Annual Report 2002–03
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Group 3 > Output 3.3
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Output Group 3: Members' Services
3.3 Facilities and services
| Provision of facilities and services in accordance
with administrative decisions |
Information services
Four editions of the members' bulletin House Update were
published during the year to help keep members and their staff informed
about developments in the House. In addition, a seminar for new staff
of members was held to familiarise them with the work of the House and
the services available to assist them in their work. The annual series
of briefings on procedural and other developments in relation to the
House continued. Feedback indicated that members and their staff valued
the regular updates they received from the department.
Accommodation services
Twelve members were relocated during the reporting period. The relocation
requests were responded to in a timely manner and to the satisfaction
of the members.
During the reporting period we received 602 requests for the supply
or movement of furniture. Of those requests, 99.88 per cent were processed
within the agreed target time. Our agreed target was to satisfy priority
1 tasks within three hours, priority 2 tasks within 12 hours, priority
3 tasks within 24 hours and priority 4 tasks within two to five days.
Maintenance, access and transport services
The Serjeant-at-Arms' Office coordinated the responses to requests
for both emergency and routine maintenance works. During the reporting
period the office processed 367 emergency requests, attending to 99.75
per cent within five minutes of receipt. The office passed to the Joint
House Department 334 routine maintenance requests for repairs or alterations
to suites or common areas. These requests often resulted from our procedure
of checking all suites at the end of each sitting period.
During the reporting period the office received and dealt with 203 requests
for telephone support. Of those, 37 related to faults and were reported
within five minutes of receipt to telephone support officers, who actioned
them all within the agreed 45 minutes.
The Serjeant-at-Arms' Office processed 764 individual applications
for access to suites. The office processed a further 97 multiple requests
(requests for access to all members' suites).
The Hyatt Catering Service made 223 requests for access to Parliament
House facilities, such as the Great Hall, the Mural Hall and the private
dining rooms. The office returned 93 of these with requests for further
information. The office considered every request within one working day
of its receipt, and granted all but one.
The Serjeant-at-Arms' Office coordinated transport services for
members, including the members' shuttle service available during
sitting weeks. Our agreed target was to conduct the transport service
without error; we achieved a 99.85 per cent success rate for the year,
out of approximately 4,500 bookings.
Information technology services
The Information Systems and Publishing Office completed a rollout of
new laptop computers for members during the year. The new laptop is a
lighter and smaller model, more suited for use in the Chamber and while
travelling, and was well received by members. After having the hard drives
erased, the department donated 14 of the superseded laptops to the Rural
Fire Services of the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales
to assist them in their duties.
A new computer operating system (Windows XP) was tested and will be
rolled out to members early in the new financial year. The system has
already been implemented for departmental users. It offers several advantages
in improved productivity, being more stable, easier to use and better
performing than the obsolete platform. A particular advantage for remote
and mobile users is that it will provide more consistent access to services
and information.
Following their successful implementation in committee offices, trialling
of new multifunction devices for members' suites took place during
the year. These devices replaced photocopiers that had come to the end
of their working lives, and will provide increased functionality.
Departmental staff participated in an interparliamentary working group
planning the implementation of a new parliamentarians' intranet.
Messenger services
The agreed target for messenger services was to provide the services
within the periods specified in the service charter. No complaints were
received and the service charter approach adopted by the messengerial
attendants continued to be very successful.
The messenger services continued to be staffed by a small core group
of full-time ongoing staff supplemented by part-time or sessional staff
as the need arose. There were fewer full-time staff in 2002–03,
and the strategy resulted in considerable salary savings compared with
salary costs in 2001–02.
Printing services
The department's in-house printing centre continued to print those
documents that were needed within short time frames for the efficient
running of the House. The overall print room output was in the order
of 14.76 million impressions. While this is an increase on the total
reached in the previous reporting period, which included an election
break, it is just over half the number of impressions made in the corresponding
period in the last parliamentary cycle. The decrease in impressions was
due to a change in work practices, primarily in the Table and Committee
Offices, whereby more information was provided in electronic format or
by print-on-demand. The increase in the number of documents provided
electronically was facilitated by the installation of multifunction devices
in work areas. These enabled work groups to turn their hard copy into
portable document format (PDF) documents that they could send electronically
or publish on the intranet or website.
During 2002–03, 6.57 million impressions were printed for members
as part of their in-house printing allowances. This represents an increase
of 20 per cent on the total reached in 2001–02, an election year.
The average turnaround time for this work was fewer than seven working
days, representing a 30 per cent improvement in service provision. The
improvements were due to changes made to work practices during the year
and the training of printing staff in the use of Digipath, software used
in the pre-press stage of printing. Members indicated that they were
satisfied with the in-house printing service, 70 per cent being either
highly or extremely satisfied and another 25 per cent being satisfied.
