Selection Committee

Committee establishment, role and history

The role of the Selection Committee is to arrange the timetable and order of business for private Members' business and committee and delegation reports on each sitting Monday pursuant to standing order 34.

The committee, which is appointed under standing order 222, has 11 members, including the Deputy Speaker, the Chief Government Whip, the Chief Opposition Whip, the Third Party Whip, four government Members and three opposition or other non-government Members. The quorum is five.

As part of its charter the committee selects, establishes the order of, and allots the time to, the private Members' motions and bills to be considered during the private Members' business period. It has similar responsibilities in respect of the presentation and consideration of committee and delegation reports during the period allocated by standing order 34.

In selecting and programming private Members' business the Selection Committee is guided by General Principles (PDF 15 kb) adopted by the House (after report by the Selection Committee) at the start of each Parliament.

In brief the guidelines provide that in formulating the priority to be given to items the Committee shall have regard to the importance of and current level of interest in the subject; the extent of current discussion on the subject both in the Parliament and elsewhere; the extent to which the subject comes within the responsibility of the Commonwealth Parliament; the probability of the subject being brought before the House by other means within a reasonable time; and whether the subject is the same as another item of business which has been debated or on which the House has made a decision in the same period of sittings, and, if so, whether new circumstances exist.

The guidelines also require the Committee to have regard to the numbers of Members affiliated with each party in the House; to ensure that particular Members, or Members of the Opposition Executive, do not predominate as the movers of items selected; and to ensure balance is achieved over each period of sittings.