© Commonwealth of Australia 2016

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia Licence.

The details of this licence are available on the Creative Commons website:
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au

ISSN: 0812-1427

Web address of this report: www.aph.gov.au/senate/dept/annreps/2016

Prepared and printed by the Department of the Senate

Use of the Coat of Arms

The terms under which the Coat of Arms can be used are detailed on the It’s an Honour website: www.itsanhonour.gov.au/coat-arms/index.cfm

Contact officer

For further information about the content of this report, please contact the annual report coordinator:

Deputy Clerk

Department of the Senate

Parliament House

Canberra ACT 2600

Phone: 02 6277 3360

Email: depclerk.sen@aph.gov.au

Letter of transmittal

About this report

This annual report of the Department of the Senate documents the department’s performance for the financial year ending 30 June 2016.

The report is presented in six parts.

Overviews

Commentary by the Clerk on performance and significant matters that affected the department, and a description of role, aims, structure and functions

Report on performance

A summary of overall performance, the department’s annual performance statement, and a description of each office’s contribution to the department’s outcome

Management and accountability

A report on corporate governance and the management of resources

Financial statements

The auditor’s report and audited financial statements

Appendices

Resources

Staffing

Contact details

References

Tools to assist the reader:

a glossary and abbreviations list

an index showing how the report complies with annual reporting requirements

an alphabetical index

The report is presented for tabling in the Senate pursuant to section 65 of the Parliamentary Service Act 1999. It is also produced to meet the information needs of interested people, including:

senators and their staff

the Australian community

staff of the Department of the Senate and other parliamentary departments

staff of other legislatures

staff of executive government departments and agencies

the media.

The report is available on the department’s website:
www.aph.gov.au/senate/dept/annreps/2016

Overviews

Clerk’s review

This report documents the performance of the Department of the Senate for 2015–16.

As explained in the text of the report, this year is a transitional year in the evolution of the Commonwealth’s performance framework and the report bridges the transition by containing elements of the new and old reporting frameworks.

A significant sign of the transition was the launch of the department’s new Audit Committee on which 60% of the membership now comprises independent external members. The committee has already demonstrated its value, with the department’s governance and internal audit strategies benefitting from additional external perspectives and experience. The financial statements for 2015–16 which are attached to this report include an unmodified opinion from the Australian National Audit Office.

I began last year’s review by explaining the implications for the department’s performance of the new Senate, which first met on 7 July 2014 with a record number of senators sitting on the cross-benches. At the end of the 2015–16 financial year, that new Senate had been dissolved, the first such dissolution in almost three decades. Preceding the dissolution was another unusual constitutional event, the first prorogation of Parliament since 1977 that was not followed by a general election. During the year, the pressure on Senate committees also continued at record levels as Senate committee inquiries continued to function as a panacea for any problem of policy, governance or administration that required further examination.

Although resources were stretched, the principal performance objectives were achieved to the satisfaction of senators, thanks to the calibre and commitment of the department’s greatest asset – its staff.

The department’s budget

Together with the community’s reliance on Senate committees to find answers, these unusual events, and the department’s response to and support for them, highlight the importance of the department’s advisory role in the operation of our system of government. They reinforce the importance of adequate funding to maintain and enhance the capacity of the department and its staff to support the Senate and its committees in the breadth of work senators undertake as representatives of the people of the states and territories.

Last year, I wrote that “if the department’s budget is inadequate to support the level of activity that the Senate determines, then the Senate risks being constrained in being able to carry out its constitutional functions, an outcome that is unacceptable”. Regrettably, despite the efforts of the President of the Senate and the Appropriations, Staffing and Security Committee, little changed in 2015–16 and the department has an expected shortfall into the future of approximately $3 million a year as additional efficiency dividends continue to have a disproportionate effect on a small agency. The department ran a deficit in the 2015–16 financial year but with one-off supplementation of $3 million for additional committee support for 2016–17, expects to achieve a balanced outcome this year. While supplementation is always welcome, a longer-term solution would be more efficient for planning purposes and a better reflection of the independence of the legislature from the executive government.

The efficiency dividend has long been recognised as a blunt instrument which fails to acknowledge efficiency savings and productivity improvements made by agencies. It is also an ill fit for an agency such as the Senate department whose workload is determined almost exclusively by the Senate, not by the executive government, and whose capacity to support the Senate is inappropriately impeded by policy decisions of the latter. Most mature democracies recognise the value of a legislature that can deliver policy-saving compromise through careful inquiry and judicious amending of legislation, and fund it accordingly, respecting the separation of powers that underlies such systems.

Efforts will no doubt continue in 2016–17 and beyond to address this most unsatisfactory situation.

In the meantime, the story of 2015–16 was more encouraging on other fronts.

ICT developments and parliamentary information

Centralisation of ICT services in the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) continued to mature as responsibility for ongoing maintenance and support of ICT systems was consolidated in DPS, thereby freeing up resources in the Senate department to focus on the production and publication of high quality information.

The election break provided an opportunity to develop and test new applications that will finally allow us to realise more of our vision for streamlining the production of parliamentary information by sharing and easily repurposing procedural resources. In particular, ParlWork, an app developed with DPS and the Department of the House of Representatives, will be launched early in the 45th Parliament and will provide easy access to live chamber business for members of Parliament, their staff and parliamentary officers, regardless of the device used and with much greater agility than was available with earlier information resources.

Also new for the 45th Parliament will be a redeveloped and interactive Notice Paper, the official agenda of the Senate, and enhanced versions of the pioneering Dynamic Red and Senate Daily Summary. The latter will provide improved access to a variety of parliamentary information including notices of motion, bills, committee reports and tabled documents. Changed production arrangements will also increase the exposure of more departmental staff to procedural information at a professional level. The substantial work on all of these developments was able to be achieved during the break between the 44th and 45th Parliaments.

In the same vein, the consolidation of new intranet sites for senators (Senate Connect) and departmental staff (SenNET) launched last year will allow further efficiencies and reduce reliance on hard copy information resources.

Collaboration

Much of our work relies on effective collaboration with parliamentary colleagues. During 2015–16 improved relationships were evident in the many examples of fruitful partnerships.

ParlWork has been mentioned as one such example. The virtual tours of Parliament House, accessible from the aph website, are another example of a project with a long gestation reaching a successful conclusion during the year. Biennial Inter-Parliamentary Study Programs also involve all of the parliamentary departments contributing content to an intensive two week program for parliamentary officers from a range of countries, but particularly those in our region. The program held in February 2016 included delegates from New Zealand, Japan, Nigeria, Indonesia, Fiji, the European Union, France, the Solomon Islands, Vietnam and the People’s Republic of China.

Also held biennially, Parliament House Open Day is coordinated in turn by each of the three larger parliamentary departments. The Senate department coordinated the latest Open Day, held at the end of September 2015, which saw more than 5,000 visitors take the opportunity to look behind the scenes at the inner workings of the national Parliament.

After years of juggling high demand for educational programs provided by the Parliamentary Education Office with limited space in sitting weeks, another successful collaboration between the department and DPS involved the identification and rapid preparation of a second venue for the program, allowing simultaneous classes to be conducted with a much greater degree of certainty than was previously possible. The flexibility of the new space means that it is also readily adaptable for other purposes after hours.

Collaboration with our colleagues in state and territory parliaments and in New Zealand is also an increasingly important element of our work. All of those jurisdictions share membership in the Australia and New Zealand Association of Clerks-at-the-Table (ANZACATT), under whose auspices a tertiary-level course in parliamentary law, practice and procedure, and an annual professional development seminar, are conducted. That organisation has links in turn with similar professional bodies in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States of America and South Africa, delegates of which often attend the annual professional development seminar in Australia. These initiatives have broadened professional development opportunities for parliamentary officers, resulting in regular interjurisdictional contact and recruitment of staff. As one of the larger jurisdictions, the Senate Department has also been able to offer temporary placements to staff from other parliaments, often during their election breaks or longer recesses. Over the past two years, we have hosted parliamentary staff from Victoria, NSW, the UK and the Northern Territory and will host staff from Western Australia in 2017. Such staff are usually placed with committees where they provide valuable supplementation of existing resources in exchange for the opportunity to apply and broaden their own skills in another environment.

Election “breaks”

Although the primary focus of our work is on supporting the Senate and its committees, we experienced an unusual sabbatical on the dissolution of the Senate on 9 May 2016 and the consequent cessation of committee business.

Advice continued to be provided on a range of matters, including on parliamentary privilege and senators’ communications, and on the various implications of simultaneous dissolutions and any potential joint sitting of the Houses under section 57 of the Constitution. We undertook the usual end-of-parliament finalisation of records and preparations for a new parliament, including for orientation for new senators and for the opening of the 45th Parliament.

Unusually, however, the simultaneous dissolutions provided a once-in-a-generation opportunity to regroup and address longer term projects of institutional significance. As well as the ICT initiatives already referred to, committee tools such as the report-builder and document templates were tested; electronic record-keeping policies were finalised; many historical records, including photographs, were assessed and conserved; procedural, corporate and administrative guidance was updated and rationalised; research papers and other materials were written; systems were refreshed and modernised; additional training was arranged and new training materials developed; preparatory research for expected new or revived inquiries was done and a new edition of Odgers’ Australian Senate Practice was substantially completed for publication early in 2017.

Conclusion

I thank all my colleagues in the Department of the Senate for their hard work during 2015–16 and their maintenance of consistently high standards of performance and service delivery. I thank them for their good spirits and stamina during periods of outlandish workload and particularly during a very long sitting day on 17–18 March 2016 when the Senate smashed previous records for sitting without breaks. I also thank them for their patience as we continue to navigate towards a new enterprise agreement.

I am grateful to my parliamentary colleagues, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, the Parliamentary Budget Officer and the Secretary of DPS, and their staff, for their cooperation and collegiality in pursuit of our common goal of supporting the Australian Parliament and its component parts. In particular, it has been a pleasure to welcome new DPS Secretary, Rob Stefanic, who has made great progress in restoring confidence in parliamentary administration.

Finally, to the President of the Senate, Senator the Hon. Stephen Parry, and all senators, thank you for your ongoing support.

Rosemary Laing
Clerk of the Senate

Departmental overview

The Senate secretariat

The Senate department provides secretariat support for the Senate and its committees, and advice and support to enable senators and others to participate in their meetings. Its work is substantially driven by the requirements of the Senate and senators.

The department provides services and undertakes activities in the following areas:

Advice about Senate and committee proceedings

Secretariat support for the Senate

Secretariat support for committees

Administrative advice and support for senators

Public information and parliamentary education

Capability, governance and accountability.

In undertaking its functions the department is responsible not to the government of the day but to the Senate and all senators, maintaining complete impartiality in serving equally senators from all political parties and independent senators.

Before turning to the department’s performance during 2015–16, this overview sets out the department’s organisational structure, program structure and objectives.

Organisational structure

The department is responsible to the Senate through the President of the Senate, Senator the Honourable Stephen Parry, who was first elected to that position on 7 July 2014. The administrative head of the department is the Clerk of the Senate, Dr Rosemary Laing, who was appointed in December 2009. The department is organised into the Clerk’s Office and four other offices, as shown in figure 1.

Figure 1 – Organisational structure

Senior staff from across the department provide direct support to the Senate on sitting days as clerks at the table. The following staff performed such duties during the year:

Rosemary Laing

Richard Pye

Maureen Weeks

Chris Reid

Rachel Callinan

Brien Hallett

Sue Blunden

James Warmenhoven

Jackie Morris

Tim Bryant

David Sullivan

The Usher of the Black Rod, Rachel Callinan, performs certain formal and ceremonial duties on sitting days. During 2015–16, the following staff assisted with these duties:

John Baczynski

Anthony Szell

Glenn Krause

Outcome and program structure

In order to achieve its outcome, the department’s objectives, set out in its corporate plan 2015–2019, are to:

continue to develop expertise in the constitutional and procedural bases of the Senate and its committees

maintain and improve services to the Senate, its committees, senators and other users of departmental resources using efficient and up-to-date technology

ensure the highest standard of accurate and prompt procedural advice

publish a range of practical, procedural resources on the work of the Senate and the Parliament and maximise awareness of and access to these resources

produce and deliver effective education and information programs

ensure our workforce planning, recruitment and staff development practices deliver a highly skilled, knowledgeable and motivated workforce.

The department delivers its outcome through a single departmental program comprising the services provided by its five offices. Figure 2 identifies their responsibilities.

Figure 2 – Office responsibilities

Advisory and administrative support services to enable the Senate and senators to fulfil their representative and legislative duties

Clerk’s
Office

Advice on powers, privileges and proceedings

Strategic direction and governance

Support for Procedure, Privileges and Senators’ Interests committees

Procedural information

Senate Public Information Office

Table
Office

Programming and procedural support to the Senate

Processing of legislation and documents

Records of business and proceedings

Document distribution and inquiries services

Support for Appropriations, Staffing and Security; Selection of Bills; and Publications committees

Procedure Office

Legislative drafting and procedural support for
non-government senators

Support for legislative scrutiny committees

Research services

Parliamentary information for the community

Parliamentary education for schools

Policy support and funding for inter-parliamentary relations

Committee Office

Support for legislative and general purpose standing committees, select committees and certain joint committees

Black Rod’s Office

Chamber, committee room and office support

Ceremonial services

Security advice

Financial management

Human resource management

The department also participates in a range of interdepartmental committees through which the parliamentary departments coordinate common and joint activities. Chief among these are regular meetings of the heads of the four parliamentary departments; the Parliamentary Administration Advisory Group; the Security Management Board; the Parliamentary ICT Advisory Board; and numerous boards managing joint projects and endeavours such as the implementation of the Parliament’s Reconciliation Action Plan.

Reporting on performance

This year is a transitional year in the Commonwealth’s performance framework, so this year’s annual report is something of a hybrid.

During the year the department adopted a new performance reporting framework, better adapted to the requirements of the PGPA Act and, in particular, to the new requirement in subsection 39(1) of that Act to publish an annual performance statement. That framework includes a new statement of the department’s purpose, drawn from the department’s Corporate Plan for 2015–19. The other main change is the expansion of the four ‘interim outcomes’ (which previously described the department’s main service areas) into the six program components listed at the beginning of this chapter, which better cover its services and activities.

This framework, which is summarised in figure 3, has been used as the basis for the annual performance statement contained in the next part of the report. In that sense, the annual performance statement replaces the performance overview published in previous annual reports.

As it has done for many years, however, the next chapter also contains a performance report for each of the department’s five offices, each of which commences with a table reporting results against the criteria contained in the department’s portfolio budget statement.

Report on performance

Figure 3 – Planned performance

Purpose

The Senate department is the secretariat to the Australian Senate. All of our functions derive from this purpose and our work is substantially driven by the requirements of the Senate and senators.

We facilitate meetings of the Senate and its committees. We succeed when the Senate and its committees meet in accordance with their decisions, and when senators and others receive the advice and support they need to participate in those meetings.

