TOPIC 3.6: What is the role of Parliamentary Committees in Government Accountability?

What do Parliamentary Committees Do?

Enabling the citizenry a right to see government documents is an important feature of modern accountability and is a rationale for FOI and RTI. Parliamentary committees offer processes of review of matters surrounding government, legislation, budgets and other matters of concern to the public. These include issues of policy, government administration and performance. “parliamentary committees are seen as an increasingly important vehicle of ministerial accountability” in Australia (Larkin, 2012, pp. 1-102)^[1], yet despite this they are still relatively weak compared with other Westminster Parliaments (Gilchrist, 2019).^[2]

In keeping with other Westminster systems, parliamentary committees exist in all Australian parliaments. While the details vary, they follow broadly similar structures and functions (Jackson, et al, 2022).^[3]

Committees can hear from experts, ordinary citizens, interest groups and local communities, providing an opportunity to participate in policy making.  They can do this from Canberra or by travelling around Australia. They also allow politicians to develop and use expertise in specific policy areas, strengthening debate, policy and scrutiny. In general, upper house committees provide a better scrutiny than lower house ones, given that governments rarely have majorities in the upper houses.  In particular, Senate Estimates Committees can be seen as “the closest to clear, apolitical accountability that Parliament achieves.” (Larkin, 2012, pp. 107)

Estimates Committee

The annual Budget, of tax and spending plans, is where government promises are translated into action. It is a key vehicle for controlling the business of government because only Parliament can authorise expenditure. There are procedures and frameworks to ensure the expenditure is disbursed appropriately, and then opportunities for Parliament to scrutinise that expenditure. At the federal level, estimates of government expenditure are referred to a Senate Estimates Committee, which investigate government programs and expenditure, including questioning ministers and senior officials.

An Estimates Committee is “focused on the activities and record of the individual minister and their officials rather than the whole of the government and has a clear evidence base in estimates of expenditure, departmental reports, ANAO reports and other official publications… however, [they are] still an essentially political activity.” (Larkin, 2012, pp. 107)

These committees play an important role in the annual cycle of many public service support agencies as they need to prepare considerable advance information for the Minister.  Ministers and public servants take Estimates Committees very seriously “suggesting they are an effective accountability mechanism” (Lelliott, 2021).^[4]