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Protection of persons referred to in the HouseHouse
of Representatives Infosheet No. 17 Revised March 1998 Page menu
: Right of reply | Persons reflected upon may make
written submissions | Role of the Speaker | Role
of the Committee of Privileges | Report from Committee of Privileges
| Terms of response | Committee of Privileges' guidelines
for the consideration of submissions | Suggestions for further
reading The privilege of freedom of speech has been described as a privilege
of necessity. It enables Members to raise in the House matters they would not
otherwise be able to bring forward (at least not without fear of the legal consequences).
The privilege is thus a very great one, and it is recognised that it carries with
it a corresponding obligation that it should always be used responsibly. (Infosheet
No. 5, 'Parliamentary Privilege') Right of reply
Sometimes individuals are offended by remarks Members of the House have made about
them during parliamentary debate. The right of reply procedure, established by
resolution of the House on 27 August 1997, gives people the opportunity to respond
to such remarks and to have their responses published in the parliamentary record.
The procedure is intended for use by individuals, not by or on behalf of corporations
or other organisations. 
Persons reflected upon may make written submissions
The procedure may be used by a person named in the House or referred to in such
a way as to be readily identified. A person who feels aggrieved by something
that has been said about him or her in the House may make a written submission
to the Speaker: claiming that he or she has been adversely affected
in reputation or in respect of dealings or associations with others, or injured
in occupation, trade, office or financial credit, or that his or her privacy has
been unreasonably invaded by that reference; and asking to be able
to incorporate an appropriate response in the parliamentary record.
(Submissions should be addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Parliament House, Canberra, ACT 2600).
Role of the SpeakerThe Speaker must refer a submission
to the Committee of Privileges if he or she is satisfied that: the
subject is not obviously trivial or that the submission is not frivolous, vexatious
or offensive; and it is practicable for the Committee of Privileges
to consider it.
Role of the Committee of Privileges In considering
a submission, the Committee of Privileges: must meet in private; may
confer with may not consider or
judge the truth of the statements in the submission or in the House; may
not itself publish either the submission or its proceedings, but may present minutes,
and all or part of the submission, to the House. If it believes the
submission is frivolous, vexatious or offensive, or not sufficiently serious,
the Committee must report to the House accordingly.
Report from Committee of Privileges The Committee
of Privileges can make a recommendation: that a response by the person,
in terms specified in the report and agreed by the person and the Committee, be
published by the House or incorporated in Hansard; or that no further
action be taken by the House. No other recommendation can be made.
Terms of response Responses must: be
succinct and strictly relevant to the questions in issue, and must not contain
anything offensive in character; not contain any matter the publication
of which would have the effect of unreasonably adversely affecting or injuring
a person or unreasonably invading a person's privacy, or unreasonably adding to
or aggravating such an adverse effect.
Committee of Privileges' guidelines for the consideration of submissions
The resolution of the House establishing the right of reply procedure allows the
Committee of Privileges to agree to guidelines and procedures to apply to the
Committee's consideration of submissions. The Committee tabled the following guidelines
on 26 November 1997. These are supplementary to the resolutions of the House and
spell out the Committee's thinking on the application of the procedure as follows:
an application must be received within 3 months of the making of the
statement to which the person wishes to respond unless, because of exceptional
circumstances, the committee agrees to consider an application received later;
applications should only be considered from natural persons, they should
not be considered if lodged by or on behalf of corporations, businesses, firms,
organisations or institutions; applications should only be considered
from persons who are Australian citizens or residents; an application
must demonstrate that a person, who is named, or readily identified, has been
subject to clear, direct and personal attack or criticism; applications
must be concise, must be confined to showing the statement complained of and the
person's response and must not contain any offensive material; applications
concerning statements made in the Main Committee may be considered; applications
should not be considered from persons who wish to respond to a statement or remarks
made in connection with the proceedings of a standing or select committee-such
persons should contact the committee direct on the matter; and in considering
applications, the committee will have regard to the existence of other remedies
that may be available to a person referred to in the House-for example, a Member
of any Parliament in Australia would be considered to have a forum within which
he or she could respond to remarks; media personnel similarly have means by which
to make a response to any remarks about them. In tabling the guidelines,
a spokesman for the Committee indicated that the Committee may find it necessary
to refine and develop them further.
Suggestions for further readingHouse
of Representatives Practice, 3rd edn. A.G.P.S., Canberra, 1997. pp 177-219.
Philip Laundy. The Office of Speaker in the Parliaments of the Commonwealth.
Quiller Press, London, 1984.
Last updated: March 1998
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