Program 1 – Advice and support

Secretariat support for the Senate and its committees, and advice and support to enable senators and others to participate in their meetings.

Delivery

The department’s outcome is delivered under a single program, comprising services and activities in the following areas:

Advice about Senate and committee proceedings

Secretariat support for the Senate

Secretariat support for committees

Administrative advice and support for senators

Public information and parliamentary education

Capability, governance and accountability.

Assessment

The department’s activities enable the Senate and its committees to meet in accordance with their decisions – target: secretariat support is provided for all meetings.

Senators (and others) have the advice and support they require to participate in those meetings – targets: advice and support are sound and timely; satisfaction of senators.

Senators are satisfied with the administrative advice and support that fall within the department’s responsibilities.

Accountability obligations to the Senate are met.

Public governance and accountability obligations are met.

Annual performance statement

Overview

In 2015–16, the department successfully achieved its purpose, set out in its corporate plan, of facilitating all meetings required under decisions of the Senate and its committees. In doing so, the department provided comprehensive, timely and high-quality support to senators, the Senate and committees, as well as prompt and accurate procedural advice and legislative support. The department achieved this result against the challenging environment of sustained elevated demand for its services, particularly in supporting a very large number of committee inquiries.

More broadly, the department:

published a range of materials on the role and work of the Senate and the Parliament, and delivered effective education and information programs

managed its staff in accordance with its enterprise agreement and provided learning and development opportunities to maintain the department’s capabilities

delivered its services in a cost-effective manner and in accordance with accountability requirements.

The department continued to work with the other parliamentary departments to deliver its services, to improve support for the Parliament and the work of its members and to enhance the strategic direction of the parliamentary service. A focus of interdepartmental effort remains the implementation of a whole-of-parliament approach to ICT and the integration of the disparate business systems that support the work of the Houses and their committees.

The department’s financial result for the year was a deficit of $2.2 million, chiefly reflecting the costs of the additional resources required to support very high levels of committee activity, as well as adjustments to the department’s leave liabilities and amounts for depreciation. The deficit was funded through the department’s capital reserves. The department’s financial statements commence at page 73.

This performance statement records the department’s results against the planned performance table in figure 3, which is derived from its 2015–19 Corporate Plan and adapted from its PBS for 2015–16. The subsequent parts of this chapter report on the activities and performance of each office against the criteria contained in the PBS.

Results

Secretariat support

Assessment: The department’s activities enable the Senate and its committees to meet in accordance with their decisions

Target: Secretariat support is provided for all meetings

This criterion was fully met during 2015–16 through two program components.

1. Secretariat support for the Senate

The department provided secretariat support for the Senate on each of its 51 sitting days.

During the sittings the Clerk, the Deputy Clerk and senior officers provided advice in the Senate to the President and other senators. The Table Office and the Procedure Office provided procedural scripts and advice to assist senators participating in proceedings. Feedback from senators acknowledged the value and accuracy of this advice and support. Procedural briefings among senior officers and the contemporaneous publication and dissemination of procedural resources assisted in maintaining the capacity of officers to provide this advice and support.

Formal and ceremonial support for sittings was also provided by the Black Rod’s Office, particularly in organising the opening of the second session of the 44th Parliament.

The Table Office published the Senate’s formal records – principally the Journals of the Senate and the Notice Paper – and informal guides to the work of the Senate, including the Senate’s daily program – the Order of Business or Senate ‘Red’ – and its online counterpart the Dynamic Red updated throughout the day. These resources were accurate and produced to meet the needs of senators and the timing of Senate sittings.

Documents supporting the Senate’s legislative work were uniformly accurate and timely, as were the formal messages communicating Senate decisions to the lower House in accordance with the Senate’s rules and orders. All documents received for tabling under order and under statute were processed for presentation and, together with other documents presented by ministers and other senators, recorded in procedural documents and archived.

The department also provided an inquiries service to assist with access to these documents, and information about the Senate’s sittings. Increasingly documents and information are published online, enhancing the ability of senators and others to follow and participate in Senate proceedings. Planned progress was made on projects to further expand the range and accessibility of these resources.

2. Secretariat support for the committees

The department provided secretariat support for all committee meetings required under decisions of the Senate and of committees themselves, including those joint committees to which the department provides administrative support. This support was primarily provided by the Committee Office, although the Clerk’s Office, Table Office and Procedure Office also supported a number of standing committees.

Secretariat support for committees encompasses:

procedural advice for the chair and other members

logistical support for meetings (particularly for committees holding hearings interstate)

preparation of meeting documents, including minutes and agenda

managing and publishing submissions

organising witnesses

research, analysis of evidence and briefings to members

preparation of draft reports, and their finalisation for tabling

organising their presentation to the Senate and, for joint committees, the House of Representatives.

During the year the Committee Office in particular experienced another sustained period of very high workload, supporting 16 legislation and references committees, nine select committees and four joint committees undertaking between them, at one point, 83 separate inquiries. Secretariat staff in the Committee Office processed more than 12,000 submissions, arranged 336 public hearings (which heard from more than 6,000 witnesses) and more than 500 private meetings. The Senate made more than 100 references during the year, adding to the list of ongoing inquiries from 2014–15, and the office assisted in drafting 200 reports. Across the other offices, secretariat staff supported an additional 87 meetings, including meetings of the three legislative scrutiny committees, drafting more than 80 reports and documents for tabling.

Advice, documentation and draft reports were consistently provided to committees in accordance with their requirements. Reports were drafted and presented to the Senate in accordance with the timeframes agreed by committees and by the Senate.

Secretariat staff work closely with senators in supporting committees and, in particular, work closely with the chair in preparing draft reports. This provides an ongoing opportunity for direct feedback about senators’ satisfaction. Despite the high workload this direct feedback indicated high levels of satisfaction. The department noted some dissatisfaction among senators that, because of workload, secretariats were occasionally unable to provide assistance with preparing dissenting reports or additional comments.

Senators referring to committee reports during debates in the Senate indicated their high levels of satisfaction with the support provided by secretariat staff.

Advice about the operations of the Senate and its committees

Assessment: Senators (and others) have the advice and support they require to participate in meetings of the Senate and its committees

Targets: advice and support are sound and timely; satisfaction of senators

One of the key outputs of the department is advice about the operations of the Senate and its committees. Much of this advice is given orally and instantaneously by the Clerk and other senior officers in the Senate, and by committee secretaries and their staff during committee meetings. These officers also provide procedural advice to senators and their staff at other times, both orally and in writing. Committee secretaries are supported in providing advice by the Clerk Assistant (Committees) and Senior Clerk of Committees, ensuring advice to committees is consistent and sound.

Advice about the programming of business in the Senate is the responsibility of the Clerk Assistant (Table). Procedural advice and support for non-government senators is a particular responsibility of the Clerk Assistant (Procedure). Senators continued to acknowledge the value of their advice. The Clerk Assistant (Procedure) and her office also draft legislative amendments and private senators bills, helping senators participate in legislative proceedings. Amendments and bills were accurate, and were prepared within required timeframes and to the satisfaction of senators.

Senators and committees routinely seek written advice from the Clerk on more complex matters. Requests for advice throughout the year again reflected elevated levels of committee activity and the impact of the Senate’s numerous and politically diverse cross-bench, noted as significant influences on demand last year.

Senators and other recipients of written advice continued to acknowledge its value, and it was invariably provided in time to meet the purposes for which it was sought. On numerous occasions during the year, recipients of advice published it as a contribution to public debate, at the same time subjecting it to public scrutiny. When committees seek the Clerk’s advice it is almost always for the purpose of publishing it, to show the basis on which committees may have taken particular decisions or reached particular conclusions. The likelihood of publication ensures that advice is prepared to the highest standards and on the soundest possible basis. No committee expressed dissatisfaction with advice received.

Advice provided by the office was frequently tested during estimates hearings and in other Senate proceedings. None was found to be wanting, with senators seeking and relying on such advice throughout the year.

Recruitment practices, learning and development activities and processes for updating and disseminating procedural resources continued to underpin the department’s capacity to provide advice and support.

Administrative advice and support for senators

Assessment: Senators are satisfied with the administrative advice and support that fall within the department’s responsibilities

The department, principally through the Black Rod’s Office, provides support services to the Senate, to Senate committees and to senators at Parliament House. These services include general office support, asset management, maintenance of equipment and furniture, and stationery services. The office also coordinated transport arrangements for senators and accommodation within the Senate wing, and facilitated 31 suite moves for senators associated with resignations, filling of Senate vacancies and ministerial reshuffles.

Security matters continued to have an increased profile during the period as a range of physical security upgrades occurred in Parliament House. The Usher of the Black Rod and the Deputy Usher of the Black Rod provided security advice and support to the President, committees, senators and the department. They also worked with colleagues in the DPS Security Branch and the Serjeant-at-Arms’ Office, and with the Australian Federal Police, providing input into security matters from a Senate perspective.

The office provided payroll services for senators, published an updated Senators’ Entitlements handbook and provided information to senators about the effect of the dissolution of the Senate on their salaries and allowance.

Services were delivered within established timeframes and, where relevant, met legislative requirements. The regular work of the office involves frequent and direct contact with Senate office holders, senators and their staff, and other stakeholders, all of whom provided regular informal feedback which was generally positive.

Governance and accountability

Assessment: Accountability obligations to the Senate are met

The department met its accountability obligations to the Senate during the year, particularly through the appearance of officers before estimates hearings and by answering estimates questions placed on notice.

Senate committees provide opportunities for senators and others to monitor the department’s performance. The Clerk and other officers appear at estimates hearings of the Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee during each round of Senate estimates, and also provided responses to 95 estimates questions, which were published on that committee’s web pages. These activities provide an important accountability mechanism by which senators may test advice provided by departmental officers and evaluate the department’s performance in a public forum. The Appropriations, Staffing and Security Committee also has a specific role in relation to the department’s appropriations as well as matters concerning the department’s structure, staffing and ICT and security arrangements. Quarterly reports on the department’s financial performance were provided to the President of the Senate and the Appropriations, Staffing and Security Committee, as was the annual report of the department’s Audit Committee.

Assessment: Public governance and accountability obligations are met

The department’s services are enabled by its governance and accountability arrangements. These facilitate the department’s work and provide assurance to the Clerk, as its accountable authority, in fulfilling accountability obligations to the Senate, under the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 and under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.

The department’s corporate governance mechanisms include two senior management committees, the Program Managers’ Group and the Audit Committee, each chaired by the Deputy Clerk. During the year these committees provided advice and support to the Clerk to ensure that statutory responsibilities for the management of the department were met. Details of the department’s management forums are set out in the annual report each year in the Management and Accountability chapter.

The department’s activities are also scrutinised by both an internal audit service provider and the Australian National Audit Office. This scrutiny underpins the activities of the department’s Audit Committee, which was reconstituted under a new charter in 2015–16, with increased independent membership.

The Audit Committee reports, as required, to the Clerk and produces an annual report, which is also provided to the President of the Senate and the Appropriations, Staffing and Security Committee.

The department has established appropriate risk management tools and processes, centred on an ongoing risk monitoring process, which forms the basis of reports to the Audit Committee and a focus for the department in developing its annual internal audit program.

The department’s management of risk also includes:

a fraud control plan and fraud risk assessment process

Clerk’s Instructions and delegations

the articulation of risk management practices in departmental policies

a range of guidance material used by different program areas to promote accuracy and consistency of work standards.

Senior management routinely reports on fraud risk and risk mitigation strategies to the Audit Committee. The department assessed its risk controls as improving during the last year in two of its four monitored categories.

The department also works within a strong ethical framework guided by the Parliamentary Service Values, Parliamentary Service Employment Principles and the Parliamentary Service Code of Conduct set out in the Parliamentary Service Act.

The Clerk, as accountable authority, complied with all known public governance and accountability obligations, including in relation to the matters certified in this report.

Analysis

The department reports against the performance indicators contained in its portfolio budget statements, tabled in the Senate in May 2015, and those in its Corporate Plan for 2015–19. Those indicators have two dimensions, comprising an assessment of the demand for the department’s services and an evaluation of the department’s performance in delivering those services.

Factors influencing demand

A constant in the department’s planning and reporting has been the recognition that much of the demand for its services shifts in line with levels of Senate legislative and committee activity. Demand is overwhelmingly driven by the requirements of senators, and the decisions and activities of the Senate and its committees. Each year, significant factors include:

the political dynamics of the Senate

the number of days and hours, and distribution, of its sittings

the legislative workload of the Senate

the number of committees on which senators serve, and

the number and complexity of committee inquiries.

Each of these is in turn affected by the electoral cycle. 2015–16 was the second year of the 44th Parliament, which included a rare prorogation to provide for a second session and was brought to a close when the Senate was dissolved on 9 May 2016. These events led to an increase in demand for written advice. As with the previous year, the Senate’s most numerous and diverse cross-bench continued to affect the level of demand for advice, and the character of advice and support required.

The Senate sat on 51 days, with its final scheduled sittings superseded by its dissolution. The elevated levels of committee activity seen in recent years continued. The need to support this activity saw another increase in staff numbers in committee secretariats, partially funded by one-off supplementation.

Performance in delivering services

Evaluation of the department’s performance is based upon the degree to which its services meet the requirements of the Senate and its committees, and senators, principally measured against criteria centred on:

accuracy—frequently assessed by considering whether advice or documents were demonstrated to be inaccurate

timeliness—particularly whether advice, documents or services were provided in time to meet the purpose for which they were sought

satisfaction of senators (including committees of senators) with the advice, documents or other services provided—the assessment of which is considered further below.

The particular criteria which apply are described in the department’s portfolio budget statements and in the performance summary tables for each office contained in this chapter.

Monitoring and assessing satisfaction

Much of the department’s work involves contact with senators and their staff, presenting the most direct means of eliciting feedback about services and performance, and an avenue for addressing concerns as they are raised. As noted throughout this report, this direct feedback was positive across all service areas during the year, particularly in relation to core advisory and secretariat support roles. Senators’ comments about the department and its staff, placed on the public record during Senate and committee proceedings, constitute another valuable source of performance information. These comments continued to be overwhelmingly positive during 2015–16. The department also monitors its performance through formal and informal channels, including letters, emails, phone calls, seminar evaluation forms and outputs from management information systems. Again these sources were generally positive.

With the introduction of the Annual Performance Statement this year, program managers are adopting a more formal process for recording and providing feedback to the Clerk, to provide assurance for her certification of the statement.

For many years the department undertook a wide ranging survey of senators and their staff to assess their satisfaction with the advice, support and services they receive. The survey routinely reflected high levels of satisfaction with the department’s core services. As noted in the corporate plan for 2016–20, the department has determined the need to develop additional mechanisms to assess senators’ satisfaction with the advice, support and services they receive. The process to be undertaken in 2016–17 will provide a baseline for future assessments. The opportunity to undertake such a process this year was overtaken by changes to the sitting pattern, and the dissolution of the Senate on 9 May 2016.

