No. 12 - Tabling of documents
What is tabling?
The presentation of a
document to the Senate is called tabling.
This derives from the formal phrase used in the Senate standing orders: that a
document be laid on the table of the
Senate.
The tabling of documents
– by the President, by committees, by ministers and parliamentary secretaries,
and by the Clerk – forms a significant part of almost every sitting day.
Authority for tabling documents
Before a document may
be tabled its presentation must be authorised by the Senate. This authority is
usually expressed through an order of the Senate.
A number of orders allowing the tabling of certain
documents or types of documents exist, for instance in the standing orders.
Where the authority to table a document does not already exist, a senator seeking to have the document tabled
needs to obtain the approval of the Senate to do so. The main procedures
available are:
- to move a motion requiring that the document be
tabled; or
- to seek leave of the Senate to
table the document.
These different
methods of tabling, and the documents to which they relate, are discussed
below. Opportunities for debating documents tabled in the Senate are covered in
detail in Brief Guide No. 3—Opportunities for debating
documents and reports.
Different methods of tabling
Orders allowing the tabling of documents
The vast majority of
the documents tabled in the Senate each year are tabled in accordance with standing order 166, which provides that
“documents may be presented pursuant to statute, by the President, or by a
minister [or parliamentary secretary]”. Documents covered by this order may be
presented without the need for further authorisation.
—“presented...
pursuant to statute”
Documents required to
be presented by Acts of Parliament are tabled each sitting day by the Clerk of
the Senate (they are often referred to as “Clerk’s documents”). These are
disallowable instruments and other instruments of delegated legislation (eg,
regulations, determinations, rules, orders). For more information on these
instruments see Brief Guide No. 1—Disallowance.
—“presented...
by the President”
The President tables
documents associated with the powers, responsibilities and proceedings of the
Senate, the main categories of documents being:
- reports of the Auditor-General;
- responses to Senate resolutions;
and
- reports relating to the
administration of the parliamentary departments (excluding the Department
of the House of Representatives)
The President also
tables documents presented when the Senate is not sitting (see below).
—“presented...
by a minister [or parliamentary secretary]”
Ministers and
parliamentary secretaries table documents relating to the executive, the
administration of their portfolio responsibilities and public affairs
generally. The main types of documents tabled under this order are:
- annual reports of government
departments and agencies (often referred to as “government documents”);
- government responses to committee
reports;
- ministerial statements; and
- documents associated with
government legislation (eg: explanatory memorandums).
Parliamentary
secretaries are not referred to in the standing order but a special order gives
them this and other powers of ministers.
The authority given to ministers and parliamentary secretaries arises
out of their duty to inform the Senate of executive matters and applies only
when they are acting in their official capacity. A minister or parliamentary
secretary acting in a private capacity may not table documents under this
order, but would need to seek the leave of the Senate (as described below).
—Petitions
The standing orders
also provide a mechanism authorising the presentation of petitions. Documents
conforming with the requirements of the relevant standing orders may be lodged
with the Clerk as petitions and received by the Senate (see Brief Guide No. 21—Petitions).
Orders requiring the tabling of documents
The Senate may order
that documents be tabled (see standing order 164). This provides the
authority for a range of documents to be presented.
—Committee
reports
When a committee is
appointed or when matters are referred to an existing committee the committee
is required to report to the Senate on the matters referred. Most references
include a date by which the committee shall report (see Brief Guide No. 7—Referring matters to committees).
—Orders
for the production of documents
The power to order
the production of documents is one of the most potent investigative powers the
Senate possesses. These orders most frequently require the tabling of documents
in the possession of ministers, government departments and their agencies. The
order will generally describe the documents sought and specify a date for their
tabling. Occasionally an order may require the creation of the document in
question.
Orders for the
production of documents can also provide for documents to be presented to the
Senate on an ongoing basis, as for instance in the case of:
- statements relating to details of
departmental and agency contracts;
- statements relating to indexed
lists of departmental and agency files; and
- lists of commencement dates for
legislation.
For more information
see Brief Guide No. 11—Orders for the production of
documents.
