What is an inquiry, and what happens?

Summarised from the APH website:

A parliamentary committee is a sub-group of the Parliament that does inquiry and oversight work on behalf of the Parliament. It contains Members of the House of Representatives and/or Senators. Committees focus on particular subject matter areas. House of Representatives Infosheet number 4 provides further information about parliamentary committees.

The main purpose of a parliamentary committee is to inquire into a topic and report back to the Parliament. Most inquiries have terms of reference, which set out the topics that will be looked into by the inquiry. The terms of reference will be available on the committee’s website.

When a committee conducts an inquiry, it will try and find out the facts of a case or issue, gather and sift through evidence provided to it in writing or in person, and will draw conclusions which will be published in a report.

You can participate in an inquiry by:

• making a written or spoken submission and providing it to the committee, and

• attending a public hearing or briefing as a witness to give oral evidence.

Read more here.

Who can submit?

Everyday individuals, organisations, businesses. Anyone who is interested can - even people from other countries.

Can children make a submission?

It is up to the Committee to decide whether to accept it as a submission and whether to publish it on the website. Generally speaking, if someone under 18 had made the submission, the Committee would likely want to know that they had parental or guardian consent and knowledge of the submission. The Committee would also probably want to confirm that the child who was lodging the submission understood the process (in particular, that unless requested otherwise and approved by the Committee, the default is that their submission would be published on the website and available for anyone to see, even once the inquiry was complete).

Parents can also make a submission and talk about their experience as the parent/guardian/relative of a child with a health condition (e.g. long COVID), and also include some information about the child’s experience.

If you have questions about this, please contact the Inquiry directly.

How do I submit?

You can use this website to submit to the Inquiry - the form on this website generates an email which is sent to the inquiry - or you can prepare your own email or letter. Read more about how to submit here.

What should I write?

You should use your own words to respond to the terms of reference (what the inquiry is looking into). Write as if you were writing your experiences in a letter to a friend. It is not necessary to quote research, but if you do include quotes and references.

You can also write about the sorts of outcomes you would like to see, for example what action would you like taken that would impact your situation positively.

What are the terms of reference? What is the Inquiry looking in to?

The Terms of Reference (TOR) are included on the relevant pages on this website - there are different TOR for each Inquiry.

Who is on the committee?

Details of the committee members are included on the relevant pages on this website - there are different committee members on each Inquiry.

Do you see the information I have written?

No, your text is submitted as en email to the committee. Cleaner Air does not receive the email.

Is this website affiliated with the Inquiry, any of the parliamentarians or anything else official?

No. This webiste has been set up by someone who would like to see the reponse to COVID-19 in Australia improved, and believes that everyday Australians telling their story can help make this happen.

What happens to the information I submit? What happens next?

These questions would be best directed to the committee secretariat, see below.

I have questions, who can I contact?

If you have questions about the Inquiry you can contact the secretariat of the Inquiry, the contact details are included on the relevant pages on this website - there are different contact details for each Inquiry.

If you have questions about Cleaner Air Aus, you can contact us here.

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