The following sections of this report describe the department’s operations and performance using the additional performance indicators for each office described in the 2015–16 portfolio budget statements

Clerk’s Office

Outputs

Advice on, and support for, proceedings of the Senate and its committees.

Leadership and strategic direction for the department.

Secretariat and advisory support to the Procedure Committee, the Committee of Privileges and the Committee of Senators’ Interests.

Procedural information and related resources for senators and the department.

Performance information

Performance results

Advice and support are sound and timely, and provided to the satisfaction of the President, other officeholders, Senate committees and senators so that they are able to fulfil their roles.

Senators and other recipients of advice on powers, privileges and proceedings continued to acknowledge its value.

Advice and support was invariably provided in time to meet procedural and operational requirements.

The capacity of the department and its employees to provide advice and support meets operational requirements.

Recruitment practices, learning and development activities and processes for updating and disseminating procedural resources continued to underpin the department’s capacity to provide advice and support.

Governance structures advance the department’s accountability and the achievement of its outcome.

Governance forums achieved all significant targets for the year, including managing staffing levels to meet elevated demand for committee and legislative support services.

Contributions to interdepartmental forums advanced the strategic aims of parliamentary administration.

Coordination of information resources advances awareness of the role and work of the Senate.

SPIO further developed and managed public information resources.

Intranet sites for senators and staff enhanced dissemination of information.

Planned progress was achieved in significant parliamentary ICT projects affecting Senate and committee information resources.

Advice, documentation, publications and draft reports are accurate, of a high standard and produced to meet the required timeframes.

All advice, documents and draft reports produced in support of committees supported by the office were of a high standard and met required timeframes; none were shown to be inaccurate.

Odgers’ Australian Senate Practice is updated to reflect significant changes in the Senate.

The Procedural Information Bulletin is produced after each sitting period and other procedural resources are updated and augmented as required.

An update to the 13th edition of Odgers’ was produced in January 2015, and consolidated into a revised online version, 13.4.

The Procedural Information Bulletin was produced on time after sitting periods and estimates hearings.

Overview

The Clerk is the administrative head of the Department of the Senate and, in accordance with the Parliamentary Service Act 1999, is responsible, under the President of the Senate, for managing the department. The Clerk is also the principal adviser to the President and senators on proceedings in the Senate, parliamentary privilege, committee proceedings and their outcomes in the Senate, and other parliamentary matters. The Deputy Clerk supports the Clerk in these roles and oversees the Senate Public Information Office (SPIO). The Deputy Clerk also has particular corporate governance roles, including as chair of the department’s Audit Committee and the Program Managers’ Group.

The cost of the office for 2015–16 was $2.2 million, including $1.1 million for SPIO.

Advice and information

The provision of advice, particularly to the President, senators and parliamentary committees, is a core function of the department and a priority for the Clerk’s Office. Much advice is provided orally and instantaneously, particularly in the Senate chamber and to senators who seek advice in person. Such advice is impossible to quantify in any meaningful way, but the number and kinds of written advices provide some indication of work undertaken.

Written advice

The provision of written advice has been very much to the fore this year, with sections 5 and 57 of the Constitution respectively invoked to divide the 44th Parliament into two sessions – a practice which has lain dormant for four decades – and to dissolve the Senate for the first time since 1987. A spike in requests for advice was evident between March and May of 2016, as those events transpired. Advice here required a literal dusting off of precedents, and their adaptation to the far more prescriptive contemporary Senate standing orders.

Quite apart from these topics, requests for advice throughout the year again reflected elevated levels of committee activity and the impact of the Senate’s numerous and politically diverse cross-bench, noted as significant influences on demand last year. A number of committees and individual senators sought advice on privilege matters. The Clerk also provided a submission to a NSW Legislative Council Select Committee about the Council’s committee system. Figure 3 shows the number and kinds of written advices provided, and each kind as a proportion of the total, while figure 4 shows the rise in demand over recent years.

Figure 4 – Types of written advices provided by the Clerk, 2015–16

Figure 5 – Number of advices provided by the Clerk’s Office,
2012–13 to 2015–16

Performance indicators for provision of advice focus on timeliness and accuracy. Senators and other recipients of advice on powers, privileges and proceedings continued to acknowledge its value, and it was invariably provided in time to meet the purposes for which it was sought. Most advice is provided on a confidential basis and any decision whether to release it, and on what basis, is for the recipient to make. On numerous occasions during the year, recipients of advice published it as a contribution to public debate, at the same time subjecting it to public scrutiny. When committees seek the Clerk’s advice it is almost always for the purpose of publishing it, to show the basis on which committees may have taken particular decisions or reached particular conclusions. The likelihood of publication ensures that advice is prepared to the highest standards and on the soundest possible basis.

Advice provided by the office was frequently tested during estimates hearings and in other Senate proceedings. None was found to be wanting, with senators seeking and relying on such advice throughout the year.

Procedural information

The Clerk produced issues of the Procedural Information Bulletin after each sitting period and each round of estimates hearings, covering all the major procedural developments and matters of procedural interest which arose, including editions covering the prorogation of the parliament for a new session in April 2016 and the dissolutions of the Houses in May 2016. Updates on procedural and administrative matters affecting senators were also published to the intranet site for senators and their staff, Senate Connect.

The Clerk also brought the 13th edition of Odgers’ Australian Senate Practice up to date to 31 December 2015, by way of a volume of supplementary material and a consolidated online version, 13.4. At the end of the year preparation of a 14th edition was well-advanced.

The Clerk and Deputy Clerk prepared and presented sessions in the department’s learning and development activities. Introductory briefings were also offered to four senators selected to fill vacancies in the representation of states arising during the year. The Clerk also made presentations on parliamentary privilege at external seminars, while the Deputy Clerk presented sessions on privilege and procedure to staff in the other parliamentary departments.

Committees

The office provides secretariat support to three Senate standing committees. During the year, advice and support was acknowledged as meeting the needs and timeframes of the committees and their members.

Procedure Committee

The Clerk served as secretary to the Procedure Committee, which responds to references from the Senate or the President by evaluating, and recommending improvements to, Senate procedure.

During the year the committee met twice and presented one report, its third of 2015, endorsing principles about the presentation of ministerial statements to the Senate, and recommending a temporary order to allow their debate, without leave. These recommendations were supported by a background paper prepared by the Clerk and published by the committee. The report also proposed updating standing order 22, establishing the Senate’s publications committee, to emphasise the publication of parliamentary documents in digital formats, rather than their printing. These recommendations were adopted by the Senate on 11 November 2015.

Committee of Privileges

The Deputy Clerk served as secretary to the Committee of Privileges, which protects the integrity of Senate and committee proceedings by considering matters possibly amounting to contempt of the Senate. Those matters, which arise from concerns raised by other committees or individual senators, are referred to the committee by the Senate. The committee also administers the right-of-reply mechanism for people seeking to respond to adverse comment made about them in the Senate, although there were no such requests received during the year.

The committee met six times in 2015–16 (13 in 2014–15), and presented two reports, both dealing with matters involving possible contempts. The committee also assisted the President by investigating the alleged unauthorised disclosure of proceedings of a former joint select committee, concluding that the matter did not warrant further consideration under the relevant Senate resolutions.

Committee of Senators’ Interests

The Deputy Clerk also served as secretary to the Committee of Senators’ Interests and, as Registrar of Senators’ Interests, helped senators to fulfil the requirements of Senate resolutions relating to declarations of pecuniary interests and gifts.

The secretariat publishes statements of senators’ interests online and prepares 6-monthly volumes of statements and alterations for tabling in the Senate. One such volume was presented, in December 2015; the usual June volume could not be presented because of the dissolution of the Senate, but will be tabled in the new Parliament.

Governance

The Deputy Clerk chaired the Program Managers’ Group, provided liaison between that group and the Senate Management Advisory Group, and chaired the Audit Committee, which was revitalised during the year by the adoption of a new charter and the addition of additional independent members. More information on these forums is in the chapter ‘Management and accountability’. The Deputy Clerk also drafted a new performance reporting framework, reflected in the department’s portfolio budget statements tabled in May 2016, as part of the department’s transition to new requirements under the PGPA Act and changes in relevant Commonwealth policy.

The Deputy Clerk also served on the Parliamentary ICT Advisory Board (PICTAB), which oversees a strategic plan for parliamentary ICT, and on a subsidiary group which provides strategic direction and business information from across the parliamentary service.

More broadly, the Clerk liaised with her counterparts in the other parliamentary departments on matters connected to parliamentary administration, including through quarterly meetings of the four departmental heads and more frequent informal meetings between the two Clerks and the Secretary, DPS.

Managing public information resources

SPIO has a brief to coordinate the department’s information resources and improve our approaches to publishing and sharing information. The office has two broad streams of work. The first involves developing and publishing information resources, which in 2015–16 has included:

further development of the Senate Connect website, which provides practical and procedural resources for senators and their staff, and the Senate department’s intranet, SENnet, which provides procedural, administrative and policy materials required by our staff

producing accessible, online versions of the large number of committee reports presented to the Senate

creation of additional online resources regarding unusual parliamentary proceedings, including the prorogation of Parliament for a second session, and the simultaneous dissolution of the Houses

producing video, print and web resources for the Parliamentary Education Office, and continuing development of the Senate Discovery series.

The second stream of work involves management of, and liaison on, projects affecting information resources. This has continued to focus on strategic projects undertaken with DPS and DHR to redevelop core parliamentary business systems, including the Shared Committee Information Database (SCID), a system developed by the Senate department to manage committee submissions and publish committee reports and web pages. To this end, SCID was transferred to DPS with effect 1 July 2016; part of the continuing move to centralise ICT and integrate core business systems under the auspices of the Parliament’s ICT strategic plan.

SPIO has also worked with DPS this year on projects to publish Senate and parliamentary information in accessible and innovative ways. A large focus has been developing and testing ParlWork, a web app that organises the mass of online information about parliamentary proceedings around the question: what is the business before each House today? ParlWork will be available early in the new parliament.

The election period provided an opportunity for committee staff to be more involved in project activities, training and user testing of new processes and tools to streamline the compilation and publication of committee reports in multiple, device-friendly formats. These changes will significantly increase productivity, replacing a labour-intensive publishing process and shortening the turnaround for reports to be available online following their tabling.

Performance outlook

The next reporting period will cover the opening and first year of the 45th Parliament, and the department is preparing for another period of sustained committee and legislative activity. The Clerk, Deputy Clerk and other officers will present an orientation program for new senators elected on 2 July 2016. Demand for advice and secretariat support will be influenced by the composition of the new Senate, its legislative workload and priorities, and decisions of senators about the workload and priorities for parliamentary committees.

We will continue to work with the other parliamentary departments to improve the systems which support the core work of the Senate and its committees, and implement the strategic plan for parliamentary ICT. Further enhancements to SCID and development of an online database for browsing and searching Senate estimates questions on notice and their answers will progress in 2016–17.

A revamp of some traditional procedural publications – particularly the Senate Notice Paper – will occur early in the new parliament, improving the online versions and permitting the cessation of an external distribution of physical copies to departments and agencies. The rollout of ParlWork will assist those seeking to follow the work of the Senate and provide a vehicle to enhance the range of material available.

Over the next two years, with the support of the Senate’s Publications Committee, the department intends to develop a system to receive and publish digital copies of tabled documents. This project is contingent on the support and cooperation of relevant government agencies.

Table Office

Outputs

Programming and procedural support to the Senate and the legislative process

Publication of formal and informal records of Senate business

Dissemination and storage of documents

Secretariat support to the Appropriations, Staffing and Security; Selection of Bills; and Publications committees.

Performance information

Performance results

Order of Business finalised prior to sitting and progressively updated.

The Order of Business (the ‘Red’) was distributed in advance of all sittings, and continuously updated online via the Dynamic Red.

Procedural advice and legislative documents are accurate and timely.

Advice was given proactively or as required.

Legislative documents were accurate and produced within required timeframes.

Notice Paper and Journals of the Senate are accurately published and meet required timeframes.

Other publications and statistics are accurate and timely.

All information resources were accurate and provided according to required timeframes, other than where short delays were caused by technical difficulties.

Tabled documents are accurately processed and stored, and available online wherever possible.

Inquiries assistance is effective and supported by online information services.

Senate records were safely stored and documents were distributed in a timely manner.

Inquiries were attended to within agreed timeframes.

Advice, documentation, publications and draft reports are accurate and timely.

Committee meetings were held, documents provided and reports prepared within agreed timeframes.

Overview

The Table Office is led by the Clerk Assistant (Table) and has three functional areas, as shown in figure 5.

Figure 6 – Elements and responsibilities of the Table Office

Executive

Chris Reid, Clerk Assistant

Procedural advice, programming support and production of the Order of Business

Secretariat to the Selection of Bills Committee

Legislation and Documents

Journals and Notice Paper

Sue Blunden, Director

Processing legislation

Processing and custody of documents

Inquiries services

Secretariat to the Publications Committee

James Warmenhoven, Director

Production of the Notice Paper, the Journals of the Senate, the Dynamic Red and the Senate Daily Summary

Collection and publication of statistics

Processing questions on notice and petitions

Secretariat to the Appropriations, Staffing and Security Committee

The Table Office provided support for the Senate on each of its 51 sitting days (including for a rare second session of the Parliament following its prorogation on 15 April 2016).All performance results as outlined in the above table were achieved. Also this year, projects were completed or have continued as forecast together with necessary succession planning.

Much of the work of the Table Office involves direct contact with senators and their staff, as well as other clients. This presents an ongoing opportunity to receive and respond to feedback about the services provided by the office. This feedback has been consistently positive with fewer problems concerning technology reported this year.

Staff numbers remained the same at an average full-time equivalent (FTE) level of 16 for 2015–16. The cost of the office was $2.8 million ($2.7 million in 2014–15).

Programming and procedural support

The Table Office supported the operation of the Senate by providing procedural and programming advice to senators, preparing procedural scripts for use in the chamber (1380 in 2015–16) and providing a broadcast captioning service of Senate proceedings.

The Order of Business (the program for each day’s sitting) was prepared in draft to assist senators (and whips, especially) and published as a final edition prior to each sitting, as expected.

Legislation

The office facilitated the legislative work of the parliament by processing all bills considered in the Senate, preparing legislative documents, preparing third reading and assent prints of bills passed, and processing assent messages.

The office also prepared the formal messages by which the two Houses communicate on legislative and other activity. In 2015–16, 164 messages were prepared, of which 141 related to the passage of bills.

The chart in figure 6 reflects the level of legislative activity in recent years.

