1.1
On 1 June 2017, the House of Representatives passed a resolution to establish the Select Committee on Regional Development and Decentralisation.
1.2
The Committee is to inquire into and report on best practice approaches to regional development, the decentralisation of Commonwealth entities and supporting corporate decentralisation. The Terms of Reference for the Committee’s inquiry can be found on page iii of this report.
1.3
The purpose of this interim report is to provide an update on the work the Committee has undertaken to date, and the work it intends to complete in coming months.
1.4
As this is intended to provide a factual outline of the progress of the inquiry to date, the Committee is of the opinion that it would be premature to provide recommendations or views about any of the issues raised in submissions or in evidence given at hearings.
1.5
Rather, the Committee notes that there is still extensive work to be done and information to be analysed. This will include a number of public hearings that are yet to be scheduled for early 2018 and thorough analysis of all of the written submissions received by the Committee.
1.6
The Committee draws attention to the Issues Paper it tabled in August 2017 and its purpose to:
1.7
The Committee will not revisit in this report, the issues raised and resources noted in the Issues Paper. Instead, the Committee will outline all new work undertaken, and notes that it will publish a final report in 2018 that contains detailed analysis of information received throughout the course of this inquiry.
1.8
The Committee takes this opportunity to acknowledge the numerous individuals and organisations who have taken the time to make written submissions and to appear in person at its public hearings.