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28/04/2026

Independent Review of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Support System

Independent Reviewers

On 28 April 2026, the Special Minister of State, Senator the Hon Don Farrell, announced the appointment of the independent reviewers, Mr Mathew Jose and Ms Rachael Thompson. The independent reviewers bring significant expertise from working in senior staff roles in the Parliament. The media release announcing the review can be found here.

Terms of Reference

The review will formally commence when the Terms of Reference have been agreed by Government. The independent reviewers will consult with key stakeholders on the Terms of Reference.

Subject to final Terms of Reference being settled, the review is expected to consider reforming and modernising parliamentary support systems, including to ensure the continued safety and security of parliamentarians and their staff, as well as review of the implementation of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Set the Standard: Report on the Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces. It is expected that the review will include the statutory reviews of the Parliamentary Business Resources Act 2017, Parliamentary Workplace Support Service Act 2023 and Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984.

Conduct of the review

The Review will be undertaken for approximately 18 months and the reviewers’ Final Report will be tabled in Parliament.

A taskforce has been established in the Department of Finance to provide dedicated secretariat support to the independent function of the Review.

Contact

ParliamentaryReview@finance.gov.au

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