| ABC |
Australian Broadcasting Corporation |
| ACT |
Australian Capital Territory |
| administered expenses/items |
Revenues, expenses, assets, and liabilities administered
by the department for the Commonwealth generally and not for
the running of the department. |
| amendments and requests for amendments |
Proposals to alter a bill, which may be moved by any senator
or member. Any amendments made by one House must be agreed to
by the other House before a bill can become law. The Senate
may not amend bills imposing taxation or appropriating money
for the Commonwealth’s ordinary annual services; nor may
it amend an appropriation bill so as to increase a charge or
burden on the people. The Senate may request the House of Representatives
to make such amendments. |
| APS |
Australian Parliamentary Service |
| assent print |
The final version of a bill as agreed to by both Houses,
prepared by the initiating House for the Governor-General’s
signature (or assent). |
| AWA |
Australian Workplace Agreement |
| bill |
A proposal for a law that is introduced into parliament.
Bills are considered consecutively by the two Houses of Commonwealth
Parliament, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The
two Houses must agree to a bill in identical terms before it
can be transmitted to the Governor-General for assent, which
marks its passage into law. |
| Chamber departments |
The departments supporting the two Houses of the Commonwealth
Parliament: namely, the Department of the Senate and the Department
of the House of Representatives. |
| CHRIS |
The department’s new human resource management system.
|
| Clerks at the table |
Clerks, including the Clerk (the head of the department),
the Deputy Clerk and other senior officers of the department,
who sit in the chamber and provide procedural advice while taking
the minutes of Senate proceedings. |
| Committee ‘Red’ |
The daily program of Senate committee hearings held in Parliament
House; named after the Senate ‘Red’. |
| Committee of the whole |
The stage in the debate on a bill in the chamber during which
each clause or group of clauses is considered in detail and
during which amendments or requests may be moved. |
| CPG |
Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines |
| CVP |
Citizenship Visits Program |
| despatch boxes |
Educational resources produced by the PEO for senators and
members are contained in facsimiles of the despatch boxes in
the House of Representatives chamber—the decorated boxes
on the central table at which the Prime Minister, ministers
and members of the Opposition executive speak. |
| disallowance notice |
A procedure by which a senator notifies the Senate that he/she
seeks to disallow certain delegated legislation. |
| DOFA |
The Department of Finance and Administration |
| DPS |
The Department of Parliamentary Services—formed from
the amalgamation on 1 February 2004 of the Department of the
Parliamentary Library, the Department of the Parliamentary Reporting
Staff and the Joint House Department. |
| Dynamic Red |
An on-line, updateable version of the Senate ‘Red’
which allows users to follow the progress of business in the
chamber on any sitting day. |
| Education Centre |
The name of the Parliament House facility in which the PEO
conducts role-plays and other programs for visiting students.
|
| estimates committees |
A term commonly used to describe legislation committees’
consideration of the annual and additional estimates of expenditure
of government departments and agencies. |
| Fedlink |
A dedicated virtual private network that provides secure
and trusted communications across any infrastructure, including
the internet. |
| hearing loop |
A loop of wire installed around the perimeter of an area,
such as a committee room, and connected directly to an audio
amplifier, to assist hearing-impaired people. |
| ICON |
A dedicated broadband fibre link between the Table Office
and the provider of its microfilming and digitising services.
|
| inquiries service |
A service run by the Table Office which provides senators,
their staff and other clients with copies of legislation, documents
tabled in the Senate and responses to inquiries about Senate
business. |
| IPU |
Inter-Parliamentary Union |
| KPMG |
The company holding the contract for the department’s
internal auditing function. |
| legislation committees |
Committees which report on bills or draft bills, the annual
and additional estimates of expenditure of government departments
and agencies, and annual reports and the performance of government
departments and agencies—the last two are standing references
which enable the committees to initiate inquiries in respect
of their scrutiny of Commonwealth administration. Legislation
committees effectively have government majorities. |
| Little Lunch Sittings |
A community education program run by the PEO for community
groups at lunchtime. |
| messengerial support |
Services provided in the Senate chamber by the chamber attendants,
including distribution of documents, conveyance of messages
and supervision of chamber doors during divisions (formal votes)
and quorum calls. |
| motions/formal motions/procedural motions
|
Proposals for the Senate to agree to something, which must
be expressed in a way that conforms with standing orders. |
| OH&S |
Occupational health and safety |
| OneOffice |
The platform that supports the parliamentary computing network.
|
| parliamentary precincts |
Parliament House and the land on which it is situated, as
defined in the Parliamentary Precincts
Act 1988; the precincts
are under the control and management of the Presiding Officers.
|
| parliamentary privilege |
Two significant aspects of the law relating to parliament:
the privileges or immunities of the Houses of the Commonwealth
Parliament; and the powers of the Houses to protect the integrity
of their processes, particularly the power to punish contempts.
|
| PBS |
Portfolio Budget Statements |
| PEO |
Parliamentary Education Office |
| PeopleSoft |
The department’s outgoing human resource management
system. |
| PEP UP |
Parliamentary Executive Professional Upgrade Program |
| Presiding Officers |
The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House
of Representatives are the Presiding Officers. Each presides
over the proceedings of his or her respective House. Administratively,
each is responsible for his or her respective chamber department
and together they are responsible for the DPS. |
| questions on notice |
When referred to in the context of the Senate, these are
written questions to ministers from other senators. Questions
on notice in the context of estimates proceedings are written
or oral questions from committee members to a minister and/or
the minister’s departmental officers, which require written
answers from the department or minister. |
| references committees |
Committees which report on matters referred by the Senate—generally
policy issues—other than those referred to the legislation
committees. References committees have non-government majorities.
|
| running sheet |
A checklist of amendments used by senators when considering
bills in the committee of the whole. Running sheets show all
proposed amendments, identified by subject matter and grouped
as needed; conflicts between amendments; relevant references
in the bills under consideration; and procedural questions to
be posed by the Chair of Committees. |
| schedules of amendments |
Lists of amendments to bills, agreed to by the Senate, which
are forwarded to the House of Representatives for consideration.
|
| scripts/procedural scripts |
Pro-forma procedural statements used by senators at certain
times during debates and other Senate proceedings. |
| Senate ‘Red’ |
The daily program issued to senators on sitting days as a
guide to chamber proceedings; named after the red flash printed
on the front page of the document. |
| SES |
Senior Executive Service |
| SMAG |
Senior Management Advisory Group |
| standing orders |
Procedural rules that govern the conduct of proceedings in
the Senate and its committees. |
| STEP UP |
An extension of the PEP UP program, for senior staff. |
| survey of senators |
A biennial survey commissioned by the Department of the Senate
and conducted by an independent research services organisation
to assess senators’ satisfaction with the quality, efficiency
and effectiveness of the services provided by the department.
|
| television monitoring system |
The means through which parliamentary proceedings, including
committee hearings, are televised within Parliament House. |
| third reading print |
A bill which is amended by the House in which it originates
is reprinted to incorporate the amendments before it is transmitted
to the other House. The bill is therefore transmitted in the
form in which it is ‘read a third time’ in the originating
House. |
| webcast |
The means through which parliamentary proceedings, including
committee hearings, are broadcast on the internet. |
| WISE |
Working in the Senate, a program under which public servants
from other departments and agencies are seconded to the department
to work on committee inquiries and to gain knowledge of the
Senate and its operations, which they can apply to the benefit
of their organisations on their return. |
