Chapter 5 - Officers
of the Senate:
Parliamentary administration
The
Department of the Senate
The Department of the Senate has existed since 1901 but is now
established under the Parliamentary Service Act 1999, and provides the
Senate, its committees, the President of the Senate and senators with a broad
range of advisory and support services, to enable the performance of the
constitutional role of the Senate. These services include procedural advice,
legislative drafting, secretariats for committees, programming and
documentation support for the chamber, the processing of legislation and other
documents, research and education, and administrative support.
Staff of the department are employed under the Parliamentary Service
Act. The department and its officers serve equally senators from all political
parties and independent senators. Many staff have a high level of individual
and direct responsibility to senators.
The Department is administered by a senior executive consisting of the
Deputy Clerk, three Clerks Assistant and the Usher of the Black Rod. The Deputy
Clerk has no line management responsibilities, and supports and deputises for
the Clerk. Each Clerk Assistant and the Usher of the Black Rod is responsible
for the efficient management of an office of the department.
The Senate Department receives its funding through the Appropriation
(Parliamentary Departments) Acts, is accountable to the Senate through the
President of the Senate, and is subject to scrutiny by the Senate Standing
Committee on Appropriations and Staffing (see below), the Senate committee
which considers its estimates and the Finance and Public Administration
Committee. It is also subject to examination annually by the Auditor-General,
and continuously throughout the year by a contract internal auditor. Apart from
legislation which establishes the special nature of the parliamentary service,
such as the Parliamentary Service Act and the Appropriation (Parliamentary
Departments) Act, the department operates within the same legislative framework
as executive departments.
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