 A typical year in the life of a Senate legislation committee will see it conduct eight days of hearings around budget estimates , in three sessions : February ( additional estimates ) , May / June ( the main budget estimates ) and October / November ( supplementary budget estimates ) . In addition , it will typically conduct several inquiries into pieces of legislation being considered by the parliament . A references committee will conduct inquiries into policy issues referred to it by the Senate . Each of these inquiries will usually result in a report tabled in the Senate ( there may be exceptions if an election intervenes during the committee 's deliberations ) . A consolidated list of the reports prepared by all Senate committees since 1970 is published by the Department of the Senate . 
