The Hayne Royal Commission – just another piece of official discourse?

Abstract

The institutions of the state and those individuals, and/or groups, who manage and/or operate within them are engaged in ongoing production of information and knowledge. These information/knowledge production processes and structures can operate anywhere along a continuum of overt to covert, helping to shape the cultures, systems and societies in which they are situated. Official discourse is a generic label for the information and knowledge that is produced. At any given time, there may be a multitude of mechanisms of official discourse at work in any jurisdiction that are shaped by prevailing political, economic, social, cultural and historical influences. This article considers royal commissions of inquiry, a mechanism of official discourse that has been popular in some of the jurisdictions that were a part of the British Empire and which continue to be influenced by British legal traditions. The analysis is limited to Australia, in particular, to the recent Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry chaired by Commissioner Kenneth Hayne, which sat throughout 2018. This article discusses its effects as a mechanism of official discourse.