The Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee (PCMC) is established under the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001. The PCMC is in effect a continuation of the Parliamentary Criminal Justice Committee (PCJC) established under the now repealed Criminal Justice Act 1989.

The principal functions of the committee are:

• to monitor and review the performance of the functions of the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC);
• to report to Parliament on matters relevant to the CMC; and
• to participate in the selection of Commissioners of the CMC.

The CMC is a unique body in Australia, combining under the one umbrella functions and responsibilities as diverse as major and organised crime investigations, police and official misconduct investigations, complaint resolution, research, corruption prevention and witness protection. The CMC was formed on 1 January 2002 from a merger of the former Criminal Justice Commission (CJC) and the Queensland Crime Commission (QCC).

The committee has a continual role in monitoring and reviewing the CMC and also conducts specific inquiries in respect of matters pertaining to the CMC. It is through the committee that the CMC is accountable to the Parliament and to the people of Queensland.

To monitor and review the CMC

A number of procedures are carried out by the PCMC to facilitate its effective monitoring of the CMC's activities.

The committee:

• receives and considers complaints against the CMC;
• reviews CMC guidelines and makes suggestions for improvement of CMC practices;
• reviews CMC reports including its annual report and research reports;
• requests reports from the CMC on matters which have come to the committee’s attention, through the media or by other means; and
• deals with ad hoc issues concerning the CMC as they arise.

To report to Parliament

The second main function of the committee is to report to Parliament on the operations and activities of the CMC so that it is accountable to the Parliament and people of Queensland.

The committee's general function is to comment and report on the full range of the Commission's operations at the committee's discretion. In addition, it has responsibility to report on any matter referred to it by the Parliament and to report near the expiry of its three year term on the activities of the Commission during such three years.

Participation in the selection of the CMC Commissioners

The committee also plays a role in the selection of Commissioners of the CMC in the following ways:

• before selecting any person for appointment as Chairperson or part-time Commissioner of the CMC, the Minister is required to consult with the committee; and
• a person shall not be appointed as Chairperson or part-time Commissioner of the CMC unless that appointment is supported by a bipartisan majority of the committee.

The committee plays a role in the appointment of Misconduct Tribunal panel members under the Misconduct Tribunals Act. The Minister may not nominate a person for appointment as a tribunal member unless that nomination is supported by a bi-partisan majority of the committee.

In addition, under s.38 of the Misconduct Tribunals Act, the committee can conduct a review of the Misconduct Tribunals as part of its three year review of the activities of the CMC.

Powers of the committee

The Crime and Misconduct Act confers certain powers upon the committee to enable it to fulfil the statutory functions and responsibilities imposed upon it, including the power to:

• call for persons, documents and other things;
• administer oaths to witnesses; and
• examine witnesses on oath.

Office of the Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Commissioner

In fulfilling its functions the committee may be assisted by the Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Commissioner (Parliamentary Commissioner) who the committee can ask to undertake a range of important activities on the committee’s behalf and to report back to the committee.