House of Representatives Annual Report 2002-03

Annual Report 2002–03

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Output Group 2: Committee Services and Parliamentary Relations

2.3 Interparliamentary relations

Provision of advice and support to facilitate the conduct of the Parliament's international and regional affairs

Delegations and visits

The primary focus of interparliamentary relations continued to be on fostering direct relationships between the Australian Parliament and parliaments of other countries. The department coordinated programs for 31 bilateral visits to other parliaments and 14 visits to the Australian Parliament from other parliaments during 2002–03 (see Appendices 5 and 7). We also provided support for the participation of senators and members in 12 interparliamentary conferences and seminars. Figures relating to the delegations, visits and memberships of interparliamentary organisations can be found in Tables 10 and 12 in Appendix 1. Noteworthy in the outgoing program was the first official visit to Iran since 1992. The visit succeeded in continuing the Australian Parliament's efforts to build and develop strong bilateral relationships with parliaments in the Middle East.

The incoming visits program included the visit of a Canadian parliamentary delegation led by the Hon. Don Boudria MP, the Minister of State and Leader of the Government in the Canadian House of Commons. He examined parliamentary process and procedures in the Australian Parliament as part of his role in the modernisation process of the Canadian Parliament. We prepared a comprehensive program for the delegation members, who were pleased to acknowledge its quality.

International developments significantly affected the work of the PRO throughout the reporting period. Both outgoing and incoming parliamentary delegations required increased attention to security considerations. The impact of global events also affected the management of programs for incoming delegations, as several proposed visits were deferred or rescheduled in response to particular events. The rescheduling of programs and the requirement for heightened security awareness increased the workload associated with the overall management of programs.

Nevertheless, we provided timely administrative support for official incoming and outgoing delegations, including through briefing meetings, debriefing meetings and associated documents. This helped to ensure that delegates were able to both contribute effectively to conferences and seminars and represent the Parliament's and the nation's interests in their bilateral meetings and visits.

The members' survey recorded that 88 per cent of members who had experience of outgoing delegations were extremely or highly satisfied with arrangements made for them. Incoming participants gave very positive feedback on the programs which focused on their expressed areas of interest and also on areas of interest to the Australian Parliament and the nation.

Support for other parliaments

The Parliament began its official contact with the Parliament of East Timor when the Australian National Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union agreed to fund a training program for parliamentary staff from East Timor. With the support of Australian diplomatic representatives in Dili, arrangements were made for two Timorese staff to participate in a comprehensive two-week training program involving the Australian Parliament and the parliaments of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.

The department also contributed to the development of democratic institutions in Kosovo. Over a six-month period, two staff members served as consultants to the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo. The staff members took turns to act as Head of the Department of Legal Advice and Procedural Advisory Services in the Assembly of Kosovo and helped train the procedural and committee staff of the fledgling assembly.

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association

The Parliament continued to maintain and develop relationships with parliaments in the Pacific region, particularly through its membership of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA). This involved a range of bilateral visits, and training and equipment were also provided to these regional parliaments in various ways. The Australian Parliament provided a regional secretariat to assist both the Australian and the Pacific regions of the CPA, and the Regional Secretary provided support for training, seminars, conferences and visits at both the regional level and individual branch levels.

The CPA Education and Training (Trust) Fund – monitored by trustees from each of the parliaments in the Australian Region of the CPA and administered by the Regional Secretary – financially supported training of parliamentary staff and provided equipment to seven Pacific region parliaments in 2002–03.

Interparliamentary study program

The second interparliamentary study program was held from 7 to 17 October 2002. Senior staff of the national parliaments of Canada, Chile, Cook Islands, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Namibia, New Zealand, Samoa, Scotland, Sweden, Tanzania and Zambia, and the state parliament of Victoria, participated.

The program was launched in 2001, with the following objectives:

to streamline and make more effective the administration of the visits program for officials from overseas parliaments
to offer the participants the opportunity to mix widely, establish contacts and exchange views on a variety of parliamentary and political systems
to give an opportunity to the participants to consider the role and the working of their own parliament, and observe the relevance of Australian management practices to the administration of their legislature
to offer to the participants an overview of Australia's system of government; the functioning of the Australian Parliament, including its key players, administration, and publications; how laws are made; how committees operate; what occurs on a parliamentary sitting day; and the functions of the parliamentary departments.

The program was evaluated both by participants and presenters. Participants agreed unanimously that the program was a success and gave them a good insight into the workings of the of Australian Parliament, and nominated a number of areas with potential for improvement. Presenters also suggested some changes to the format for the next program.

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