House of Representatives

Thursday, 1 December 2016 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1
Thursday, 1 December 2016
The SPEAKER (Hon. Tony Smith) took the chair at 9:30, made an acknowledgement of country and read
prayers.
COMMITTEES
Corporations and Financial Services Committee
Reference
The SPEAKER (09:37): I have received a message from the Senate informing the House of a resolution of the
Senate referring the following additional matter to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and
Financial Services.
The message read as follows—
That the following matters be referred to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services for
inquiry and report by 30 June 2017:
(a) the development and implementation in the corporate, public and not-for-profit sectors of whistleblower protections,
taking into account the substance and detail of that contained in the Registered Organisation Commission (ROC) legislation
passed by the Parliament in November 2016;
(b) the types of wrongdoing to which a comprehensive whistleblower protection regime for the corporate, public and notfor-profit
sectors should apply;
(c) the most effective ways of integrating whistleblower protection requirements for the corporate, public and not-for-profit
sectors into Commonwealth law;
(d) compensation arrangements in whistleblower legislation across different jurisdictions, including the bounty systems
used in the United States of America;
(e) measures needed to ensure effective access to justice, including legal services, for persons who make or may make
disclosures and require access to protection as a whistleblower;
(f) the definition of detrimental action and reprisal, and the interaction between and, if necessary, separation of criminal
and civil liability;
(g) the obligations on corporate, not-for-profit and public sector organisations to prepare, publish and apply procedures to
support and protect persons who make or may make disclosures, and their liability if they fail to do so or fail to ensure the
procedures are followed;
(h) the obligations on independent regulatory and law enforcement agencies to ensure the proper protection of
whistleblowers and investigation of whistleblower disclosures;
(i) the circumstances in which public interest disclosures to third parties or the media should attract protection;
(j) any other matters relating to the enhancement of protections and the type and availability of remedies for whistleblowers
in the corporate, not-for-profit and public sectors; and
(k) any related matters.
The SPEAKER (09:31): I move:
PARLIAMENTARY ZONE
That, in accordance with section 5 of the Parliament Act 1974, the House approves the following proposal for work in the
Parliamentary Zone which was presented to the House on 30 November 2016, namely: Parliament House security upgrade
works—Perimeter security enhancements.
Yesterday, I tabled details of plans to enhance security arrangements at Parliament House. I wish to inform the
House now that in accordance with standing order 222(a), the House Appropriations and Administration
Committee met on Monday and resolved that the House Appropriations and Administration Committee endorses
the Speaker presenting the Group 2 security works for Parliament House to the House for approval when a similar
motion is to be moved in the Senate. As honourable members will see from the papers that were tabled yesterday
in relation to this motion, the proposed works are for security enhancements, which include a physical perimeter
using fencing and landscaping, replacement of framing and glazing at the northern, eastern and western entrances,
an additional bollard at the eastern and western entrances and poles for additional CCTV security cameras.
Honourable members will see that the details outlining these proposed works are included in the tabling statement.
On 23 November, the committee received a confidential briefing from officers of the Department of
Parliamentary Services, which has overall carriage of these building works, and the Australian Federal Police. The
briefing provided details of the proposed works and the need for the works to strengthen and further enhance the
existing physical security framework here at Parliament House. All enhancements, those already completed and
those being proposed today, are the result of advice from our security agencies and are based on many months of
CHAMBER