Figure 7 – Senate legislative activity, 2012–13 to 2015–16

Formal and informal records

The Notice Paper is the formal agenda of Senate proceedings. Two versions were published, before each sitting day: an abridged printed version, and the full, online version. The Journals of the Senate are the official record of decisions made by the Senate. Proof Journals were published online shortly after the end of each sitting day, and printed versions distributed the next morning. Official final Journals were produced following thorough checking of source material. In 2015–16, 51 editions of each document were produced.

The office also supported the needs of senators and others for accurate and timely information by publishing the Dynamic Red, which provides real-time information on the progress and outcomes of business on each sitting day. The office also produced a range of other legislative and statistical summaries periodically and on request.

Questions on notice, notices of motion and petitions

Senators continued to use questions on notice—written questions to ministers on the administration of public policy—as an important accountability mechanism. Throughout the year, 752 questions were asked on notice during the remainder of the first session of the 44th Parliament. Many unanswered questions were resubmitted which, together with new ones, amounted to 320 questions asked during the second session. These were published to an online database and statistical information was published in the Questions on Notice Summary, which also includes response times.

In 2015–16, the office processed and published 588 notices of motion. These signal senators’ intention to move particular motions on specified days. The office also processed 30 petitions, from 128,950 signatories, which senators had lodged for presentation to the Senate.

Documents

The office received and processed 4,757 documents for presentation to the Senate during 2015–16, recorded their details in the Journals of the Senate and the Index to the Papers Presented to Parliament and archived them. Figure 8 shows the number of documents tabled in the Senate in recent years.

Documents from ministers, the Auditor-General and committees may be presented when the Senate is not sitting, although not after the Senate’s dissolution. The office administers this procedure, which is a useful avenue for the timely publication of material of interest to, or required by, the Parliament. In 2015–16, 547 documents (or approximately 12 per cent of all documents tabled in the Senate) were presented using this procedure.

Figure 8 – Documents tabled in the Senate, 2011–12 to 2014–15

Inquiries

Copies of all documents presented to the Senate are made available through the inquiries and distribution services provided by the office. In 2015–16, 2,494 inquiries were received (two thirds coming from senators or their staff). Most were responded to within five minutes and the remainder within timeframes agreed with clients.

Digitisation and preservation of tabled papers

Documents presented to the Senate from 1901 to 2013 (which includes documents presented up to the end of the 43rd Parliament) are now available online through the Senate Tabled Papers database. During 2015–16, 387,358 images were added in contributing to a total of 7,156,197 images now stored in the database. Documents presented to the Senate during the 44th parliament are being progressively scanned or downloaded to ParlInfo. That work that will be completed next year.

All the original documents presented to the Senate since its first meeting in 1901 are stored in Parliament House under archival conditions. Documents presented to the Senate in 2015–16 added a further 30.8 metres of shelf space to this archive.

Support for committees

During the year, the office provided secretariat support for, and prepared draft reports of, the Standing Committee on Appropriations, Staffing and Security, the Selection of Bills Committee and the Senate Publications Committee. All committee meetings were convened, and documents provided, within agreed timeframes.

Performance outlook

In 2016–17, the Table Office will continue to serve as a secretariat to the Senate.

A significant development in the coming year will be the introduction in time for the 45th Parliament of a streamlined Notice Paper, supported by a comprehensive and versatile online presence. The office will also continue to support online publishing initiatives and be involved in parliament-wide ICT projects such as ParlWork. Using data from existing business systems, ParlWork will enable users to easily access parliamentary information (such as motions, bills and documents) on a range of mobile devices and computers.

The department will work with the Parliamentary Library to improve access to the tabled papers collection through the ParlInfo database, and continue to work towards having the majority of tabled documents available online as soon as they are tabled.

Key position rotations and workflow adjustments within and beyond the Table Office will continue to be made in preparation for the next Parliament and as known staffing changes take effect during the year.

Procedure Office

Outputs

Advisory services and procedural support to non-government senators.

Drafting services to non-government senators.

Secretariat support to the Regulations and Ordinances Committee, Scrutiny of Bills Committee, and Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights.

Parliamentary and research information for senators, staff, public servants, officials from other parliaments, and the community; and support for inter-parliamentary relations.

Parliamentary education services to schools, teachers and students.

Performance information

Performance results

Procedural advice is accurate and timely, and support is provided to the satisfaction of senators.

Senators and their staff continued to acknowledge the accuracy and value of procedural advice.

Amendments and bills are drafted promptly, are legally sound, and are provided to senators in time for their use in the Senate chamber or elsewhere.

Legislative amendments and bills were accurate, and were prepared within required timeframes and to the satisfaction of senators.

Advice, documentation, publications and draft reports are accurate, of a high standard and produced to meet the required timeframes.

Advice and documentation provided to, and publications prepared for, the scrutiny committees were accurate, of a high standard and provided within the timeframes set by the committees.

Parliamentary research information is accurate, timely and comprehensive.

Seminars, lectures and other parliamentary information projects are provided to increase the awareness of the work and role of the Parliament, in particular the Senate and its committees.

Inter-parliamentary functions are supported to the satisfaction of stakeholders.

Accurate and comprehensive parliamentary research was provided within required timeframes.

All seminars and lectures were held in accordance with the programmed schedule, and public information projects were delivered in accordance with the required timeframes. Training was provided to the satisfaction of stakeholders, demonstrated by consistently favourable feedback from evaluation processes.

Inter-parliamentary functions were carried out to the satisfaction of stakeholders, demonstrated by consistently favourable feedback.

Education Centre teaching programs and other Parliamentary Education Office (PEO) projects accurately reflect the Parliament and its work.

PEO teaching programs held on time and in accordance with booking schedule.

PEO projects delivered according to programmed schedule.

PEO role-play programs, website and publications were promptly updated to ensure accuracy and to accommodate electoral and parliamentary events.

Teaching programs were consistently conducted in accordance with the booking schedule.

PEO projects were managed and delivered in accordance with current implementation plans.

Overview

The Procedure Office is led by the Clerk Assistant (Procedure) and has four functional areas, as shown in figure 8.

Figure 9 – Elements and responsibilities of the Procedure Office

Executive and legislative drafting

Maureen Weeks, Clerk Assistant

Procedural advice, support and training

Drafting of legislative amendments and private senators’ bills

Public information and parliamentary research

Parliamentary education

Legislative scrutiny

Tim Bryant, Director, Research Section

Publications, seminars, public lectures, exhibitions and research on parliamentary matters

Production of The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate

Simon Harvey
(July 2015–May 2016),
John Studholme (June 2016) Director, Parliamentary Education Office

Parliamentary education services and resources for schools, teachers and students

Toni Dawes, Secretary, Scrutiny of Bills Committee

Ivan Powell, Secretary, Regulations and Ordinances Committee

Ivan Powell, A/g Secretary, Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights

Secretariat, advisory and administrative support to the committees

The office provides a range of advisory, research and public information services closely aligned with the role and work of the Senate, including legislative drafting services and support for the Parliament’s legislative scrutiny committees. The Parliamentary Education Office (PEO) produces educational programs and resources for schools, students, teachers and others. The office also supports the Parliament’s international programs.

The demand for procedural and legislative services is substantially driven by the requirements of senators and the Senate chamber. The work of the secretariats of the legislative scrutiny committees is similarly driven by the volume of legislation coming before the Senate and the requirements of senators.

The Procedure Office monitors levels of satisfaction with its performance through formal and informal channels such as letters, emails, phone calls, seminar evaluation forms and direct advice from senators and their staff, educators, students, and members of the public. This continuous performance appraisal assists the office to make timely and responsive adjustments to the ways in which it delivers its services.

The full-time equivalent staffing level for the Procedure Office in 2015–16 was 28 (29 in 2014–15). The cost of providing the services of the Procedure Office in 2014–15 was $5.7 million ($5.6 million in 2014–15).

Procedural support

In 2015–16, the office assisted non-government senators and their staff by providing advice, both written and oral, relating to the role and work of the Senate and its committees, and the Parliament more generally. There was strong demand for such advice, particularly during sitting periods.

Advice was sought and provided on many issues of Senate procedure, but also more broadly to include, for example, the provisions in section 53 of the Constitution, the legislative process and the disallowance process for delegated legislation. The office also provided a range of advice on procedures relating to prorogation and the simultaneous dissolutions of both Houses of Parliament.

Staff of the office ensured the accuracy of advice by researching appropriate precedents and consulting other departmental officers—principally the Clerk and the Deputy Clerk. Advice was non-partisan, consistent, and provided to senators and their staff in a timely fashion.

In 2015–16, the office prepared an average of 12 procedural scripts per sitting day for senators’ use in the chamber, typically related to matters such as orders for the production of documents, the suspension of standing orders or other procedural devices, committee references and unanswered questions on notice.

The office also checked material for procedural accuracy on request from senators and their staff. The advice provided was accurate and provided in time to enable senators to use the material in the Senate and elsewhere.

Legislative drafting

In 2015–16, the office provided legislative support to senators by drafting amendments to bills and drafting private senators’ bills, primarily for non-government senators.

The office drafted and circulated 119 sets of committee of the whole amendments, comprising 1,158 individual amendments – a substantial increase on the 825 amendments circulated in the previous year, notwithstanding that there were fewer sitting days this year. A further 58 sets of amendments to 33 different bills were also drafted but not circulated, because, for example, they were drafted for use outside the chamber to inform negotiations between parties.

For the two sets of amendments which were framed as requests to the House of Representatives, in accordance with section 53 of the Constitution, the office also produced statements required under Senate procedure explaining the applicability of section 53 and the precedents of the Senate.

The office also prepared and circulated 22 second reading amendments.

Private senators’ bills continued to be used as vehicles for individual senators and non-government parties to advance debate across areas of interest. In 2015–16, the office drafted 44 private senators’ bills, of which 17 were finalised for introduction. A number of other bills were drafted to different stages of development.

Notwithstanding the unpredictable levels of demand, the complexity of some proposals and finite resourcing, the office met all timeframes for the drafting of amendments and bills. These services form a substantial part of the support provided by the department to the legislative work of senators. Consistent feedback from senators and their staff confirmed the value and quality of the advice provided by the office.

Table 1 summarises senators’ use of the office’s legislative drafting and procedural services in recent years.

Table 1 – Legislative drafting and procedural advice services provided to senators, 2012–13 to 2015–16

Service

2012–13

2013–14

2014–15

2015–16

Committee of the whole amendments circulated

651

222

825

1158

Second reading amendments circulated

21

24

30

22

Private senators’ bills introduced

37

32

30

17

Procedural scripts prepared

529

484

626

593

Support for legislative scrutiny committees

During the year, the Legislative Scrutiny Unit provided secretariat, research and administrative support to the Regulations and Ordinances Committee, Scrutiny of Bills Committee and Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights.

The secretariat staff for the committees examine all bills and instruments according to each committee’s terms of reference. The committees report each sitting week on the scrutiny review undertaken and also report annually, outlining their work for each year and highlighting the significant matters they have pursued.

In 2015–16 the Regulations and Ordinances Committee secretariat examined 1,976 legislative instruments (1,656 in 2014–15) and drafted 14 Delegated legislation monitors. These contained comments on 189 disallowable legislative instruments, raising matters related to the committee’s scrutiny principles (86 in 2014–15)

The committee has, in recent years, been concerned about instruments which appear to rely for their authority on section 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, but are not explicitly stated to be made under that subsection. The secretariat identified 337 such instruments this year compared with 236 in 2014–15.

The Scrutiny of Bills Committee secretariat examined 189 bills (228 in 2014–15), 25 of which were introduced in 2014–15. Secretariat staff drafted 13 Alert Digests and 13 reports, containing comments on 75 bills (86 in 2014–15), raising matters relating to the committee’s terms of reference.

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights secretariat examined 187 bills, (239 in 2014–15) and drafted 15 reports containing comments on 43 bills (78 in 2014–15) raising matters related to the committee’s scrutiny terms of reference. The secretariat also examined and provided comment on five Acts (one in 2014–15) raising human rights matters. The total number of disallowable legislative and exempt instruments received and examined by the secretariat was 2,370 (2,000 in 2014–15), and the secretariat drafted comments on 96 instruments (28 in 2014–15).

The secretariats also produced material arising from the work of the committees for use in the Senate and for publication, including two papers published in the Papers on Parliament series.

Public information and parliamentary research

The Research Section helps raise awareness of the role and work of the Senate by coordinating a range of public information activities and producing publications and exhibitions.

Seminars, training programs and lectures

During 2015–16, the section coordinated and delivered seminars and professional training programs for senators’ staff, parliamentary staff, public service officers and others, and a series of lectures for the general public.

Eight seminars were offered to senators’ staff to provide specialised training about the operations and procedures of the Senate and its committees. Two others were scheduled but cancelled following the simultaneous dissolution. Nine bespoke training sessions were also undertaken for the new staff of senators. Staff training seminars were well attended and anecdotal evidence indicates that the subject matter is appropriate and well received.

Eighteen seminars on aspects of Senate practice were provided for approximately 350 public service officers. This was the second consecutive increase in both seminars and attendees since 2013–14. A further seminar was provided to a community group. Staff from across the department contributed to the delivery of the seminar series which successfully met the learning objectives of those participating. Evaluation surveys of participants indicated that 90 percent considered that their learning objectives had been fully met.

The section arranged 7 public lectures during 2015–16 as part of the department’s occasional lecture series on aspects of Australian governance and democracy, attended by approximately 700 people. Lectures are generally live streamed and are available ‘on demand’ on ParlView. Transcripts are also made available on the Senate website. In addition, the department convened a new annual lecture, the Harry Evans Lecture, commemorating the service of the longest serving Clerk of the Senate, focusing on the importance of the Senate as an institution, the rights of individual senators and the value of parliamentary democracy. Attendance rates were maintained across the year.

The Research Section also runs the Australian National Internships Program in partnership with the Department of the House of Representatives and the Australian National University, which involved placing 38 students with senators and MPs in their Parliament House offices in 2015–16.

Publications, exhibitions and conferences

The section continued to produce publications and exhibitions with a focus on the work and role of the Senate and its committees and the operations of the Parliament.

Three editions of the department’s free journal, Papers on Parliament, were edited and published during 2015–16. Work also continued on volume 4 of The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate containing biographies of senators whose terms concluded by 2002. Seven biographical entries for senators were drafted, 10 verified and 17 edited.

The collaborative project with the House of Representatives to develop 360 degree virtual tours of the Parliament was completed. The virtual tour gives people who are unable to visit Parliament House views of and information about the work of Parliament.

The department took the lead in the coordination of Parliament House Open Day 2015. Approximately 5,100 people attended. In addition, the department co-hosted, with the Rule of Law Institute of Australia, a free public symposium commemorating the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta which was attended by approximately 100 delegates.

Parliamentary Education Office

The PEO delivered a range of educational services to schools, teachers and students and worked closely with all stakeholders, including members and senators, to identify and address individual requirements.

