Purpose of undertakings
When the Committee finds an issue in delegated legislation, it may request an undertaking from the relevant local government or Minister to fix the issue (for example, by amending the delegated legislation).
A person or body giving an undertaking commits to do certain actions within a certain timeframe, for example to:
- amend delegated legislation within a certain timeframe (usually 6 months) and not enforce it in the meantime;
- provide a copy of the undertakings wherever the delegated legislation is publicly available (such as at a local government office or on a website);
- provide a copy of the minutes of the meeting at which the council of a local government resolved to provide an undertaking.
Giving an undertaking to a Parliamentary Committee is a serious matter. A failure to comply with an undertaking may be reported to the Legislative Council for further action.
Change to usual petitions process ahead of the 2025 State election
Parliament will end at some point this year ahead of next year’s State election. (This is called ‘prorogation’.)
When that happens, all petitions under consideration will lapse.
The Committee will not have time to complete its inquiries into all current petitions before then.
We will let principal petitioners know if their petition will be affected.
Lapsed petitions can be tabled again in the new Parliament with just one signature, and the normal process can then recommence.