Select committees can receive hundreds of written submissions for a single inquiry. Most are published, read once and never cited. The ones that shape a committee’s final report tend to share a few traits.

They answer the questions asked

Every call for evidence also sets out questions the committee seeks to answer. Clerks use those questions as terms of reference when sorting evidence. Any submission ignoring them is almost impossible to use, no matter the quality of the content.

They are realistic about what they are offering

You may have data and first-hand accounts from an on-the-ground issue the government is missing. Lead with that. The committee has heard general cases and theories dozens of times; the voices of the people you are working to help likely haven’t.

Have clear asks and keep them brief

Committees have word limits. Stay within them. End on a small number of costed, specific suggestions. If the committee can lift a recommendation from your submission straight into its report, it is far more likely to happen. Tell the clerk you would be happy to give oral evidence. They want witnesses who can speak clearly to the committee about what is happening on the ground.