During 2015–16 the acquisition of a second PEO Education Centre teaching space to conduct scheduled role-play programs has enabled the PEO to continue to reliably provide this sought after program to schools visiting Parliament House. To 30 June 2016, 680 role-play programs were conducted in the second centre. The role play program has been enhanced further by the introduction of large-display television monitors to the PEO Education Centre teaching spaces, allowing all education programs to be supported by customised visual media, such as video, still images and graphics.

Other highlights of PEO activities in 2015–16 included:

development of additional PEO website resources for teachers and students, such as the Get Involved video, specifically designed to encourage young Australians to become more active citizens through a better understanding of the work of elected representatives; and complement the Australian Constitution Year 8 Unit of Work

tailored training programs, briefings and seminars for student teachers from universities and student groups visiting Parliament House, visiting staff from Australian and international legislatures and other visiting groups

uptake of the Representing You resource which increases the capacity of the PEO to support members and senators to more effectively engage constituents in active citizenship.

The PEO works with and reports to the PEO Advisory Committee, jointly chaired by the Deputy President of the Senate and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, and works closely with stakeholders in other parliaments, parliamentary and government departments and educational institutions.

The PEO continues to support the work of the National Capital Civics Education Group, a forum which brings together education and outreach managers from civic and citizenship institutions in the Parliamentary Triangle. The Group met on four occasions during the year. Through this forum and independently the PEO closely monitored the implementation of the national curriculum in civics and citizenship.

Throughout the year the PEO continued to invest resources in support of members’ and senators’ educational activities with students. In addition to providing them with an annual allocation of PEO resources and promotional items, the PEO facilitated the involvement of members and senators in PEO teaching programs, both at Parliament House and during outreach programs. The PEO also maintains a range of educational resources, which members and senators can personalise for use in their electorates or States or Territories.

The PEO also prepared a Department of the Senate submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, made a presentation in a ‘roundtable’ meeting with the committee in July 2015 and appeared before a public hearing in March 2016.

Education Centre activities

The PEO Education Centre provides parliamentary education programs for school students and teachers from around Australia visiting Parliament House. Through its facilitated role-play program, the centre offers the opportunity to explore four key functions of the Parliament: legislation, representation, formation of government and scrutiny.

In 2015–16 parliamentary education role-play programs were delivered to 89,087 students visiting Parliament House. The role-play program remained very popular and operated at or close to capacity for much of the school year. Program demand remained highest between May and November. Teacher satisfaction with the role-play program remained high with the 2016 Education Centre survey conducted in March and April 2016 indicating that 93 per cent of teachers rated satisfaction levels with the program as very high.

Outreach and educational resources

The PEO outreach program ‘Parliament Alive’ provides an opportunity to deliver parliamentary role-play programs to schools around Australia. Three week-long programs were conducted involving more than 4,000 students from 60 schools. In April 2016, an outreach program visited south-western Sydney suburbs (the electorates of Werriwa, Barton and Watson) with Mr Laurie Ferguson MP participating. The second outreach to rural and regional NSW (electorates of New England, Cowper and Lyne) was conducted in May. A third outreach in June visited northern Queensland (electorates of Leichhardt, Herbert and Kennedy) with the Hon Warren Entsch MP and Mr Ewen Jones MP participating.

The PEO, in conjunction with SPIO, produced and maintained a wide range of high-quality online and multimedia services and other resources. During the year publications and resources were constantly updated to maintain their currency and reflect significant parliamentary developments, including changes in the membership of the Senate.

To further enhance accessibility of its resources, particularly for rural and remote schools, the PEO continues to develop new ways of providing them. It maintains a strong internet presence at peo.gov.au, providing much audience appeal through an extensive range of resources, including up-to-date information, data, interactives and down-loadable products. During the year it recorded more than 1.3 million visitor sessions, a 50 percent increase on the previous year.

Joint ventures and other programs

In 2015–16 the PEO assisted the National Youth Science Forum, sponsored by the Australian National University, to provide a summer study program for almost 400 outstanding senior secondary school science students from around Australia. The students examined legislative work and Senate committee processes through role-play and a related program of professional development for science teachers was also conducted.

In collaboration with the Parliamentary Skills Centre, the PEO contributed to the development of the Pacific Women’s Parliamentary Partnerships Project. PEO officers have written workshop modules and manuals, and made conference presentations for the program which is designed to increase levels of gender awareness within the parliamentary cultures of Pacific nations.

Inter-parliamentary relations

The Australian Parliament’s international program focuses on parliamentary engagement, cooperation and strengthening, with an emphasis on parliamentary relations with countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Activities and projects in 2015–16 were coordinated primarily through the International and Parliamentary Relations Office (IPRO) and the Parliamentary Skills Centre (PSC), with input from all four parliamentary departments. IPRO manages incoming and outgoing delegation programs, membership of inter-parliamentary organisations, and the international interests and travel of senators and members. The PSC is responsible for all parliamentary strengthening and capacitybuilding programs of the Australian Parliament.

The international program is funded jointly by the Department of the Senate and the Department of the House of Representatives.

Parliamentary engagement

During 2015–16, IPRO coordinated 23 official visits overseas, including: bilateral visits to 11 countries; attendance at eight assemblies, conferences, workshops and seminars; and 11 other visits, including Presiding Officer visits and annual committee visits to New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific region. There were seven official visits by parliamentary delegations from other countries as guests of the Australian Parliament and 30 other visits coordinated by IPRO or the PSC, including a range of capacity-building activities.

A priority for the outgoing visits in 2015–16 was establishing, or re-establishing, links with regional parliaments following elections. The visits included a delegation to Australia’s largest neighbour, Indonesia, following elections for both houses of its parliament; the first official Australian parliamentary delegation to Fiji in nine years, following the first elections in that country since a military coup in 2006; and an election observer mission to Myanmar to assist that country with its first openly-contested poll since 1990. A member of the Legislative Scrutiny Unit travelled to Myanmar in May 2016 to assist in the design and development of programs sponsored by the United Nations Development Program, in conjunction with the Inter-Parliamentary Union, for the newly elected Myanmar parliamentarians.

Parliamentary cooperation

The Australian Parliament maintained its strong commitment to regional and international parliamentary cooperation. In 2015–16, delegations attended the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, two Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) assemblies, the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth.

Parliamentary strengthening

The PSC continued to coordinate activities under the Pacific Parliamentary Partnerships Program and the work of the Pacific Women’s Parliamentary Partnerships Project with some assistance provided by the PEO. The major focus of the Pacific Parliamentary Partnerships program during the year was on capacity-building to support the parliaments of Fiji and Samoa. These initiatives have been made possible by funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

A highlight of professional development activities at the international level was the regular Inter-Parliamentary Study Program, which was coordinated by the PSC and took place over 10 days in February 2016. Senior staff participated from national parliaments in China, Fiji, France, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Solomon Islands and Vietnam as well as the European Parliament.

Performance outlook

In 2015–16, the Procedure Office will continue to provide its procedural and legislative services to meet the requirements of the Senate and senators and to support the work of the legislative scrutiny committees. Training and seminar programs will continue, with the focus on providing tailored programs to new senators and their advisers.

The Research Section will further develop the Navigating the Senate website, which is designed to complement face-to-face training for senators’ staff, support the development of an orientation program for new senators, and provide targeted support for senators’ staff new to the Senate.

The scrutiny committee secretariats will continue their work and progressively prepare and release detailed notes on the work of the committees. A number of staff from the unit will attend and give papers to the Australia-New Zealand Scrutiny of Legislation Conference to be held in Perth, Western Australia.

Demand for the PEO’s education programs is expected to remain strong, as demonstrated by forward bookings for the remainder of 2016 and 2017. The PEO will continue to develop and adapt resources to support the new national curriculum in civics and citizenship and will further explore options to improve the accessibility and delivery of parliamentary education programs to schools and students unable to participate in PEO programs at Parliament House. It is expected that the PEO’s video conferencing facility will be fully operational in 2016–17, improving its capacity to reach students and teachers remotely.

As with the second half of 2015–16, incoming and outgoing delegation activity in the first half of 2016–17 will be relatively modest as a consequence of the federal election. A full program of delegation visits will resume from 2017.

Parliamentary strengthening programs administered through the PSC will remain a priority area for the international program, and initiatives and activities established under the Pacific Parliamentary Partnerships Program and the Pacific Women’s Parliamentary Partnerships Project will continue to be supported, with assistance from staff in the PEO to continue.

Committee Office

Outputs

Secretariat support and procedural advice to the legislative and general purpose

standing committees, select committees, and certain joint committees.

Performance information

Performance results

The degree of satisfaction of the Chair of Committees, committee members and other senators with the quality and timeliness of advice and support.

Formal and informal feedback, including reference to committee reports during debates in the Senate, shows that senators consider the support provided by the Committee Office to be effective.

Draft reports, reports and other documents are timely, accurate and of a high standard. Tabling deadlines are met.

Accurate advice, documentation, publications and draft reports were provided to committees in accordance with their requirements.

Reports were drafted and presented to the Senate in accordance with the timeframes agreed by committees and deadlines set by the Senate.

As a result of workload, assistance with preparing dissenting reports or additional comments could not be provided in some cases where it was requested.

Inquiry information, evidence and reports are published promptly upon authorisation.

Information was updated promptly and accurately on committee web pages though the volume of inquiries meant that committees sometimes had to set priorities in relation to which material should be published first.

Submissions and other documents and reports were published consistent with the decisions of committees.

Inquiries from the public regarding committees are handled promptly and professionally.

Telephone and email queries from the public were responded to promptly and accurately.

Members of the public had ready access to the material they requested regarding committee activities or procedures.

Overview

Committee Office secretariats supported the legislative and general purpose standing committees, nine select committees and four joint committees (see figure 10). During the year committees experienced a sustained period of very high workload, with large numbers of inquiries and hearings. The cost of the office in 2015–16 was $10.7 million ($8.9 million in 2014–15), with staff salaries comprising approximately 93 per cent of the budget. As a result of the continuing high levels of committee activity, the full-time equivalent staffing level in 2015–16 rose to 67 (58 in 2014–15).

The remaining costs were administrative (for example, transport and accommodation for secretariat staff attending hearings, advertising inquiries, printing and venue hire). Despite a further reduction in expenditure on advertising compared to previous years, these administrative costs were higher than in 2014–15 due to the high numbers of interstate committee hearings.

Committee secretariats provided administrative support to committees including processing submissions, publishing material to committee websites and arranging hearings around Australia, sometimes at very short notice. Staff also analysed the evidence committees received, drafted briefing material and reports, arranged for the tabling and publication of reports, and assisted witnesses and others to participate in inquiries. Finally, secretariats provided advice to chairs and committee members, including in relation to matters which raised complex procedural issues.

The high workload of committees had two major consequences for the support provided to committees: first, committees were at times asked to set priorities for the consideration and publication of evidence; and secondly, secretariats were not able to provide assistance with the drafting of dissenting reports and additional comments in some cases where it was requested. The pressure this workload placed upon senators is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that on a few occasions committee hearings were cancelled, or rescheduled at short notice, due to a lack of quorum. This was generally the result of senators having competing commitments with other committees.

Comments made in the Senate when committee reports are tabled or debated provide one means of evaluating the performance of the office. Several senators highlighted the contribution of committee staff when tabling such reports, or in their valedictory speeches. Similarly, debate on several bills illustrated the extent to which senators relied upon the committee inquiry into the bill to support their consideration of the proposed legislation. Informal feedback from senators and witnesses also continued to indicate high levels of satisfaction with the quality of the advice and support provided by secretariats.

Figure 10 – Elements and responsibilities of the Committee Office

Executive

Brien Hallett, Clerk Assistant

Jackie Morris, Senior Clerk of Committees

Procedural advice and training

Planning and coordination

Secretariat staffing and resources

Statistics and records

Legislative and general purpose standing committee secretariats

Joint committee secretariats

Senate select committee secretariats

Community Affairs

Jeanette Radcliffe

Economics

Kathleen Dermody

Education and Employment

Julia Agostino

Environment and Communications

Christine McDonald

Finance and Public Administration

Lyn Beverley

Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade

David Sullivan

Legal and Constitutional Affairs

Sophie Dunstone

Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport

Tim Watling

Joint statutory

Corporations and Financial Services

Toni Matulick

Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity

Stephen Palethorpe

Law Enforcement

Stephen Palethorpe

Joint standing

National Disability Insurance Scheme

Mark Fitt

Joint select

Nil

Establishment of a National Integrity Commission

Jane Thomson

Health

Stephen Palethorpe

Murray-Darling Basin Plan

Mark Fitt

National Broadband Network

David Sullivan

Recent Allegations relating to Conditions and Circumstances at the Regional Processing Centre in Nauru

Toni Matulick

School Funding Investment

Mark Fitt

Scrutiny of Government Budget Measures

Lyn Beverley

Unconventional Gas Mining

Toni Matulick

Wind Turbines

Jeanette Radcliffe

Activity levels and workload

The workload of the committees supported by the Committee Office is determined by decisions of the Senate and of the committees themselves. During this financial year, the Committee Office again faced a heavy workload in terms of the number of committees and inquiries supported. In particular, continuing trends evident in 2014–15, the office supported a large number of reference committee inquiries and select committees. The highest number of inquiries managed at one time (February 2016) was 83.

Submissions, public hearings and witnesses

The heavy workload of committee secretariats during 2015–16 is evident in the administrative support provided to committees in relation to the processes committees use to collect evidence. This included processing 12,273 submissions (compared to 9,305 in 2014–15); and arranging 336 public hearings (including 53 estimates hearings). The assistance provided by secretariats allowed committees to take evidence from 6,341 witnesses (including 2,404 witnesses at estimates hearings). In addition, secretariats supported committees by arranging 531 private meetings (including 2 stand-alone in-camera hearings) and 18 site inspections.

Figure 11 – Number of committee hearings, 2012–13 to 2015–16

To manage this volume of work the office continued to operate in a highly flexible manner with staff regularly working across committees in order to deal with peaks in workload. Assisting committees to make decisions in relation to the receipt and publication of evidence involves secretariats advising on sometimes complex procedural matters. Committees regularly adopted the advice of secretariats on those matters.

Estimates hearings

The eight legislation committees conducted estimates hearings relating to the 2015–16 Budget in October 2015 with a week of supplementary hearings and in February 2016 when a week of additional estimates hearings was held. On 19 April 2016, the Senate resolved to hold the main estimates hearings for the 2016–17 Budget on just two days: 5 and 6 May 2016. The compressed time frame for organisation and the conduct of these hearings presented some logistical issues for committees but the hearings ultimately proceeded smoothly. This reduced period for consideration of Budget Estimates is the main reason for the reduction in the number of estimates hearings compared to the previous financial year.

References and reports

As usual, committees inquired into and reported on a diverse array of topics including corporate tax avoidance, the exploitation of temporary work visa holders, domestic violence, out of home care, firefighting foam contamination, marine plastic pollution and accommodation for people with disabilities.

While the rate of new references to committees per sitting day remained high, the overall number was lower, affected by the dissolution of the Senate on 9 May 2016.

