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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Inquiry into Overlap and Duplication.

The Governor in Council has referred to the Committee a reference into overlap and duplication of roles and responsibilities between the Commonwealth and the State. The Committee is required to report to the Parliament and invites written submissions from any persons and organisations who wish to express views on any aspect of this reference.

GUIDE FOR MAKING A SUBMISSION

The Federal-State Relations Committee welcomes submissions as sources of information and opinion. These notes provide a number of suggestions on how you might prepare and present a submission.

Who may make a submission?

Any person or organisation can make a submission to the Federal-State Relations Committee. There is no restriction. Individuals, community groups, private organisations, local government and State government representatives - indeed, anyone or any body interested in an Inquiry currently before the Committee may make a submission.

Terms of Reference

Before preparing your submission, it is important that you read the Terms of Reference carefully. The Federal-State Relations Committee advertises its Terms of Reference, calls for submissions and identifies a due date for their receipt in the daily press. If you do not have a copy of the Terms of Reference, please contact the Committee office.

Click here to see the Terms of Reference.

Preparing a submission

It is important that your submission address all or part of the Terms of Reference.

You do not have to comment on every aspect of the Terms of Reference. Equally, you do not have to limit yourself to just one aspect. Your submission may contain factual information, opinion or both. You might wish to draw the attention of the Committee to something relevant to the Inquiry. You might choose to emphasise solutions to the matter or issue before the Committee. The only criterion is that you address the Terms of Reference.

Form of a submission

There is no specific method for organising or presenting a submission. Your contribution can take the form of a letter, a short summary paper or a longer research document. You can include relevant data in appendices or incorporate them in the body of the text.

There are certain technical conventions that the Committee asks you to observe, if possible:

• use A4 paper.
• present a typed submission, if possible.
• sign the submission. Sign on behalf of yourself, or on behalf of the organisation you are representing. If you are representing an organisation, please indicate your position in the organisation. If relevant, specify at what level the submission has been authorised: branch, executive, president, sub-committee, executive committee, national body, etc.
• submit supporting computer disks when possible. The Committee can accept either Macintosh or IBM compatible disks
• supplementary material. You may wish to support your submission with other forms of material. This is acceptable, and can be on a loan or donation basis. Any material borrowed by the Committee will be returned on completion of the Inquiry.

Confidentiality

A request should accompany a submission if an author wishes all or part of it to be treated as confidential. It should be noted that all submissions, unless deemed confidential, are public documents. It is the Committees choice, not the authors, if and when a submission will be made public, and if and when a submission will be printed. Nor can an author publish all or part of a submission without the Committees authorisation. Subject to the Committees approval, all submissions are available for public scrutiny.

Parliamentary privilege

Submissions to the Federal-State Relations Committee are protected by parliamentary privilege. Submissions are considered to be the same as evidence taken by a Committee in a public hearing. As such nothing in a submission can give rise to legal action against the author or be subject to proceedings in a court of law.

Public hearings

Under certain circumstances, the Committee might wish to discuss a matter further with the author of a submission. If this occurs, the Committee will contact you and advise you of the date, time and place of the public hearing.

The Committee inquiry process

The Committee investigatory process falls into a number of phases:

• The Committee advertises its Terms of Reference and calls for submissions.
• The Committee gathers information, including fact and opinion found in submissions and presented in public hearings.
• The Committee considers the arguments, evidence and data it has gathered. Findings and recommendations are agreed upon.
• The Committee tables a report, including its recommendations, in the Parliament.
• The Minister who initiated the Inquiry or who has portfolio responsibility for the matter addressed by the Inquiry replies to the Committee's recommendations. The Minister has six months from the date of the report being tabled in which to reply. The Minister can accept, reject, modify or adapt the Committee's recommendations.

The Federal-State Relations Committee does not have legislative or regulatory powers. The committee makes recommendations. It is then the responsibility of the Minister to reply.

Address further questions to:

Federal-State Relations Committee
Level 8, 35 Spring Street
Melbourne Victoria 3000.
Telephone: (03) 9651 3582
Facsimile: (03) 9651 3691

Level 8, 35 Spring Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia.

Telephone: (03) 9651 3582. Facsimile: (03) 9651 3691.

Internationally, prefix +61.