The committees of the Australian House of Representatives are committee

Committee

A committee is a type of small deliberative assembly that is usually intended to remain subordinate to another, larger deliberative assembly—which when organized so that action on committee requires a vote by all its entitled members, is called the "Committee of the Whole"...

s of Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

, established by the Australian House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

, for purposes determined by that body.

Purposes of committees

The functions of committees depend on the type of committee and on the work it is undertaking.

The Main Committee

The Main Committee is an additional debating chamber for uncontroversial committee reports and papers presented to the House.

Joint committees

Joint committees are established by both chambers of the Australian parliament and include members of both chambers. e.g. Public Accounts and Audit Committee.

Standing committees

The House has a two types of standing committees http://www.aph.gov.au/house/info/general/index.htm:

• investigative — inquiries on matters of public policy or government administration
  Public administration
  Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
  
  . They usually match the portfolios of the Government. e.g. Education and Vocational Training

• domestic or internal — operation of the House. e.g. Procedure, Privileges, Members' Interests

Under the Standing Orders

Parliamentary procedure

Parliamentary procedure is the body of rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings and other operations of clubs, organizations, legislative bodies, and other deliberative assemblies...

 of the House of Representatives, standing committees are appointed for the life of the Parliament.

House Committees of the 41st Parliament

The 40th Parliament was prorogued and the House of Representatives dissolved at 4:59pm on 31 August 2004 for the Australian general election held on 9 October that year. The 41st Parliament first met on 16 November 2004.

Standing Committees

There are 18 house standing committees http://www.aph.gov.au/house/pubs/standos/chapter16.htm:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs
• Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
• Communications, Information Technology and the Arts
• Economics, Finance and Public Administration
• Education and Vocational Training
• Employment, Workplace Relations and Workforce Participation
• Environment and Heritage
• Family and Human Services
• Health and Ageing
• Industry and Resources
• Legal and Constitutional Affairs
• Members' Interests
• Privileges
• Procedure
• Publications
• Selection
• Science and Innovation
• Transport and Regional Services

Joint Committees administered by the House

There are 9 joint committees administered by the House:

• Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings
• Electoral Matters
• Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade
• Intelligence and Security
• Migration
• National Capital and External Territories
• Public Accounts and Audit
• Public Works
• Treaties

External links

• Official website of the Australian House of Representatives