Annual Report 2005–06
Appendix 5—Public awareness activities undertaken by departmental officers
During 2005–06, 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
- schoolchildren and members of the public
- participants in the Australian Defence Force Parliamentary Program, the Australian Rural Leadership Program, the annual Commercial Teachers’ Association conference, and the Australian Public Service Commission Senior Executive Service Orientation Program.
Senior officers also conducted professional development seminars for senators’ staff, staff from a wide range of Australian Public Service agencies, and departmental staff participating in staff development programs.
The Clerk gave specialised presentations on the Senate and accountability to staff from the Australian National Audit Office and to Vincent Fairfax Ethics Centre fellows.
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.
| Lyn Beverley | |
|---|---|
| ‘Senate report on services and treatment options for persons with cancer’, article in Journal of the Australasian Integrative Medicine Association, Volume no. 25 | July 2005 |
| Kathleen Dermody, Ian Holland and Elton Humphrey | |
| ‘Parliamentary committees and neglected voices in society’, article for The Table | 2006 (forthcoming) |
| Harry Evans | |
| ‘Estimates hearings: the Grand Inquisition’, The Table | 2005 |
| ‘Senate committees and public inquiries: strengths and differences’, IPAA Conference | 22 September 2005 |
| ‘Putting Parliament before the courts’, book review in The Canberra Times | 4 October 2005 |
| ‘The failure of the law and the superiority of politics: republicanism versus legal constitutionalism’, book review in Constitutional Law and Policy Review, 8:3 | November 2005 |
| ‘Parliamentary reform’, Matilda | 10 March 2006 |
| ‘Parliamentary privilege: an address to the ACT Law Society’, Government Lawyers Update | April 2006 |
| ‘Corporate governance and a government Senate majority’, Institute for International Research, 9th Annual Corporate Governance in the Public Sector Conference | 10 April 2005 |
| ‘Senate estimates hearings and the government majority in the Senate’, address to members of the Australian Marketing Institute, National Press Club | 11 April 2006 |
| ‘The case for bicameralism’, University of Queensland Law School/University of Sunshine Coast Conference, Improving Government Accountability in Queensland: the Upper House Solution? | 21 April 2006 |
| ‘Lively, analytical history of the NSW Parliament’, book review in Constitutional Law and Policy Review | June 2006 |
| Roxane Le Guen and Michael York | |
| ‘The Dynamic Red’, a presentation to the Parliamentary IT forum at Parliament House, Sydney, on the Department of the Senate’s online record of proceedings | September 2005 |
| Elton Humphrey | |
| ‘Forgotten Australians and protecting vulnerable children: a national challenge’, article in Families Australia | Spring 2005 |
| Anthony Marinac | |
| ‘Imagining representative democracy’, Online Opinion | 28 February 2006 |
| Anthony Marinac and Jonathan Curtis | |
| ‘The scrutiny of government agencies by Parliamentary Joint Committees’, Australasian Parliamentary Review, 21(1), 118–134. | June 2006 |
| The Clerk | |
|---|---|
| Finance and Public Administration Committee: Government advertising (appearance) | 19 August 2005 |
| Finance and Public Administration Committee: Government advertising (supplementary submissions (6)) | July, August, October and December 2005 |
| Publications Committee: Distribution of the parliamentary papers series (written submission) | 18 October 2005 |
| Publications Committee: Distribution of the parliamentary papers series (appearance) | 7 November 2006 |
| Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit: Review of reports of the Auditor-General (written submission) | 9 May 2006 |
| Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit: Review of reports of the Auditor-General (appearance) | 29 May 2006 |
| Finance and Public Administration References Committee: Transparency and accountability of Commonwealth public funding and expenditure (written submission) | 27 June 2006 |
| The Deputy Clerk | |
| Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit: Review of reports of the Auditor-General (appearance) | 22 May 2006 |
