Responsibilities and terms of reference
The Standing Committee's main objectives are to support the Council in the achievement of its objectives and to develop cooperative and coordinated approaches to matters of concern to the Council.
Having regard to the terms of reference of the Council, the Standing Committee:
- directs the work of its subordinate committees;
- secures cooperation between members; and
- advises Council on the initiation, review and development of Standing Committee activities.
Membership
All Department Heads/CEOs of Australian/State/Territory and New Zealand government agencies responsible for natural resource policy issues are members of Standing Committee.
As with the Ministerial Council arrangements, where issues span the policy responsibilities of more that one Standing Committee member in a particular State or Territory, those members may "delegate" one of their colleagues to act on their behalf at any meeting. For consideration of issues out-of-session, papers are directed to all members, with the most appropriate member asked to provide a single State/Territory response.
Papua New Guinea is a formal observer. As appropriate, other organisations and representatives of other Ministerial Councils may be invited to participate in Standing Committee activities as observers.
Chairing
The Standing Committee Chair is Chaired jointly by the Secretaries of the Australian Government Departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Environment and Heritage.
Secretariat
The Secretariat is provided by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
Meeting arrangements
Meetings are held twice a year, usually in March/April and September/October. Meetings of the Standing Committee are rotated between Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
Major advisory committees
Advice to NRMSC and NRMMC on a wide range of issues is developed by expert advisory committees. The work of these committees is divided into essentially three areas and is supported by a range of working groups and ad hoc task forces. These advisory committees are:
A diagrammatic structure chart depicting the NRMMC, NRMSC and underpinning Committees is attached
(NRMMC Structure Chart).