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| The Department's purpose, as set out in its Corporate Plan, is: To support the House of Representatives and the Parliament by providing advice and services of the highest standard. |
The Department provides services to support the efficient conduct of the House of Representatives, its committees and certain joint committees, as well as a range of services for Members in Parliament House. The Department also undertakes activities to promote the work of the House in the community and is responsible for the conduct of the Parliament's international and regional relations.
The Speaker, the Honourable Neil Andrew, MP, has accountability obligations to the Parliament for the Department. The Clerk of the House of Representatives, Ian Harris, is responsible for managing the Department.
The Department acts in partnership with the Department of the Senate, other parliamentary departments, the Office of the Governor-General and relevant government agencies to ensure the outcomes of the parliamentary proceedings are processed and recorded accurately and on time. In addition, the Department also works with government and non-government agencies to promote awareness of the Australian Parliament and its operations within the community. It also works in partnership with other parliaments and parliamentary associations around the world to promote and support democratic parliamentary processes.
Major Demands
In the
coming year, the Department faces several major demands that could impact on its
financial outcome and performance.
A general election is anticipated and this creates significant forward planning challenges to ensure the Department can respond quickly and flexibly to possible sudden changes in priorities and work patterns. The Department has built up much experience in managing its resources to meet the needs. However, this will be the first time in an accrual environment and the outcome is uncertain and depends on the actual timing of the election and the composition of the new parliament.
A major concern is the possible departure of many experienced staff. In a department of 250 staff there are 50 who are over 53 years of age including 19 who will be eligible for early retirement prior to the end of 2001-2002. The provisions for these staff total $1.34m. Beside the age profile, experience shows that the ending of a parliament can be expected to result in additional separations. Planning is underway to minimise the impact of these separations in the coming years.
The Department continues to have a major role to play in the celebration of the Centenary of Federation in 2001-2002. No funding was received for these activities. Most will continue to be funded from within existing output budgets and by using the time and expertise of senior staff supplemented by volunteer efforts of other staff.
In September 2001, the Parliament, in concert with Australian State and Territory parliaments including Norfolk Island, will host the 47th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference. The Department is providing the administrative support for the conference. Many volunteer staff will be involved in supporting the conference and the 600 delegates and approximately 150 accompanying persons as they participate in the various activities that will take place throughout Australia.
The Department will continue to explore ways to provide better services to Members. It will be pursuing matters initiated in 2000-2001 including improved administration of the personalised stationery entitlement and insurance coverage for Members while undertaking parliamentary duties. More flexible arrangements for the provision of goods and services to meet the varying priorities of Members will also be pursued.
Additional funding was obtained for specific requirements in 2001-2002 such as the need to accommodate an additional two Members in the next parliament. However, the foregoing demands will all need to be met within current funding arrangements, which are subject to an annual 1% efficiency dividend. Whilst this restricts the Department's capacity to introduce new or additional services, it intends to continue to pursue efficiencies and improved service levels through positive people management and the application of technology to its operations.
Contribution to the
outcome
The Department has a single outcome:
The House of Representatives fulfils its role as a representative and legislative body.
This is supported by four output groups as discussed in detail in Part C of this statement. The Department's organisational structure is progressively being changed to better align it with the output structure. The contribution made by organisational units to the outcome and outputs is shown in chart 1 on the following page. The breakup of resources is shown in chart 2
Chart 1: Organisational contribution to the outcome
Chart 2: Resource usage
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