Wendy Askew (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

At the request of Senator Bragg, I move:

(1) That a select committee, to be known as the Select Committee on Insurance, be established to inquire into and report on improving consumer experiences, choice, and outcomes in Australia's retirement system, with reference to:

(a) regulatory and tax impediments to innovation and uptake of insurance products in retirement;

(b) the economic costs and opportunities of innovation in our retirement income system;

(c) the interaction of health insurance, life insurance, general insurance, and social security supports to retirement outcomes, including options to improve incentives that drive consumer outcomes and support the sustainability of the retirement income system;

(d) the potential role of FinTech platforms, technologies, and innovations in supporting better retirement outcomes;

(e) policy options to support greater choice and quality of life in the retirement income system, including but not limited to the aged pension, financial advice, home ownership and downsizing, and insurance;

(f) progress on implementing the Retirement Income Covenant; and

(g) any other related matters.

(2) That the committee present its final report by 30 June 2024.

(3) That the committee consist of 7 senators, as follows:

(a) four nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate;

(b) two nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate;

(c) one nominated by minority party or independent senators.

(4) That:

(a) participating members may be appointed to the committee on the nomination of the Leader of the Government in the Senate, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate or any minority party or independent senator;

(b) participating members may participate in hearings of evidence and deliberations of the committee, and have all the rights of members of the committee, but may not vote on any questions before the committee;

(c) a participating member shall be taken to be a member of a committee for the purpose of forming a quorum of the committee if a majority of members of the committee is not present; and

(d) if a member of the committee is unable to attend a meeting of the committee, that member may in writing to the chair appoint a participating member to act as a substitute member of the committee at that meeting. If the member is incapacitated or unavailable, a letter to the chair appointing a participating member to act as a substitute member of the committee may be signed on behalf of the member by the leader of the party or group on whose nomination the member was appointed to the committee.

(5) That the committee may proceed to the dispatch of business notwithstanding that all members have not been duly nominated and appointed and notwithstanding any vacancy.

(6) That the committee elect as chair a member nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and, as deputy chair, a member nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

(7) That the deputy chair shall act as chair when the chair is absent from a meeting of the committee or the position of chair is temporarily vacant.

(8) That the chair, or the deputy chair when acting as chair, may appoint another member of the committee to act as chair during the temporary absence of both the chair and deputy chair at a meeting of the committee.

(9) That, in the event of an equally divided vote, the chair, or the deputy chair when acting as chair, have a casting vote.

(10) That the committee have power to appoint subcommittees consisting of two or more of its members, and to refer to any such subcommittee any of the matters which the committee is empowered to consider.

(11) That the committee and any subcommittee have power to send for and examine persons and documents, to move from place to place, to sit in public or in private, notwithstanding any prorogation of the Parliament or dissolution of the House of Representatives, and have leave to report from time to time its proceedings and the evidence taken and such interim recommendations as it may deem fit.

(12) That the committee be provided with all necessary staff, facilities and resources and be empowered to appoint persons with specialist knowledge for the purposes of the committee with the approval of the President.

(13) That the committee be empowered to print from day to day such papers and evidence as may be ordered by it, and a daily Hansard be published of such proceedings as take place in public.