Figure 12 – Number of references to committees, 2012–13 to 2015–161

1 These figures refer to packages of bills referred to committees not to the number of individual bills referred.

The office supported committees to table a total of 200 reports for the year including larger numbers of reference inquiry and select committee reports than over the previous three financial years. By contrast, the number of joint committee reports declined from 13 in 2014–15 to eight in 2015–16. There was also a reduction in the number of reports on bills, once again reflecting the impact of the election period.

Table 2 – Reports presented by legislative and general purpose standing committees, 2012–13 to 2015–16

Reports presented

2012–13

2013–14

2014–15

2015–16

Bills

94

48

95

70

Interim reports (bills)

6

5

9

2

References

32

28

38

42

Interim reports (references)

16

27

15

38

Reports on annual reports

16

16

16

16

Estimates

16

16

16

9

Total

180

140

189

177

Table 3 – Reports presented by select and joint committees, 2012–13 to 2015–16

Reports presented

2012–13

2013–14

2014–15

2015–16

Senate Select

2

6

8

15

Joint Select

6

0

4

0

Joint Statutory/Standing

23

3

9

8

Total

31

9

21

23

The quality of reports is inherently difficult to measure as each report, while initially drafted by Committee Office staff, is in the end a committee document which reflects the views of senators undertaking the inquiry. Nevertheless, informal feedback from senators and some participants in inquiries suggests that, despite the pressure created by the volume of reports, the high quality of committee reports was maintained. This was largely achieved through the dedication and expertise of core secretariat staff, the recruitment of additional research staff and, on occasion, staff from other areas of the department providing research and drafting assistance.

Public information

The provision of information to the public about the work of Senate committees is an area of particular focus for the Committee Office. In addition to regular updates, the office used the election period to review the information provided to the public, particularly through the Senate web pages, to ensure that the language used can be readily understood and to improve the structure and presentation of material which explains how to participate in committee inquiries.

The office continued to work with SPIO on a project to improve systems for the receipt and publication of answers to questions taken on notice during estimates hearings. However, the delivery of the first stage of the project was delayed as a result of other projects being given priority including a project to develop a new template for committee reports which will allow the publication of committee reports in more accessible electronic formats.

International engagement

Committee Office staff served as secretaries to outgoing parliamentary delegations and also acted as presenters for international delegations visiting Australia. This included the Clerk Assistant (Committees) acting as the secretary to the Australian parliamentary delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union which attended assemblies in Switzerland and Zambia. In addition, the secretary to the Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme supported a parliamentary delegation to the United States of America and the secretary to the Education and Employment committees supported a delegation to New Zealand.

Management and leadership

Under standing order 25(10) a Chairs’ Committee, comprising the chairs of standing committees and Senate select committees, may be convened by the Deputy President to discuss any matter relating to their operations. The Clerk Assistant (Committees) is the secretary. During 2015–16, this committee met to consider issues related to unauthorised disclosure of committee documents and Committee Office workload.

Committee secretaries met regularly throughout the year to discuss administrative issues and procedural matters. The election period provided an opportunity for a more intensive focus on training and development activities with Committee Office staff at all levels including several internal training sessions directed at strengthening both procedural and administrative skills.

Performance outlook

The 2015–16 financial year again saw the Committee Office support a large number of inquiries including arranging 285 committee hearings and assisting committees to table 200 reports. This occurred despite the dissolution of the Senate and the House of Representatives bringing an end to committee activity during the final two months of the year. The office retained additional staff to meet this demand. Additional funding to the department in the 2016–17 financial year will assist the Committee Office in the short term to manage what now appears to be an ongoing trend of higher inquiry activity by Senate and some joint committees. This level of activity appears likely to continue for at least the next financial year as several committees presented interim reports indicating an intention to have matters re-referred in the 45th Parliament in order to conclude their consideration.

Black Rod’s Office

Outputs

Chamber, committee room and office support, ceremonial services, and security advice.

Corporate services, including payroll services for senators and departmental staff, and support to the Clerk in meeting public governance, performance and accountability and recordkeeping requirements.

Support services, in conjunction with the Department of the House of Representatives, to the Former Members of Parliament Association (FMPA).

Financial management, human resource management and records management services to the Parliamentary Budget Office.

Performance information

Performance results

Services are provided to the satisfaction of the President, officeholders, Senate committees and senators so that they are able to fulfil their roles.

Services were delivered within timeframes and legislative requirements. Consistently positive feedback from senators, including office holders, and their staff was received throughout the reporting period.

Provision of corporate services facilitates the operations of the Senate and meets accountability obligations under the law and to the Senate.

Services were delivered within timeframes and legislative requirements. Services supported the Clerk as the accountable authority to meet all legislative obligations and the requirements of the Senate.

Services to the FMPA are of a high standard, are provided promptly and are accurate.

Support was provided to the FMPA as required and to a high standard.

Provisions of services to the Parliamentary Budget Office is of a high standard and is in accordance with the memorandum of understanding and service level agreement.

Services were delivered within the agreed timeframes and standards, to the satisfaction of the PBO.

Overview

The primary function of the Black Rod’s Office is to provide support services to the Senate, to Senate committees and to senators at Parliament House, and to deliver corporate services to the department. The office is led by the Usher of the Black Rod and has three operational areas, as shown in figure 13.

The Usher of the Black Rod undertakes duties in the Senate chamber, including clerking and ceremonial roles, assisted by three senior staff and the Chamber Attendant team, among others. A major focus for the Black Rod’s Office during this reporting period was organising the opening of the second session of the 44th Parliament on 18 April 2016.

The Usher of the Black Rod represented the department on a number of cross-parliamentary forums including the Parliamentary Administration Advisory Group, the Security Management Board and the Joint Management Committee (which oversights the provision of ICT services to the parliamentary departments). The Usher of the Black Rod also administered the Presiding Officers’ Rules for Media Related Activity in Parliament House and its Precincts, as the President’s delegate.

The Black Rod’s Office maintained its high level of service and support to the Senate, the President, senators and committees during this reporting period.

Figure 13 – Responsibilities of the Black Rod’s Office

Executive

Rachel Callinan, Usher of the Black Rod

Procedural, protocol, ceremonial and security advice

Advice on corporate and certain parliamentary administrative matters

Membership of the Security Management Board

Advice to the House Committee

Senators’ Services

Human Resource Management

Financial Management

John Baczynski, Director, Senators’ Services and Deputy Usher of the Black Rod

Agency Security advice and support

Information technology security advice

Accommodation

Assets management

Chamber and committee room support

Comcar shuttle

Delivery services

Fleet management

Office equipment

Printing and desktop publishing

Project board membership

Anthony Szell, Director, Human Resource Management

Recruitment and staffing

Pay and conditions

Learning and development

Work health and safety

Rehabilitation coordination

Industrial relations

Performance management

Records management

Services to the Parliamentary Budget Office

Michelle Crowther, Chief Finance Officer

Financial management and advice

Financial reporting and systems management

Accounts processing

Strategic procurement advice

Support for senior management decision making

Services to the Parliamentary Budget Office

The regular work of the office involves frequent and direct contact with Senate office holders, senators and their staff, and other stakeholders, all of whom provide regular informal feedback which is generally positive. The work of the Black Rod’s Office is also subject to scrutiny by three Senate committees: the Senate House Committee; the Appropriations, Staffing and Security Committee; and the Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee undertaking estimates hearings.

The full-time equivalent staffing level for the Black Rod’s Office for 2015–16 was 35.5 (36 in 2014–15) and the cost of running the Office was $2.6 million ($2.6 million in 2014–15).

Senators’ services

The Usher of the Black Rod and the Senators’ Services Section assist the President and Clerk on ceremonial and other occasions, and also provide chamber, committee room and message delivery services to support the ability of the Senate and its committees to meet in accordance with their requirements. The section also organised the opening of the second session of the 44th Parliament on 18 April 2016.

During the period the section continued the provision of office services to support senators, their staff and departmental staff. Printing and delivery services for the Senate and the department were also provided. Over the period, service turnaround times were met consistently, ensuring that documents, including committee reports were available when required. The section also provided a high standard of delivery services to senators, their staff and departmental staff. Scheduled run times were met for all deliveries.

The section also facilitated 31 suite moves for senators associated with resignations, filling of Senate vacancies and ministerial reshuffles.

Security advice

The Usher of the Black Rod and the Deputy Usher of the Black Rod provide security advice and support to the President, Senate committees, senators and the department. Security matters continued to have an increased profile in Parliament House during the period as a range of physical security upgrades continued.

The Usher of the Black Rod and Deputy Usher of the Black Rod worked with colleagues in the Department of Parliamentary Services’ Security Branch, the Serjeant-at-Arms’ Office and the Australian Federal Police, providing input into security matters from a Senate perspective.

Human resource management

The Human Resource Management Section delivers human resource management services for the department, including the administration of certain allowances paid to senators and payroll services to departmental staff. During the reporting period, the section also carried out some other employment-related work for the other parliamentary departments, including the coordination of work done to modernise the Parliamentary Departments Staff Award, which was made by the Fair Work Commission on 30 May 2016.

Support was provided to bargaining representatives negotiating for a replacement enterprise agreement for non-Senior Executive Service employees, with three bargaining meetings held during the period.

The Senators’ Entitlements 2016 handbook was provided to all senators and information prepared in relation to certain allowances afforded to senators following the simultaneous dissolutions of the Houses of the Parliament.

Records management

The Human Resource Management Section, which is also responsible for the administration of certain records, continued to digitise paper files following their collection from work areas.

Financial management

During the year the Financial Management Section delivered the department’s financial management, accounting and budgeting services, supporting the Clerk in meeting her governance and accountability obligations. The section administered the department’s financial management information system, supported the secretary to the Audit Committee, and managed the internal audit contract and the fraud control framework.

The section continued to provide assurance to the Clerk and other senior officers that the department had complied with external reporting responsibilities, including audited annual financial statements and procurement requirements. It also supported the department’s budget process, including the preparation of the portfolio budget statements and internal budgets.

Corporate services for the Parliamentary Budget Office

The department provided corporate services to the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), including financial management, human resource management and records management services, on a fee-for-service basis, in accordance with a memorandum of understanding and service level agreement. From 30 June 2016, records management services will cease to be provided at the request of the PBO following changes to its workflow practices.

Performance outlook

Key priorities for 2016–17 include: organising the Opening of the 45th Parliament; the allocation of accommodation and provision of office support services to new and returning senators; and the negotiation of a new enterprise agreement with employees.

Management and Accountability

Corporate governance

The department’s operations for 2015–16 were governed by the Parliamentary Service Act 1999, the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 and other legislation.

Corporate plan

The department’s Corporate Plan 2015–2019, adopted in August 2015, outlines our objectives, role and structure, the environment in which we operate; and our approach to maintaining the capabilities of our key resource: our staff. This plan was the first of what will evolve as our rolling four-year plan. Work reports provided to the Clerk throughout the reporting period showed continued progress in key areas and work tasks. Planned outcomes are explained in the department’s portfolio budget statements and performance results, including our annual performance statement, are contained in this report.

Management and advisory groups

The department’s corporate governance mechanisms include two senior management committees, the Program Managers’ Group and the Audit Committee, each chaired by the Deputy Clerk. These committees provide advice and support to the Clerk to ensure that statutory responsibilities for the management of the department are met. The department’s Senate Management Advisory Group provides advice and assistance to the Program Managers’ Group. The role, membership and activities of these groups are described in figure 14.

The department also participates in a range of interdepartmental committees through which the parliamentary departments coordinate common and joint activities. Chief among these during 2015–16 were meetings of the heads of the four parliamentary departments, the Parliamentary ICT Advisory Board and a subsidiary steering group, the Security Management Board, the Parliamentary Administration Advisory Group; and numerous boards managing joint projects.

Figure 14 – Management and advisory groups, 2015–16

Audit Committee

Role

Provide independent assurance to the Clerk on the department’s financial and performance reporting responsibilities, risk oversight and management, and systems of internal controls.

Activities

3 meetings.

Based on the committee’s charter, the committee undertook a progressive annual work plan against its four main areas of focus:

financial reporting

performance reporting

risk oversight and management; and

systems of internal control.

Among other matters, the committee discussed the following internal control topics:

compliance reporting

risk management; and

fraud.

Membership

Three independent members and one program manager. Chaired by the Deputy Clerk.

Observers: Usher of the Black Rod, Chief Finance Officer, representatives from the Australian National Audit Office and the department’s internal audit service provider.

Program Managers’ Group

Role

Coordinate corporate governance matters, including:

human resource management

risk management and planning

performance reporting

financial planning, and

departmental service quality.

Activities

9 meetings.

Examined a range of issues in the following areas:

budget

staffing

compliance, auditing and reporting requirements

risk

‘red tape’ reduction

administrative arrangements, and

administration in common with other parliamentary departments.

Membership

Deputy Clerk and program managers.

Chaired by the Deputy Clerk.

Senate Management Advisory Group

Role

Discuss departmental proposals, policy initiatives and changes.

Advise the Program Managers’ Group on leadership and managerial matters, as requested and on the initiative of the advisory group.

Activities

3 meetings.

Considered matters including accessibility for people with disabilities and recommendations from the Belcher Review.

Membership

All departmental Parliamentary Executive Level 2 staff.

Convenor elected annually by the group.

Fraud control and risk management

Consistent with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act, the Clerk’s Instructions and associated financial management policies promote the proper use of the department’s resources. The Clerk’s Instructions are reviewed on an annual basis to ensure their applicability and coverage.

The department has in place appropriate fraud prevention, detection, investigation and reporting mechanisms that comply with the Commonwealth Fraud Control Framework. In 2015–16, the department reviewed and issued its Fraud Control Plan and Fraud Risk Assessment.

During 2015–16, risk areas and associated controls and mitigation strategies were routinely considered by senior management and reported to the department’s Audit Committee. The framework for managing risk is revised regularly and made available to staff on the department’s intranet. The department will review its risk management framework in 2016–17. Risk oversight and management is a standing agenda item for meetings of the Audit Committee.

External scrutiny

The Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee and the Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations, Staffing and Security provide fora in which senators and others may monitor the department’s performance. Matters relating to the structure and functions of the parliamentary departments may also be examined by the Appropriations, Staffing and Security Committee.

Estimates hearings are an important accountability mechanism in which senators may test advice provided by departmental officers and evaluate the department’s performance. The Clerk and officers of the department appeared before the Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee on 19 October 2015 and 8 February 2016. Matters considered included committee workload and resourcing, office support to senators, and arrangements for security at Parliament House. The department also responded to 95 estimates questions on notice. These are published on the committee’s web pages.

The department’s activities were also scrutinised by both an internal audit service provider and the Australian National Audit Office, although that office did not conduct any performance audits covering the department’s activities during the reporting period.

The department was not subject to any judicial or administrative tribunal decisions which had, or may have, a significant impact on the department’s operations.

