COAG Council System
At its meeting on 13 February 2011, COAG agreed to establish a new Council System. There are three types of Council in the System:
- Standing Councils that are ongoing and address issues of national significance;
- Select Councils that are reform-focused and time-limited; and
- Legislative and Governance Fora that oversee responsibilities set out in legislation, intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) and treaties outside the scope of Standing Councils.
COAG Councils and FORA
Click on the title of a Council or Fora for access to its web presence or its email address, if the Council has not yet established a web presence.
| Standing Councils | Select Councils | Legislative And Governance Fora |
|---|---|---|
|
Community, Housing and Disability Services Police and Emergency Management Schools Education and Early Childhood |
Climate Change (email) Disability Reform (email) Homelessness (email) Immigration and Settlement (email) |
Consumer Affairs (email) |
Standing Councils
Standing Councils are established to:
- achieve COAG’s strategic themes by pursuing and monitoring priority issues of national significance which require sustained, collaborative effort; and
- address key areas of shared Commonwealth and State responsibility and funding.
Select Councils
Select Councils are established to undertake time-limited work on COAG’s behalf. Select Councils:
- are established after being proposed to COAG by a First Minister;
- limit their work to matters of critical national importance;
- focus on areas of shared Commonwealth and State responsibility and requiring collaboration; and
- undertake work that is unable to be undertaken by another body, such as a taskforce, working group or group of officials.
Legislative and Governance Fora
Legislative and Governance Fora are established to oversee significant collective responsibilities for Ministers which are set out in governing instrument(s) but outside the scope of Standing Councils.
The Handbook for COAG Councils
The Handbook provides best-practice advice to COAG Councils and Fora and their secretariats. It provides information about the structure of the new COAG Council System and general operating procedures for Councils and Fora. It also provides best-practice guidance to secretariats on supporting their Councils and Fora strategically and administratively.
The COAG Best Practice Regulation Guide should be used in conjunction with the Handbook.
The Handbook replaces COAG Commonwealth-State Ministerial Councils: A Compendium. The high-level information the Compendium contained about each Council is now required to be made available on each Council and Fora web presence.
Reporting
Councils and Fora report to COAG annually. A brief outline of the requirements is below. For further information please refer to the ‘ Handbook for COAG Councils’
Reporting following Council meetings
Councils need to provide the Commonwealth-State Relations Secretariat at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet within a week of a meeting:
- communiqué or public record of the meeting and hyperlink to any other public documents; and
- resolutions/minutes.
This should be done in conjunction with the release of the communiqué.
Councils also need to provide a final record of the meeting, within three weeks, to all participants and the Commonwealth-State Relations Secretariat.
Reviews and Reporting
Standing Councils will provide by 31 May their draft work plans for the following financial year and their annual report by 31 July. Standing Councils also need to undertake a triennial review, reporting by 31 July. All reports and reviews will need to be submitted to the Commonwealth-State Relations Secretariat.
Select Councils will provide bi-annually, by 31 January and 31 July, progress reports against their reform task project plans, submitted to the Commonwealth-State Relations Secretariat. In addition to the bi-annual reporting, Councils may have further reporting requirements set out in their terms of reference. For further information refer to relevant Select Council terms of reference.
Legislative and Governance Fora will provide annually by 31 July the overview of decisions taken as a result of their legislative or governance responsibilities. Legislative and Governance Fora also need to undertake a triennial review, reporting by 31 July. All reports and reviews will need to be provided to the Commonwealth-State Relations Secretariat.