The Queensland Parliament’s seven portfolio committees have responsibilities for the following tasks:
- examining Bills introduced into the Parliament
- inquiring into specific issues that have been referred to them by the Parliament
- monitoring and reviewing public sector organisations
- keeping areas of the law or activity under review.
To date, 24 Bills have been introduced to this Parliament with the portfolio committees having completed and tabled reports into 16 of these Bills. The following five Bill inquiries are currently ongoing:
- Land Protection Legislation (Flying-fox Control) Amendment Bill 2012 (Agriculture, Resources and Environment Committee)
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Land Holding Bill 2012 (Agriculture, Resources and Environment Committee)
- Education Legislation Amendment Bill 2012 (Education and Innovation Committee)
- Holidays and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2012 (Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee)
- Multicultural Recognition Bill 2012 (Health and Community Services Committee)
Committees seek community input into their inquiries by calling for submissions and holding public hearings. Constituents and groups with an interest in these topics are encouraged to get involved with these inquiries by contacting the respective committees. During the first four months of this Parliament, the portfolio committees have held a total of 31 public meetings, hearings and briefings. While the majority of these committee meetings, hearings and briefings are held at Parliament House on the Wednesday morning of a parliamentary sitting week, committees also hold meetings in regional areas of Queensland
During the week from 27 August to 3 September, committees will hold public meetings in Mackay, Cairns, Rockhampton, Alpha and Surfers Paradise. Interested persons and groups in these areas are encouraged to attend.
In order to increase accessibility of committee hearings to persons across Queensland, many of the meetings, hearings and briefings held at Parliament House are broadcast live on the Parliament’s website and are then available to watch on replay at the conclusion of each session. From May to August 2012, there have been over 14,000 online views of live committee broadcasts and then almost 10,000 online views of the archived hearing broadcasts.
Details of all public meetings, hearings and briefings are published on the Parliament’s website in the week before each sitting week and Queenslanders with an interest in these inquiries are encouraged to attend in person or watch online.
As well as examining Bills, another important function conducted by portfolio committees is to hold inquiries into specific issues and matters referred to them by the Parliament. Inquiries are currently underway into the following topics:
- Queensland agriculture and resource industries
- the operation of Queensland’s Workers’ Compensation Scheme
- palliative care and home and community care services
- the future and continued relevance of Government land tenure
- the motor cycle licensing process in Queensland
- review of the Retirement Villages Act 1999
- the operation and performance of the Queensland Building Services Authority.
Again, persons and groups with an interest in any of these topics are encouraged to get involved with these inquiries.
Full details of all current committee inquiries and committee contact details are available on the Parliament’s web site –
http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/work-of-committees/inquiries