While not subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982, the department’s policy is to comply with the intent of the Act in relation to its administrative records to the extent practicable, having regard to the legal issues which may arise in the absence of the protections afforded by the Act. In this reporting period the department did not receive any requests for information in relation to its administrative records.

Management of human resources

Staffing

The Clerk of the Senate is appointed by the President of the Senate under subsection 58(1) of the Parliamentary Service Act 1999. Staff are engaged under section 22 of that Act. Additional support was provided to the department through secondment arrangements with the Office of Parliamentary Counsel, through the Parliamentary Secondment Program and by graduates participating in the Parliament of Australia Graduate Program.

Figure 14 shows that the average full-time equivalent (FTE) staffing level for 2015–16 was 158, seven more than for 2014–15, chiefly reflecting the continued high levels of committee activity described in this report.

Further staffing statistics are provided in Appendix 2.

Figure 14 – Full-time equivalent staff numbers, 2010–11 to 2015–16

The department’s effectiveness is supported by capable staff, all of whom achieved the rating of ‘effective or better’ in their performance assessments during the reporting period.

The department’s learning and development framework supports staff to develop and maintain relevant skills and knowledge. A focus on parliamentary skills and knowledge aligns with the objectives in the department’s Corporate Plan to ensure that staff continue to develop expertise in parliamentary practice and are capable of the highest standard of accurate and timely procedural advice. Financial assistance or paid leave (or both) is also available under the department’s Studybank scheme, to assist staff to undertake tertiary studies relevant to the department’s objectives.

Employment arrangements

The remuneration of the Clerk of the Senate, who is the holder of a statutory office, is set by the President of the Senate after consultation with the Remuneration Tribunal.

The department’s five Senior Executive Service (SES) employees are covered by a collective determination made under subsection 24(1) of the Parliamentary Service Act 1999.

The department’s one hundred and sixty one non-SES employees are covered by the Department of the Senate Enterprise Agreement 2012 – 2015. One employee had an Individual Flexibility Arrangement with the Clerk in accordance with clause 9 of the enterprise agreement. Negotiations for a replacement enterprise agreement have commenced.

All employees work from Parliament House, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. No employees identified as Indigenous. In the previous reporting period, one employee identified as Indigenous.

In addition to salary, staff are entitled to a range of benefits including leave entitlements, study assistance, a Health and Wellbeing Subsidy, salary packaging, guaranteed minimum superannuation payments and a range of allowances. Employees can also use other services offered at Parliament House including the sporting facilities and the Parliamentary Library. The department’s employment arrangements do not provide for performance pay.

Work health and safety

In accordance with Schedule 2, Part 4 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, the department reports on certain work health and safety (WHS) matters.

In 2015–16 there were no incidents which required the giving of notice under section 38 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and no investigations or notices under sections 90, 191 and 195 of that Act. During the period, initiatives to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees included the ongoing provision on on-site counselling sessions for staff through the Employee Assistance Program and the commencement of a project to upgrade departmental office furniture. In addition, a parliamentary-departments’ working group was established and reported on matters related to work health and safety in the Parliamentary Precincts. The recommendations were considered by the Presiding Officers and implementation of these commenced.

Management of financial resources

Procurement

The department applies the requirements of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act and the Commonwealth Procurement Rules. No issues were identified with the department’s procurement practices during the reporting period. The department also supports small business participation in the procurement market. The department has adopted the Commonwealth Contracting Suite for low-risk procurements valued under $200,000 and electronic systems and processes are used to facilitate on-time payment performance.

Consultants

The department engages consultants to provide specialist expertise when not available within the department, or where an independent assessment is desirable. The department uses various selection processes to engage consultants, including open tender, selective tender, direct sourcing, a panel of recognised or pre-eminent experts, or consultants who have previously undertaken work for the department or are known to have the requisite skills.

During 2015–16, ten new consultancy contracts were entered into involving total actual expenditure of $118,455. In addition, two ongoing consultancy contracts were active during the period, involving actual expenditure of $70,594. The total actual expenditure does not include $147,360 for the provision of independent legal advice supporting the work of two legislative scrutiny committees and the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights. This report contains information about actual expenditure on contracts for consultancies. Information on the value of contracts and consultancies is available on the AusTender website: www.tenders.gov.au.

Advertising and market research

In accordance with section 311A of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, the department reports expenditure on advertising and market research.

In 2015–16, the department paid a total of $35,288 for advertising. Of the total, $33,738 was in relation to Senate and joint committee activities, delivered through Dentsu Mitchell Advertising, the Commonwealth Government’s central advertising system. The balance was for other minor advertising services, including public notices and recruitment. No market research, polling, direct mail or creative advertising organisations were engaged during the year. No advertising campaigns were conducted during the year.

Financial statements

Independent Auditor’s Report

Independent Auditor’s Report (continued)

Certification by the Clerk of the Senate and the Chief Finance Officer

Department of the Senate

Statement of comprehensive income

for the period ended 30 June 2016

Notes

2016

$’000

2015

$’000

Original Budget 1

$’000

EXPENSES

Employee benefits

2A

20,369

18,286

19,337

Suppliers

2B

4,963

5,106

2,399

Depreciation and amortisation

5

582

517

536

Loss on disposal of assets

3

-

-

Total expenses

25,917

23,909

22,272

LESS:

REVENUE

Other revenue

Sale of goods and rendering of services

487

467

600

Resources received free of charge 2

2,016

1,975

-

Total other revenue

2,503

2,442

600

Total other revenue

2,503

2,442

600

NET COST OF SERVICES

23,414

21,467

21,672

Revenue from government

21,136

20,257

21,136

(Deficit)

(2,278)

(1,210)

(536)

OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

Items not subject to subsequent reclassification to net cost of services

Changes in asset revaluation reserve

-

350

-

Total other comprehensive income

-

350

-

Total comprehensive (loss)

(2,278)

(860)

( 536)

The above statement should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

1 The department’s original budgeted financial statement presented to the Parliament in the 2015–16 Portfolio Budget Statements. Refer to Note 10 for budget variance explanations.

2 Resources received free of charge are not included in the Portfolio Budget Statements.

Department of the Senate

Statement of financial position

as at 30 June 2016

Notes

2016

$’000

2015

$’000

Original Budget 1

$’000

ASSETS

Financial assets

Cash and cash equivalents

160

438

303

Trade and other receivables

4

9,985

10,963

10,277

Total financial assets

10,145

11,401

10,580

Non-financial assets

Property, plant and equipment

5

1,619

1,695

2,414

Intangibles

5

2,787

3,030

3,136

Inventories

57

48

45

Prepayments

182

191

229

Total non-financial assets

4,645

4,964

5,824

Total assets

14,790

16,365

16,404

LIABILITIES

Payables

Suppliers

258

185

356

Other payables

149

753

-

Total payables

407

938

356

Provisions

Employee provisions 2

5,838

4,971

5,439

Total provisions

5,838

4,971

5,439

Total liabilities

6,245

5,909

5,795

Net assets

8,545

10,456

10,609

EQUITY

Contributed equity

2,185

1,818

2,185

Reserve

11,388

11,388

11,038

Retained (accumulated deficit)

(5,028)

(2,750)

( 2,614)

Total Equity

8,545

10,456

10,609

The above statement should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

1 The department’s original budgeted financial statement presented to the Parliament in the 2015–16 Portfolio Budget Statements. Refer to Note 10 for budget variance explanations.

2 $1.221 million (2015: $1.231 million) of employee provisions are expected to be settled in no more than
12 months and $4.617 million (2015: $3.740 million) in greater than 12 months.

Department of the Senate

Statement of changes in equity

as at 30 June 2016

2016

$’000

2015

$’000

Original Budget 1

$’000

CONTRIBUTED EQUITY

Opening balance

Balance carried forward from previous period

1,818

1,448

1,818

Adjusted opening balance

1,818

1,448

1,818

Transactions with owners

Equity injections – appropriation

367

370

367

Total transaction with owners

367

370

367

Closing balance as at 30 June 2016

2,185

1,818

2,185

RETAINED EARNINGS

Opening balance

Balance carried forward from previous period

(2,750)

(1,540)

( 2,078)

Adjusted opening balance

(2,750)

(1,540)

( 2,078)

Comprehensive income

(Deficit) for the period

(2,278)

(1,210)

( 536)

Total comprehensive income

(5,028)

(1,210)

( 536)

Closing balance as at 30 June 2016

(5,028)

(2,750)

( 2,614)

ASSET REVALUATION RESERVE

Opening balance

Balance carried forward from previous period

11,388

11,038

11,038

Adjusted opening balance

11,388

11,038

11,038

Comprehensive income

Other comprehensive income

-

350

-

Total comprehensive income

-

350

-

Closing balance as at 30 June 2016

11,388

11,388

11,038

TOTAL EQUITY

Opening balance

Balance carried forward from previous period

10,456

10,946

10,778

Adjusted opening balance

10,456

10,946

10,778

Comprehensive income

(Deficit) for the period

(2,278)

( 1,210)

( 536)

Other comprehensive income

-

350

-

Total comprehensive income

(2,278)

( 860)

( 536)

Transactions with owners

Equity injections – appropriation

367

370

367

Total transaction with owners

367

370

367

Closing balance as at 30 June 2016

8,545

10,456

10,609

The above statement should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

1 The department’s original budgeted financial statement presented to the Parliament in the 2015–16 Portfolio Budget Statements. Refer to Note 10 for budget variance explanations.

Department of the Senate

Cash flow statement

for the period ended 30 June 2016

Notes

2016

$’000

2015

$’000

Original Budget 1

$’000

OPERATING ACTIVITIES

Cash received

Appropriations

22,960

22,634

22,636

Sale of goods and rendering of services

499

447

600

Net GST received 2

264

276

-

Total cash received

23,723

23,357

23,236

Cash used

Employees

20,115

17,888

19,337

Suppliers

3,069

3,755

2,399

Section 74 receipts transferred to OPA 3

820

1,070

-

Total cash used

24,004

22,713

21,736

Net cash from / (used by) operating activities

6

(281)

644

1,500

INVESTING ACTIVITIES

Cash received

Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment

13

1

-

Total cash received

13

1

-

Cash used

Purchase of property, plant and equipment

28

163

(1,867)

Purchase of intangibles

274

670

-

Total cash used

302

833

(1,867)

Net cash from / (used by) investing activities

(289)

(832)

1,867

FINANCING ACTIVITIES

Cash received

Contributed equity

292

323

367

Total cash received

292

323

367

Net cash from financing activities

292

323

367

Net (decrease) / increase in cash held

(278)

135

-

Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period

438

303

303

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period

160

438

303

The above statement should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

1 The department’s original budgeted financial statement presented to the Parliament in the 2015–16 Portfolio Budget Statements. Refer to Note 10 for budget variance explanations.

2, 3 Net GST received and section 74 receipts are not included in the Portfolio Budget Statements.

Note 1: Summary of significant accounting policies

Note 2: Expenses

Note 3: Fair value measurements

Note 4: Financial assets

Note 5: Non-financial assets

Note 6: Cash flow reconciliation

Note 7: Senior management personnel remuneration

Note 8: Financial instruments

Note 9: Appropriations

Note 10: Budget variances

Note 1: Summary of significant accounting policies

The Department of the Senate is a not-for-profit entity. Its activities are classified as departmental. Departmental activities involve the use of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses controlled or incurred by the department in its own right within its one outcome. Further details are contained in the Statement of Comprehensive Income and the Statement of Financial Position, and in the resource statement on page 101.

1.1 Basis of preparation of the financial report

The financial statements are general purpose financial statements and are required by section 42 of the Public Governance Performance and Accountability Act 2013.

The financial statements and notes have been prepared in accordance with:

the Public Governance Performance and Accountability (Financial Reporting Rule) 2015 (FRR) for reporting periods ending on or after 1 July 2015, and

Australian Accounting Standards and Interpretations issued by the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) that apply for the reporting period.

The financial statements have been prepared on an accrual basis and are in accordance with historical cost convention, except for certain assets at fair value. Except where stated, no allowance is made for the effect of changing prices on the results or the financial position.

The financial statements are presented in Australian dollars and values are rounded to the nearest thousand dollars unless otherwise specified.

1.2 Significant accounting judgements and estimates

In the process of applying the accounting policies listed in this note, the department has made the following judgements that have the most significant impact on the amounts recorded in the financial statements:

Leave provisions involve assumptions based on the expected tenure of existing staff, patterns of leave claims and payouts, future salary movements and future discount rates.

No accounting assumptions or estimates have been identified that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next accounting period.

1.3 New Australian accounting standards

Adoption of new Australian Accounting Standard requirements

All new or revised standards and interpretations issued prior to the signing of the Statement by the Clerk and Chief Finance Officer that were applicable to the current reporting period had no material financial impact on the department, and are not expected to have a future financial impact.

Early adoption of Australian Accounting Standards

The department has adopted the AASB 2015-7 Amendments to the Australian Accounting Standards – Fair Value Disclosures of Not-for-Profit Public Sector Entities. This amending standard applies to annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 July 2016. Early adoption impacts on disclosure in Note 3.

Future Australian Accounting Standard requirements

No new or revised pronouncements were issued by the Australian Accounting Standards Board prior to the finalisation of the financial statements which are expected to have a material financial impact on the department in future reporting periods.

As a not-for-profit public sector entity, the department is currently exempt from the requirements of AASB 124 Related Party Disclosures. For reporting periods commencing on or after 1 July 2016, AASB 124 will be extended to apply to all not-for-profit public sector entities and the department will be required to disclose any related party transactions in accordance with the revised standard. Disclosure of comparative information is not required in the first year of application.

1.4 Revenue

The department receives revenue from appropriations and the rendering of services. Revenue from rendering of services is recognised by reference to the stage of completion of contracts at the reporting date. The revenue is recognised when:

the amount of revenue, stage of completion and transaction costs incurred can be reliably measured; and

the probable economic benefits associated with the transaction will flow to the entity.

The stage of completion of contracts at the reporting date is determined by reference to the proportion that costs incurred to date bear to the estimated total costs of the transaction.

Revenue from government

Amounts appropriated for departmental appropriation for the financial year (adjusted for any formal additions and reductions) are recognised as revenue from government when the department gains control of the appropriation. Appropriations receivable are recognised at their nominal amounts.

Resources received free of charge

Resources received free of charge are recognised in the statement of comprehensive income as revenue where the amounts can be reliably measured and the services would have been purchased if they had not been provided free of charge. Use of those resources is recognised as an expense.

The department’s resources received free of charge relate to audit services from the Australian National Audit Office and accommodation at Parliament House from the Department of Parliamentary Services.

1.5 Transactions with the government as owner

Equity injections

Amounts appropriated which are designated as equity injections for a year (less any formal reductions) and Departmental Capital Budgets (DCB) are recognised directly in contributed equity in that year.

