In Australia, at both the Commonwealth and State level, there is no all-encompassing legislation comparable to the Canadian Inquiries Act under which all public inquiries have to be appointed. This would make their identification easier. The exceptions to this are royal commissions that are established under their own specific legislation. Commonwealth royal commissions are appointed under the Royal Commissions Act 1902. Similar legislation occurs in all the States. This legislation confers on royal commissions specific powers of investigation that other inquires do not have. This is discussed later.
A small number of public inquiries may also be established under other legislation.
Key features of public inquiries sets out criteria by which public inquiries can be identified and distinguished from other advisory instruments.