On 17 October 2019, the Senate referred an inquiry into investigations into a possible cancer cluster on the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee for inquiry and report by 12 August 2020. The reporting date has been extended to 26 November 2020. On 2 September 2020, the Senate granted an extension of time for reporting until 18 March 2021. On 22 February 2021, the Senate granted an extension of time for reporting until 17 June 2021. On 17 June 2021, the Senate granted an extension of time for reporting until 22 June 2021. On 22 June 2021, the Senate granted an extension of time for reporting until 24 June 2021. On 24 June 2021, the Senate granted an extension of time for reporting until 30 June 2021.
Further detail about the scope of the inquiry is provided in the terms of reference.
Making a submission
Submissions were sought by 27 March 2020.
If you would like to make a submission, you may find it helpful to look at the guide for preparing a submission. It includes suggestions on what to include in a submission, a check list, and information about what happens to your submission once it has been received by the committee.
Do you have questions about how to make a submission?
If you require any special arrangements to enable you to make a submission to the inquiry, please contact the secretariat. You can also contact the secretariat if you have questions about the inquiry or need more time to write your submission.
Submissions can be public (published on the internet) or confidential (only read by the committee)
The committee can receive submissions as public documents—which are published on the committee webpage. If your submission is published, the information in it, including your name can be searched for on the internet. If you do not want your name to be available with your submission on the internet, you can ask for your name to be withheld.
If you do not want your submission to be publicly available, you can ask the committee to keep your submission confidential – please include the word confidential on the front of your submission as well as a reason for your request. Confidential submissions can only be read by members of the committee and secretariat staff.
Public Hearings
The committee agreed to hold a public hearing via teleconference on 1 May 2020. The focus of this public hearing is to receive evidence from health organisations and local and state governments.
At a time when it is safe to do so, the committee intends to hold a public, face-to-face hearing on the Bellarine Peninsula. The focus of this public hearing will be to receive evidence from individuals and community organisations. As evidence from this public hearing will be a vital part of the inquiry, the committee will not report to the Senate until it has held this public hearing and considered the evidence received.