Who we are and what we do
Who are we?
An effective parliament needs excellent support services and administration. For the Australian Parliament, these functions are provided by the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) and the two chamber departments (the Department of the Senate and the Department of the House of Representatives).
DPS is the principal support agency for the operations of Parliament House—a building where more than 3,500 people work on sitting days and which nearly one million people visit each year.
To fulfil the DPS mission of “serving the Australian people by supporting the Parliament and caring for Parliament House”, DPS has approximately 800 staff with a huge diversity of skills. DPS has an annual operations budget of around $100 million to deliver a wide variety of services, including security, building maintenance, catering, information communication and technology, Hansard, broadcasting, and library and research services to the Parliament, parliamentary committees, Members and Senators and their staff and other building occupants.
DPS also:
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provides service to assist visitors to the building;
- delivers a substantial capital works program, including improved security systems, improved IT systems, and replacement and modernisation of ageing mechanical, electrical and broadcast systems; and
- is the landlord for various commercial tenants within the building.
DPS provides professional advice and support for the Parliament independent of the Executive Government of the Commonwealth.
The Presiding Officers (the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives) are jointly responsible for the department. The Secretary of DPS is responsible to the Presiding Officers for the department’s efficient operation.
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What do we do?
DPS delivers a wide range of services to both internal and external clients broadly grouped into the seven business lines set out below:
Library and research services
- Information and research services tailored to meet the specific needs of Senators, Members, their staff and Parliamentary committees using the Parliamentary Library's specialist staff, collections, networks and access to national and international resources and expertise.
- Current and historical information about Senators and Members, Ministries, elections and referenda, papers produced in the Parliamentary Library's publications program, and guides to Internet resources.
Parliamentary records services
- Hansard transcripts of proceedings of the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Main Committee of the House of Representatives and public hearings of parliamentary committees.
- Television and radio broadcasts of proceedings of the chambers and committees, teleconferencing, videoconferencing and audiovisual services.
- Video and audio production facilities for Parliamentary events.
Information and communication technology services
- Parliament-wide computing networks, infrastructure and information systems providing access to key parliamentary resources, documents and materials
- Information technology and broadcasting, training, support and consultancy services.
- Management of the computer network which connects Senators' and Members' Parliament House offices to their electorate offices.
- Telecommunication services, including telephone and facsimile.
Security Services
- Security of the Parliament House building, its occupants and external perimeter.
Building services and amenities
- Heating, cooling, energy, water and waste services.
- Catering, cleaning, health and recreation services.
- Art services.
- Facilities, building and landscape services.
Visitors services
- Visitor services, including the Parliament Shop, the guide service and access to the Parliament House website.
Parliamentary service support
- Project management for building infrastructure, security and technology projects.
- Internal support services including finance, HR, governance and strategy development.
More information about DPS can be found in the following documents:
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