On 12 September 2016, the Senate referred the following matters to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee for inquiry and report. The terms of reference were as follows; The serious allegations of abuse, self-harm and neglect of asylum seekers in relation to the Nauru Regional Processing Centre, and any like allegations in relation to...

This is the second report into Australia's four major banks.

On 13 October 2016, the Senate referred the following matter to the Environment and Communications References Committee for inquiry and interim report by 28 November 2016 and final report by 1 February 2017: (a) the experience of closures of electricity generators and other large industrial assets on workers and communities, both in Australia and overseas...

Some human rights obligations are absolute under international law. However, in relation to most human rights, prescribed limitations on the enjoyment of a right may be justified under international law if certain requirements are met. Accordingly, a focus of the committee's reports is to determine whether any limitation of a human right identified in proposed...

On 25 November 2015, the Senate referred the matter of inconsistencies and inadequacies of current criminal, civil and administrative penalties for corporate and financial misconduct or white-collar crime to the Economics References Committee for inquiry and report. The terms of reference were as follows: (a) evidentiary standards across various acts and instruments; (b) the use...