
shall be void.
As an alternative
to authorising committees to meet during sittings, the Senate has on many
occasions adjourned early to enable committees to meet without restriction.
This was formerly used for committees considering estimates, during the periods
when the particulars of proposed expenditure stand referred to the committees.
For a precedent for the Senate suspending its sitting for several hours to
enable legislative and general purpose standing committees to meet, see
9/3/1978, J.63.
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