How well do parliamentary committees connect with the public?

Most political scientists regard parliamentary committees as one of the most successful aspects of parliamentary business, where MPs of all persuasions come together to analyse and investigate issues of public policy and governance. Whilst their recommendations are not always implemented, they do play a major role in informing parliamentary debates. Amongst the public however, the work of parliamentary committees remains unrecognised and underappreciated. Utilising a pilot study of Western Australian parliamentary committees, this paper looks at how these committees go about seeking public input into their inquiries, and whether they plan to broaden their methods of communicating with the public in the future. This analysis is placed in the context of evidence at the Commonwealth level in Australia, along with ideas from other jurisdictions internationally