Media Release
FA114 / 20 August 2002
Greater Transparency for Treaty-Making Process
I am pleased to announce changes to the treaty-making process that
will provide greater transparency and public accessibility.
Firstly, the timeframe for parliamentary consultation with interest
groups will be extended. Secondly, more official information on treaties
and the treaty-making process will be made available on the Department
of Foreign Affairs and Trade's website.
Public submissions to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT)
have almost doubled in the past three years and the increased workload
has threatened to detract from the quality of the committee's reports.
In response to this, treaty actions to be considered by JSCOT will
now be divided into two categories: those of major political, economic
or social significance which are likely to attract considerable public
interest and debate. The timeframe for consultation on these will
be increased from 15 sitting days to 20 sitting days.
Based on parliamentary sitting patterns, this effectively boosts
the real consultation time from five to eight weeks.
The remainder of the treaty actions, representing about two-thirds
of those currently under consideration, will continue to be dealt
with within the current 15 sitting day period (see attachment overleaf).
Our second initiative is the formation of an Australian Treaties
Database with a powerful search engine and report-generating capacity.
The database will also summarise key treaty action dates and and
will be linked to treaty texts in the Australian Treaties Library.
It can be found at at www.info.dfat.gov.au/treaties.
The database will be a valuable research tool for officials, students,
academics, the legal professional and the public.
These initiatives are part of the on-going process to facilitate
parliamentary scrutiny of the treaty-making process and public accountability
and reflect the Government's determination to ensure continuous improvement.
TREATIES WHICH WOULD CONTINUE
TO BE TABLED FOR 15 SITTING DAYS
Bilateral
Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (IPPA)
Double Taxation
Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters
Extradition
Air Services
Employment of Spouses of Diplomatic Representatives
Prisoner Transfer
Defence:
- Protection of Classified Information
- Status of Forces
Multilateral
Communications, including:
- World Radio Conference
- Intelsat
Post, including:
- World Postal Union
- Asia/Pacific Postal Union
Media inquiries: Chris Kenny (Ministerial) +61 02 6277 7500 / Julie
McDonald (Departmental) +61 02 6261 1555
Local Date:
Saturday, 06-Dec-2008 02:54:37 EST
