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A Senate committee will soon decide if federal police can use documents seized in a raid on the home affairs department for its investigation into leaks concerning the visa cases of two foreign au pairs.

The Senate on Tuesday afternoon voted to refer the issue to its privileges committee, which is due to meet on Thursday.

Last week, investigators were ordered to hand over any documentation to the Senate clerk for safekeeping until Labor senator Louise Pratt’s claim for parliamentary privilege could be settled.

The privileges committee is expected to offer affected parties the opportunity to make submissions and has left the door open to examining the seized material if necessary, according to a Senate motion.

Eight senators are on the committee – government backbenchers Dean Smith, Eric Abetz, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells and David Bushby, Labor’s Jacinta Collins, Deborah O’Neill and Lisa Singh as well as Greens senator Nick McKim.

During a Senate inquiry hearing into the au pair saga last month, Pratt warned department boss Mike Pezzullo that any federal police investigation would have to take into account parliamentary privilege.