What is a public hearing?
During an inquiry, public hearings enable interested parties to expand on written submissions and to discuss inquiry issues with Commissioners in a public forum.
Any organisation or person can attend a hearing to observe the proceedings, and registered participants may be scheduled to speak.
A hearing may be conducted online, in person at a designated venue, or a combination of both.
Participation
Productivity Commission (PC) staff will contact those parties who have registered to speak to schedule a specific time for their appearance. While the amount of time allocated to individual participants will vary, it will usually be between 10 minutes and 60 minutes.
Participants are not required to attend the entire hearing, although they are welcome to observe other speakers.
The hearings are typically informal. Participants will be invited to introduce themselves and make a brief opening statement, with Commissioners then seeking elaboration on, or clarification of, particular points.
Legal representation is unnecessary and there is no requirement to take a formal oath. The Productivity Commission Act 1998 does require participants to be truthful in their remarks.
After the schedule for the day or during breaks in proceedings, Commissioners may accept brief comments from others in the audience. These comments will be included in the transcripts. Interjections from the floor are not permitted during proceedings.
Preparation
To facilitate the discussions, participants should provide the PC with a summary of talking points at least two working days prior to their appearance.
Participants may formalise their talking points as a submission to the inquiry, lodged either before, during or shortly after the hearing.
Record of proceedings
A transcript of proceedings is produced and published on the Commission's website.
Media attendance
Members of the media may attend the hearings. They are asked to notify the PC in advance of their attendance and introduce themselves to PC staff in attendance at the hearing.
Use of audio and video recordings are restricted
Audio recordings are not permitted to be broadcast and can only be used for personal note taking.
Video recordings (without audio of proceedings) are allowed to be broadcast.
Anyone seeking to film proceedings should seek agreement on the day from those appearing.