Annual Report 2004–05
Appendix 5—Public awareness activities undertaken by departmental officers
During 2004–05, the Clerk and other senior officers made presentations to various groups of interested people, such as:
- parliamentary officers and interns
- visitors’ guides at Parliament House and Old Parliament House
- parliamentary committees
- overseas visitors, including parliamentary delegations
- individual members of parliament and their staff
- participants in the Australian Defence Force Parliamentary Program, the Australian Rural Leadership Program, and the Australian Public Service Commission Senior Executive Service Orientation Program.
Senior officers also conducted professional development seminars for new senators, senators’ staff, staff from a wide range of Australian Public Service agencies, and departmental staff participating in the PEP UP and STEP UP programs.
The Clerk Assistant (Procedure) gave specialised presentations on the powers, procedures and operations of the Senate and its committees, to audiences from:
- academic institutions, including the Australian National University Legal Workshop and the Parliamentary–University Partnership Program
- the Australian Public Service Commission Senior Women in Management Program
- the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Leadership and Development Program for Locally Engaged Staff
- the Ho Chi Minh National Political Academy
- an Australian Political Exchange Council delegation from the United States
- the Chinese Vice Minister for Finance and an accompanying delegation
- the Australian Electoral Commission Executive Level Leadership Program
- a Vietnamese National Assembly staff study tour
- Telstra (on appearing before estimates committees)
- the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (on parliament, privilege and accountability)
- the Office of Parliamentary Counsel (on legislative procedures for drafters)
- new members of the Niue Assembly, in Niue (a one-week training seminar)
- the Deputy Chairman, and members and staff of the Indonesian Senate (an intensive one-week program).
Departmental officers also presented and published papers on the powers, procedures and operations of the Senate or related issues, as shown in the following table.
Papers produced by departmental officers
| Clark, Geoff | ‘Role Play and Civics Education’, Teacher | March 2005 |
|---|---|---|
| Evans, Harry |
‘The traditional, the quaint and the useful: pitfalls of reforming parliamentary procedures’, Thirty-fifth Presiding Officers’ and Clerks’ Conference, Melbourne | July 2004 |
| ‘Government advertising’, submission to the Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee | August 2004 | |
| ‘Parliamentary privilege and party discipline’, The Parliamentarian | 2004 | |
| ‘Law research and parliamentary activities: a major impact’, Australian Law Librarian | September 2004 | |
| ‘Statutes Amendment (Parliament Finance and Services) Bill’, submission to the South Australian House of Assembly | October 2004 | |
| ‘The future of the Senate committee system’, Committee Bulletin | November 2004 | |
| ‘Mandate theory: a bundle of fallacies’, Impact | Summer 2005 | |
| ‘Beware the monarchical gargoyle in our Constitution’,
The Canberra Times |
25 February 2005 | |
| ‘Unauthorised disclosure of committee proceedings’, submission to the Senate Committee of Privileges | April 2005 | |
| ‘The Senate after 1 July: a revolution?’, Committee for Economic Development of Australia briefing | April 2005 | |
| ‘Executive and Parliament’, Howard’s 2nd and 3rd Governments, eds. C Aulich and R Wettenhall, UNSW Press | 2005 | |
| ‘A day spent in the public gallery would shock the founding fathers’, Sydney Morning Herald | 21 June 2005 | |
| ‘Abuse of majority too risky’, The Australian | 21 June 2005 | |
| Garnett, Ali | ‘Cockatoo Island and Hadedas Island: a link between Africa and Australia in parliamentary education’, paper given at the Environmental Education Association of South Africa’s international conference in Lusaka, Zambia | May 2005 |
| Holland, Ian | Submission to the Senate Committee of Privileges on its inquiry into unauthorised disclosure of committee proceedings | April 2005 |
| Participation in ‘The Australian Senate: Democratic and Federal Dimensions—Lessons for Canada?’, a seminar held by the Political Science Program, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University | 7 June 2005 | |
| Vander Wyk, John, and Lilley, Angie | ‘Reference of Bills to Australian Senate Committees with particular reference to the role of the Selection of Bills Committee’, Papers on Parliament, No. 43, Department of the Senate | June 2005 |
