The Albanese government has failed to respond to 50 parliamentary committee reports within the required six-month deadline, prompting criticism from crossbench MPs who say the backlog reflects a lack of willingness to tackle difficult policy issues. Under parliamentary rules, the government is expected to formally respond to House and joint committee reports within six months of their presentation to the House of Representatives, outlining whether recommendations will be adopted, rejected or considered further.
Despite this requirement, dozens of reports have lapsed beyond the deadline. Around half of the overdue reports are more than a year late, while approximately a quarter have been outstanding for more than 18 months. The affected inquiries cover a wide range of significant policy areas, including terrorism, immigration, illicit drugs, energy security, artificial intelligence and education.
Independent MP for Curtin Kate Chaney criticised the government’s failure to respond, arguing that the lack of action indicates an unwillingness to confront complex or politically challenging issues. She said the situation represented a broader pattern of avoiding difficult policy decisions.
“It's not just that these aren't on time, there's no response at all for these. I think it's a lack of courage,” Chaney said in an interview on Wednesday.
She emphasised that many of the inquiries address urgent and complex challenges facing Australia and require serious engagement from government. “These are really important issues, issues like terrorism, immigration, illicit drugs, energy security, AI and education, really important topical issues,” she said. “And I think the government, the name's on the basket, it is the too hard basket, they're just not really showing the courage to deal with these important issues.”
Chaney also highlighted the extensive work that goes into parliamentary inquiries. Committees often receive submissions from academics, industry experts, civil society groups and members of the public, meaning the findings represent a significant body of research and consultation. When governments fail to respond to committee recommendations, she argued, it risks undermining the value of that work and eroding public confidence in parliamentary processes.
In response to the growing backlog, members of the crossbench are coordinating efforts to escalate the issue within parliament. Chaney said several independent MPs are encouraging their respective committees to formally raise the matter with the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“The crossbench is going to their committees and we're all suggesting to our committees that we resolve to refer the matter to the (House) Speaker,” she said.
The 50 overdue reports relate specifically to House and joint parliamentary committee inquiries. Chaney also noted that a further backlog exists in the Senate, where around 80 committee reports are reportedly awaiting government responses.
The issue adds to broader criticism of the Albanese government’s performance on transparency and accountability. The Centre for Public Integrity’s latest “Integrity Report Card” found the government failed five of six key integrity benchmarks used to assess its progress on governance reforms.
The report evaluated the government across six areas: transparency, merit-based appointments, limits on undue influence, strengthening the public service, support for accountability institutions and protections for whistleblowers. Researchers concluded that the government had shown little commitment to improving transparency and warned it appeared to be “leaning into a culture of secrecy”.
Together, the findings and the backlog of parliamentary responses have intensified scrutiny of the government’s approach to accountability, with crossbench MPs calling for greater transparency and more timely engagement with the work of parliamentary committees.