Page 1034 - Week 04 - Thursday, 22 April 2021
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structure and operation of public accounts committees within other commonwealth parliamentary jurisdictions.
I would like to thank members of the Standing Committee on Economy and Gender and Economic Equality and my colleagues on the Standing Committee on Public Accounts for their collegiate approach to reaching this decision. I support the motion as it stands.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Administration and Procedure—Standing Committee
Statement by chair
MS BURCH (Brindabella) (10.11): : Pursuant to standing order 246A, I wish to make a statement on behalf of the Standing Committee on Administration and Procedure. On Thursday, 8 April 2021, the Standing Committee on Administration and Procedure resolved to undertake a review of the committee support function within the Office of the Legislative Assembly. The committee considers that an effective committee support function requires consistency, collaboration, flexibility, and the capacity to meet the needs of the Assembly under various circumstances.
The committee noted recommendations 24 and 25 of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts report Annual and financial reports 2019-2020; Appropriation Bill 2020-2021 and Appropriation (Office of the Legislative Assembly) Bill 2020-2021, relating to additional staffing and support for Assembly committees.
The review will be conducted by Dr Rosemary Laing, a former Clerk of the Australian Senate, one of Australia’s leading experts on parliamentary practice, procedure and administration. Dr Laing will assess and report on:
1. the adequacy of the Office’s current arrangements for supporting Assembly committees to undertake committee inquiries (including complex inquiries) and perform their core legislative, representative, scrutiny and community participation functions;
2. options or proposals relating to any additional steps that might be taken, training or resources applied, to optimise the Office’s capacity to provide a committee support function that meets the needs of Assembly committees and their members flexibly and collaboratively over the short and longer terms and under a variety of circumstances; and
3. any other matter that Dr Laing considers is relevant.
Dr Laing will invite submissions from MLAs, current and former; management and staff of the office; former committee staff; and users of the Assembly committee system. She will report to the committee by the end of August 2021.
The committee acknowledged and supported the statutory independence and authority of the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly in relation to the management of, and staffing decisions relating to, the Office of the Legislative Assembly. The committee
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