—Orders
“calling for” or “requesting” documents
A resolution of the
Senate may fall short of requiring
the tabling of a document and instead may request
that the document be presented. This is especially the case with the
Auditor-General, whom neither the Government nor the Parliament may seek to
direct. In practice both the Government and the Auditor-General normally act as
if the Senate’s request were in fact a requirement.
For the most part,
orders requiring the tabling of documents come about through motions moved by
senators after notice. The standing orders make provision for motions for tabling
to be moved without notice in the
following circumstances:
- a document quoted in debate; and
- an answer to a question on notice
under the procedures in standing order 74(5) – the 30-day rule.
—Documents
quoted in debate
Under standing order 168, senators may move that
ministers table documents from which they have quoted. If the motion is agreed
to, the minister must comply unless he or she claims that the document is confidential.
Any senator may also move a motion requiring that a document quoted by another
senator be tabled. The motion must be moved immediately after the speech in
which the document is quoted. Unlike a minister, a senator is not exempted from
the order by a claim that a document is confidential. This procedure provides an alternative method
of tabling a document if leave has been refused.
—The
30-day rule and answers to questions
Standing order 74(5) outlines the 30-day rule relating to answers to
questions placed by senators on the Notice
Paper. This standing order provides that a senator may seek an explanation
for the failure of a minister to provide an answer to a question that has been
outstanding for 30 days or more.
If the minister does
not provide a satisfactory explanation, the senator may move a motion without
notice relating to the minister’s failure to provide either an answer or an
explanation. One of the motions that may be moved is a motion requiring the
tabling on a specified date of an answer to the question.
Leave of the Senate
A document may be
tabled by leave of the Senate: that is, where no senator present objects to its
being tabled. This is the procedure most often used by senators seeking to
table documents they have in their possession.
The practice is that
the document is shown to the duty minister, party leaders or whips, and any
independent senators present in the chamber before leave is sought. Any senator
may object to the granting of leave, in which case the document may not be
tabled.
Where leave is
refused a senator may wish to move a motion to suspend standing orders to
enable a motion for the tabling of the document to be moved. This is normally
done using a contingent notice of
motion in the following terms:
To
move (contingent on any senator being refused leave to table a document in the
Senate)—That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent the
senator moving that the document be tabled.
This means that,
where leave is refused to table a document, a senator may move a motion to
suspend any part of the standing orders that would stop the senator moving a
motion to table the document. On the
motion to suspend standing orders the Senate considers whether proposed tabling
of the document should be dealt with as a matter of urgency. If that motion is successful, the senator may
move a motion that allows the Senate to determine whether the document should
be tabled.
Leave of the Senate
and the procedures for suspending standing orders are described in more detail
in Brief Guide No. 5—Suspension of standing orders.
What if the Senate is not sitting?
Committee reports,
government documents and reports of the Auditor-General may be presented to the
President when the Senate is not sitting. Upon receipt by the President these
documents are deemed to have been presented to the Senate. This power may be exercised
by the President or, in the absence of the President, by the Deputy President
or any one of the Temporary Chairmen of Committees.
Documents which the
President would ordinarily present to the Senate may be certified by the
President when the Senate is not sitting. Upon this certification these
documents are also deemed to have been presented to the Senate. Only the
President may exercise this power.
Documents presented
out of sitting are tabled in the Senate on the next sitting day. Guidelines
relating to the presentation of documents when the Senate is not sitting are
available on the Senate Internet site at http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/work/.
What happens to tabled documents?
Once a document is tabled
it may become the subject of action in the Senate. The consideration of
documents is dealt with in Brief Guide No. 3—Opportunities for debating
documents and reports.
Tabled documents,
because they are part of the records of the Senate, automatically become public
and receive the protection of parliamentary privilege.
The Senate Table
Office is responsible for the safe keeping of all tabled documents. This
responsibility includes recording, indexing and archiving. Copies of most
documents are made available to senators to assist them in their parliamentary
duties. Documents are also made available to the public, on request.
Need assistance?
For assistance with
any of the matters covered by this guide, government senators or their staff
should contact the Clerk Assistant (Table), on extension 3020; and
non-government senators or their staff should contact the Clerk Assistant
(Procedure), on extension 3380.
February 2005
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