Internet services
An upgrade in the members' homepage generator software resulted
in members' homepages being updated in a more timely manner. Improvements
were also made to the electronic processing of our List of Members,
making it available in PDF format on our website rather than in hard
copy.
During the year, a new web server was built and implemented by the Department
of the Parliamentary Reporting Staff, resulting in improvements in the
security and performance of our internet site.
Security services
Security continued to be an important focus for all parliamentary departments,
following the terrorist incidents in the United States on 11 September 2001
and in Bali on 12 October 2002. A heightened level of threat
existed during the reporting period. Enhanced security measures were
progressively introduced to ensure that security at Parliament House
was adequate to meet the heightened threat level whilst maintaining the
accessibility expected of the nation's parliament building.
The success of the new security arrangements was partly demonstrated
by the absence of unwelcome incidents during the year. The adequacy of
security measures was also tested internally, through a program of random
checks on staff members' performance against the agreed security
procedures and protocols. Of the members surveyed, 50 per cent were either
extremely or highly satisfied, and 45 per cent were satisfied, with their
experience of the security service.
In addition, in May 2003 a national counter-terrorist exercise was conducted,
with a major aspect taking place in the parliamentary precincts, in order
to practise and validate national counter-terrorist management arrangements
and test and develop counter-terrorist capabilities. Parliamentary security
services played a significant role in the exercise, which achieved its
objectives.
As noted in last year's annual report, the Podger review recommended
changes to improve the administration and management of parliamentary
security. Following the acceptance by the Presiding Officers of those
recommendations, considerable work was undertaken on their implementation.
The detail of the changes is discussed below.
Management and administration
The implementation of the Podger review recommendations will significantly
improve governance and administrative arrangements in relation to security.
During 2002–03 the interim Security Management Board (SMB), established
in response to the review last financial year, became a permanent body
with overall responsibility for security at Parliament House. The SMB,
which meets at least monthly, comprehensively reviewed security arrangements
in Parliament House and advised the Presiding Officers on enhancing security
measures.
The transfer of the security function and all security staff from the
departments of the Senate and the House of Representatives to the Joint
House Department, as recommended by the Podger review, is proceeding.
Responsibility for the management of the administrative and managerial
security staff was transferred to the Joint House Department in April 2003.
We expect responsibility for operational security staff to be transferred
early next financial year. The concentration of the security function
in a single department will enable better coordination of security and
a single, consistent approach to staffing the security service.
The departments of the Senate and the House of Representatives will
continue to fund the security function, and a memorandum of understanding
has been developed to cover the terms of the provision of the security
service by the Joint House Department. The memorandum specifies the service
levels and standards expected of the service.
Operational enhancements
Significant operational enhancements resulted from the SMB's comprehensive
ongoing review of security arrangements at Parliament House. Physical
security around the building was considerably enhanced, including through:
- installing permanent gates and barriers at the ministerial entrance,
to restrict vehicle access
- installing electronically controlled boom gates at the Senate and
House of Representatives underground car park entrances
- increasing restrictions on parking and leaving vehicles unattended
at the Senate and House of Representatives entrances
- restricting pedestrians' access to the roof of Parliament
House via the grassed ramps (pedestrians can still gain access from
inside the building, having undergone security screening)
- installing barriers across the forecourt and main entrance at the
front of Parliament House, to restrict vehicle access
- increasing the number of Australian Protective Service officers
deployed in the precincts of Parliament House, and introducing explosive-detection
dogs and specially trained bicycle patrol officers.
The SMB developed protocols and procedures for handling suspect mail
items and for allowing access to members' and senators' suites,
and the department sought to raise awareness of those protocols and procedures
among all staff.
Events in the precincts
There were 42 events held in the Parliament House assembly area during
the year, ranging from large demonstrations to solitary vigils. Although
many of the events attracted considerable interest – from, senators,
members, the press and the general public – all protest activities
and events were contained within the protest area and proceeded without
disrupting the Parliament.
The Presiding Officers' Guidelines for the conduct of protests
and demonstrations in the Parliamentary Precincts were redrafted
during the year, to make them more readable and up-to-date. The major
amendment restricted protest activities to the hours between sunrise
and sunset, and arose from some protest participants' attempts
to camp at Parliament House overnight.
Visits by foreign dignitaries
The Security Controller's Office – which until it was transferred
to the Joint House Department in April 2003 was responsible to the Serjeant-at-Arms – consulted
extensively with law enforcement and intelligence agencies regarding
security for 127 visits by foreign dignitaries and many other formal
visits to Parliament House during the year. The Parliamentary Security
Service and Australian Protective Service provided personnel to facilitate
all the visits of foreign dignitaries, which proceeded without any security
incidents. The Ceremonial and Hospitality Branch of the Department of
the Prime Minister and Cabinet, which arranges such visits, commented
favourably on the efficiency and cooperation shown by the Parliamentary
Security Service.
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