Australian House of Representatives committees

Parliamentary committees of the Australian House of Representatives are groups of Members of Parliament, appointed by the House of Representatives, to undertake certain specified tasks. They comprise government and non-government Members and have considerable powers to undertake work on behalf of the Parliament.^[1]

Federation Chamber

The Federation Chamber, formerly the Main Committee, provides an additional forum for the second reading and consideration in detail stages of bills and debate of committee reports and papers presented to the House. All Members of the House are automatically members of the Federation Chamber and eligible to participate in its meetings.^[2]

Standing committees

Under the Standing Orders of the House, standing committees are appointed for the life of the Parliament and they are usually re-established in some form in successive Parliaments (that is, after each election).

The House has two types of standing committees:

general purpose committees – established to inquire into and report upon any matters referred to them, including legislation. These committees specialise by subject area, between them covering most areas of policy and government administration.
domestic or internal committees – concerned with the powers and procedures of the House or the administration of Parliament.

Select committees

Select committees are appointed as the need arises for a specific purpose, and have a limited life.

Joint committees

Joint committees are established by both Houses of the Australian parliament and include both Members and Senators. An example of this is the Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia, appointed by resolution by the House of Representatives on 4 July 2019 and the Senate on 22 July 2019.^[3] The Inquiry into the destruction of 46,000-year-old caves at the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia was referred to this Committee in June 2020.^[4]

Pay and Benefits

Members receive no additional pay for their service as ordinary members on committees. Committee Chairs and Deputy Chairs receive additional pay depending on the committee on which they serve, which is specified as a percentage of the base pay of an MP and Senator ($225,750 as of October 2023). Additional pay for committee chairs is 11-16% of the base pay ($24,832.5- $36,120). Deputy Chairs receive 5.5-8% ($12,416.25-$18,060).^[5]

List of House and Joint committees

House of Representatives committee room, Parliament House, Canberra

A short video on Australian Parliamentary Committees

Committee
House General Purpose Standing Committees^[6]^[7]
Agriculture	Meryl Swanson	Rick Wilson
Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water	Tony Zappia	David Gillespie
Communications and the Arts	Brian Mitchell	Bridget Archer
Economics	Daniel Mulino	Garth Hamilton
Employment, Education and Training	Lisa Chesters	Terry Young
Health, Aged Care and Sport	Mike Freelander	Melissa McIntosh
Industry, Science and Resources	Rob Mitchell	Michelle Landry
Regional Development, Infrastructure and Transport	Luke Gosling	Tony Pasin
Social Policy and Legal Affairs	Susan Templeman	Pat Conaghan
House Domestic Committees^[6]
Appropriations and Administration	Milton Dick	Mark Coulton
Petitions	Susan Templeman	Ross Vasta
Privileges and Members' Interests	Rob Mitchell	James Stevens
Procedure	Shayne Neumann	Ross Vasta
Publications	Fiona Phillips	Ross Vasta
Selection	Milton Dick	Sharon Claydon
House Select committees
Workforce Australia Employment Services	Julian Hill	Russell Broadbent
Joint Statutory Committees
Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings	Milton Dick MP	Senator Sue Lines
Corporations and Financial Services	Senator Deborah O'Neill	Alex Hawke MP
Intelligence and Security	Peter Khalil MP	Andrew Wallace MP
Law Enforcement	Senator Helen Polley	Llew O'Brien MP
Human Rights	Josh Burns MP	Henry Pike MP
Public Accounts and Audit	Linda Burney MP	Senator Linda Reynolds
Public Works	Graham Perrett MP	Keith Pitt MP
Joint Standing Committees
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs	Senator Jana Stewart	Melissa Price MP
Electoral Matters	Kate Thwaites MP	Senator James McGrath
Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade	Shayne Neumann MP	Senator David Fawcett
Implementation of the National Redress Scheme	Senator Catryna Bilyk	Senator Dean Smith
Migration	Maria Vamvakinou MP	Anne Webster MP
National Anti-Corruption Commission	Senator Karen Grogan	Helen Haines MP
National Capital and External Territories	Alicia Payne MP	Nola Marino MP
National Disability Insurance Scheme	Libby Coker MP	Senator Hollie Hughes
Northern Australia	Marion Scrymgour MP	Warren Entsch MP
Parliamentary Library	Anne Stanley MP (Joint Chair)
Parliamentary Library	Senator Slade Brockman (Joint Chair)
Publications	Fiona Phillips MP	Senator Fatima Payman
Trade and Investment Growth	Steve Georganas MP	Scott Buchholz MP
Treaties	Josh Wilson MP	Phillip Thompson MP

References

^ "Infosheet – Committees – Parliament of Australia".
^ "Infosheet – The Federation Chamber – Parliament of Australia".
^ "Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia". Parliament of Australia. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
^ "Inquiry into the destruction of 46,000 year old caves at the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia". Parliament of Australia. 18 June 2020. Archived from the original on 25 August 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
^ https://www.remtribunal.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-11/MP%202023%20-%20Compilation%20No.%203.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
^ ^a ^b "Standing Orders of the House of Representatives Chapter 16". Retrieved 12 March 2024.
^ "House Votes and Proceedings No.1 26 July 2022". Retrieved 12 March 2024.

External links

Official website of the Australian House of Representatives

[1] "Infosheet – Committees – Parliament of Australia".

[2] "Infosheet – The Federation Chamber – Parliament of Australia".

[3] "Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia". Parliament of Australia. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.

[4] "Inquiry into the destruction of 46,000 year old caves at the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia". Parliament of Australia. 18 June 2020. Archived from the original on 25 August 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.

[5] ttps://www.remtribunal.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-11/MP%202023%20-%20Compilation%20No.%203.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}

[:0-6] "Standing Orders of the House of Representatives Chapter 16". Retrieved 12 March 2024.

[7] "House Votes and Proceedings No.1 26 July 2022". Retrieved 12 March 2024.

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