1.6 Employee benefits

Liabilities for ‘short-term employee benefits’ (as defined in AASB 119 Employee Benefits) and termination benefits due within twelve months of end of reporting period are measured at their nominal amounts.

Leave

The liability for employee benefits includes provision for annual leave and long service leave. No provision has been made for sick leave as all sick leave is non-vesting and the average sick leave taken in future years by employees of the department is estimated to be less than the annual entitlement for sick leave.

The leave liabilities are calculated on the basis of employees’ remuneration at the estimated salary rates that will apply at the time the leave is taken, plus the department’s employer superannuation contribution rates, and applicable on-costs, to the extent that the leave is likely to be taken during service rather than paid out on termination.

The liability for long service leave has been determined by reference to FRR 24.1(a) using the shorthand method. The estimate of the present value of the liability takes into account attrition rates and pay increases though promotion and inflation.

Superannuation

Employees of the department are members of the Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme (CSS), the Public Sector Superannuation Scheme (PSS), PSS accumulation plan (PSSap) or other elected defined contribution schemes.

The CSS and PSS are defined benefit schemes for the Commonwealth. The PSSap is a defined contribution scheme.

The liability for defined benefits is recognised in the financial statements of the Australian Government and is settled by the Australian Government in due course. This liability is reported by the Department of Finance as an administered item.

The department makes employer contributions to the relevant employee superannuation scheme at rates determined by an actuary to be sufficient to meet the current cost to the government and accounts for the contributions as if they were contributions to defined contribution plans.

The liability for superannuation recognised as at 30 June 2016 represents outstanding contributions for the final pay fortnight of the year.

1.7 Leases

Operating lease payments are expensed on a straight-line basis which is representative of the pattern of benefits derived from the leased assets.

The department has one operating lease; a non-cancellable three year motor vehicle lease of $22,000 (2015: $36,000). There is no renewal or purchase option available.

1.8 Financial assets

Cash is recognised at its nominal amount. Cash and cash equivalents include:

cash on hand, and

demand deposits in bank accounts.

Receivables

Trade receivables are classified as ‘loans and receivables’ and recorded at face value less any impairment. Trade receives are recognised where the department becomes party to a contract and has a legal right to receive cash. Loans and receivables are assessed for impairment at the end of each reporting period. Allowances are made when collectability of the debt is no longer probable. Trade receivables are derecognised on payment.

1.9 Financial liabilities

Supplier and other payables are recognised at amortised cost. Liabilities are recognised to the extent that the goods or services have been received (and irrespective of having been invoiced). Supplier and other payables are derecognised on payment. Supplier payables are settled within 30 days.

1.10 Contingent liabilities and contingent assets

The department had no quantifiable or unquantifiable contingent assets or liabilities as at 30 June 2016 (2015: nil).

1.11 Acquisition of assets

Purchases of non-financial assets are initially recognised at cost in the statement of financial position, except for purchases costing less than $2,000, which are expensed in the year of acquisition (other than where they form part of a group of similar items which are significant in total). The asset threshold was last revised on 1 July 2015. The new threshold has been set at a consistent level across all asset classes so that resources continue to be devoted to managing the department’s strategic assets. Assets below the increased asset threshold currently recorded on the asset register will be written off at the expiration of their useful lives or when fully depreciated to nil.

The cost of acquisition includes the fair value of assets transferred in exchange and liabilities undertaken. Financial assets are initially measured at their fair value.

1.12 Property, plant and equipment

Revaluations

Following initial recognition at cost, plant and equipment are carried at fair value. Carrying amounts are reviewed every year to determine if an independent valuation is required. The regularity of independent valuations depends upon the volatility of movements in market values for the relevant assets.

Revaluation adjustments are made on a class basis. Any revaluation increment is credited to equity under the heading of asset revaluation reserve except to the extent that it reverses a previous revaluation decrement of the same asset class that was previously recognised through operating result. Revaluation decrements for a class of assets are recognised directly in the surplus/deficit except to the extent that they reverse a previous revaluation increment for that class. Upon revaluation, any accumulated depreciation is eliminated against the gross carrying amount of the asset. A revaluation of the department’s assets was last undertaken as at 30 June 2015.

Depreciation

Depreciable plant and equipment assets are written-off to their estimated residual values over their estimated useful lives to the department, using in all cases the straight-line method of depreciation. Heritage and cultural assets are not depreciated.

Depreciation rates (useful lives), residual values and methods are reviewed at each reporting date.

Depreciation and amortisation rates applying to each category of depreciable asset are based on the following useful lives:

Asset class

2016

2015

Plant and equipment

5 to 15 years

5 to 15 years

Furniture and fittings

5 to 100 years

5 to 100 years

Impairment

All assets, including software, were assessed for indications of impairment at 30 June 2016. Where indications of impairment exist, the asset’s recoverable amount is estimated and an impairment loss recognised if the asset’s recoverable amount is less than its carrying amount.

Derecognition

An item of property, plant and equipment is derecognised upon disposal or when no further future economic benefits are expected from its use or disposal. Gains or losses from disposal of plant and equipment are recognised when control of the asset has passed to the buyer.

1.13 Intangibles

The department’s intangibles comprise of internally developed software and purchased software for internal use. These assets are carried at cost less accumulated amortisation and accumulated impairment losses.

Software is amortised on a straight-line basis over its anticipated useful life. The useful life of the department’s software is 3 to 7 years (2015: 3 to 7 years).

1.14 Taxation

The department is exempt from all forms of taxation except fringe benefits tax (FBT) and the goods and services tax (GST).

Revenues, expenses and assets are recognised net of GST except:

where the amount of GST incurred is not recoverable from the Australian Taxation Office, and

for receivables and payables.

1.15 Events occurring after the reporting period

No events have occurred after balance date that should be brought to account or noted in the 2015–16 financial statements.

2016

$’000

2015

$’000

Note 2: Expenses

Note 2A: Employee benefits

Wages and salaries

14,388

13,313

Superannuation

Defined benefit plans

1,482

1,481

Defined contribution plans

1,152

1,012

Leave and other entitlements

3,347

2,480

Total employee benefits

20,369

18,286

Note 2B: Suppliers

Goods and services

Professional and financial fees

481

532

Facilities and infrastructure

285

371

Recruitment and staff development

71

72

Hire charges and hospitality

184

168

Travel

848

699

Media and communications

231

271

General office

425

438

Printing

236

311

Resources received free of charge

2,016

1,974

Total goods and services

4,777

4,836

Other supplier expenses

Workers compensation

186

270

Total other supplier expenses

186

270

Total supplier expenses

4,963

5,106

2016

$’000

2015

$’000

 Level 1 2 3

Note 3: Fair value measurements

Non-financial assets

Property, plant and equipment

430

470

2

Property, plant and equipment

1,189

1,225

3

Total non-financial assets

1,619

1,695

Total fair value measurements of assets in the statement of financial position

1,619

1,695

1 Level 3 measurements use inputs to estimate fair value where there are no observable market prices for the assets being valued.

2 Level 2 measurements use inputs other than market value that are observable for the asset, either directly or indirectly.

3 No transfers have occurred between levels.

The future economic benefits of the department’s property, plant and equipment are not primarily dependent on their ability to generate cash flows. The department has not disclosed quantitative information about the significant unobservable inputs for the Level 3 measurements in these classes.

All property, plant and equipment is measured at fair value in the statement of financial position. When estimating fair value, market prices (with adjustments) were used where available. Where market prices were not available, depreciated replacement cost was used.

A reconciliation of movements in property, plant and equipment has been included in Note 5.

There has been no change in valuation technique during the period.

2016

$’000

2015

$’000

Note 4: Financial assets

Appropriation receivable

9,923

10,853

Trade and other receivables

48

47

GST receivable (from ATO)

14

63

Total trade and other receivables

9,985

10,963

Receivables have terms of 30 days (2015: 30 days) and are not overdue.

Note 5: Non-financial assets

Reconciliation of opening and closing balances of property, plant and equipment and intangibles

2016

$’000

PP&E

$’000

Intangibles

$’000

Total

As at 1 July 2015

Gross book value

1,695

4,227

5,922

Accumulated depreciation/amortisation

-

(1,197)

(1,197)

Net book value at 1 July 2015

1,695

3,030

4,725

Additions by purchase

14

270

284

Depreciation/amortisation expense

(69)

(513)

(582)

Disposals

(21)

-

(21)

Net book value at 30 June 2016

1,619

2,787

4,406

Net book value at 30 June 2016 represented by:

Gross book value

1,688

4,497

6,185

Accumulated depreciation/amortisation

(69)

(1,710)

(1,779)

Net book value at 30 June 2016 represented by:

1,619

2,787

4,406

2015

$’000

PP&E

$’000

Intangibles

$’000

Total

As at 1 July 2014

Gross book value

1,665

3,533

5,198

Accumulated depreciation/amortisation

(414)

(767)

(1,181)

Net book value at 1 July 2014

1,251

2,766

4,017

Additions by purchase

181

694

875

Revaluation and impairments through equity

350

-

350

Depreciation/amortisation expense

(87)

(430)

(517)

Net book value at 30 June 2015

1,695

3,030

4,725

Net book value at 30 June 2015 represented by:

Gross book value

1,695

4,227

5,922

Accumulated depreciation/amortisation

-

(1,197)

(1,197)

Net book value at 30 June 2015 represented by:

1,695

3,030

4,725

2016

$’000

2015

$’000

Note 6: Cash flow reconciliation

Reconciliation of net cost of services to net cash from operating activities

Net cost of services

(23,414)

(21,467)

Add revenue from government

21,136

20,257

Adjustments for non-cash items

Depreciation/amortisation

582

517

Loss/(gain) on disposal of non-current assets

3

-

Movements in assets and liabilities

Assets

(Increase) / decrease in net receivables

1,053

1,228

(Increase) / decrease in inventories

(9)

-

(Increase) / decrease in other non financial assets

9

38

Liabilities

Increase / (decrease) in supplier payables

96

(214)

Increase / (decrease) in other payables

(604)

68

Increase / (decrease) in employee provisions

867

217

Net cash from operating activities

(281)

644

2016

2015

Note 7: Senior management personnel remuneration

Short-term employee benefits

Salary

1,475,548

1,444,488

Total short-term employee benefits

1,475,548

1,444,488

Post-employment benefits

Superannuation

215,431

214,443

Total post-employment benefits

215,431

214,443

Other long-term employee benefits

Annual leave

103,431

99,034

Long-service leave

33,615

32,186

Total other long-term benefits

137,046

131,220

Total senior executive remuneration expenses

1,828,025

1,790,151

The total number of senior management personnel, included in the above table, relate to six employees (2015: six).

2016

$’000

2015

$’000

Note 8: Financial instruments

Note 8A: Categories of financial instruments

Financial assets

Loans and receivables

Cash and cash equivalents

160

438

Other receivables

48

47

Total financial assets

208

485

Financial liabilities

Financial liabilities measured at amortised cost

Trade creditors and accruals

258

185

Total financial liabilities

258

185

The net fair value of each class of assets and liabilities are at their carrying amounts. The department derived no interest income from financial assets in either the current or prior year.

Note 8B: Credit risk

The department has no significant exposure to credit risk. At the reporting date, the department’s maximum credit risk exposure is in relation to the carrying amount of each class of financial assets as indicated in the statement of financial position $10.145m (2015: $11.401m).

Note 8C: Liquidity risk

The department has sufficient available financial assets to meet all financial liabilities at
30 June 2016.

2016

$’000

2015

$’000

Note 9: Appropriations

Note 9A: Annual appropriations (recoverable GST exclusive)

Annual appropriation

21,136

20,627

PGPA Act – section 74 receipts

820

1,070

Departmental capital budget (DCB) 1

367

370

Total appropriation

22,323

22,067

Appropriation applied (current and prior years)

23,252

23,280

Variance

(928)

(1,213)

1 The DCB is appropriated through the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1).
It is not separately identified in the Appropriation Act.

Note 9B: Unspent annual appropriations (recoverable GST exclusive)

Departmental

Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1)
2014–15

-

11,290

Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1)
2015–16

10,083

-

Total

10,083

11,290

Note 9C: Special appropriations (recoverable GST exclusive)

Authority 2

Department of Finance – Parliamentary Entitlements
Act 1990 (s. 11)

155

172

Department of Finance – Parliamentary Superannuation
Act 2004 (s. 18)

2,122

1,997

Department of Finance – Commonwealth of Australia
Constitution (s. 66)

1,668

1,495

Australian Public Service Commission – Remuneration
Tribunal Act 1973 (s. 7)

18,998

19,485

Total

22,943

23,149

2 The legislation establishing these special appropriations is administered by the Department of Finance and the Australian Public Service Commission. Arrangements have been entered into with these entities to allow the department to draw upon these appropriations.

Note 10: Budget variances

The comparison of the unaudited original budget as presented in the 2015–16 PBS to the
2015–16 final outcome as presented in accordance with Australian Accounting Standards is included in the statement of comprehensive income, the statement of financial position, the statement of changes in equity and the cash flow statement. Explanations of major variances are those within the control of the department.

Major variances

The variances for employees and suppliers relate to the higher support required for the sustained levels of committees and Senate activity, with additional employees engaged throughout 2015–16.

The lower balance for property, plant and equipment reflects forecast asset purchases which were deferred.

The department’s loss in 2015–16 is reflected in the reduction in equity on the balance sheet.

Other non-cash adjustments, including the reduction in the government 10-year bond rate from 3.01% to 1.98%, increased the department’s employee provisions for 2015–16 above that which was originally budgeted.

Appendices

Appendix 1—Resources

The section details the department’s resources and expenses in 2015–16, as required by section 17AF(1)(b) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014.

The following tables in this appendix correspond to tables in the department’s portfolio budget statements for 2015–16:

the resource statement, which provides information about the various funding sources that the department was able to draw on during the year

the expenses and resources for outcome 1 table, which shows the detail of the resourcing for the department’s outcome.

Resource statement, 2015–16

Actual available appropriation for 2015–16

$’000

(a)

Payments made in 2015–16

$’000

(b)

Balance remaining

$’000

(a – b)

Appropriations 1

Prior year departmental appropriation

11,290

Annual appropriation 2

21,503

Section 74 receipts (net)

512

Total

33,305

23,222

10,083

Total available annual appropriations and payments

33,305

23,222

10,083

Total net resourcing and payments

33,305

23,222

10,083

1 Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No.1) 2015–16.

2 Includes an amount of $0.367m in 2015–16 for the departmental capital budget.

Expenses and resources for Outcome 1

Outcome 1: Advisory and administrative support services to enable the Senate and senators to fulfil their representative and legislative duties.

Budget1

2015–16

$’000

(a)

Actual expenses

Expenses

2015–16

$’000

(b)

Variation2

2015–16

$’000

(a – b)

Program: Department of the Senate

Clerk’s Office

2,125

2,245

-119

Table Office

2,669

2,695

-26

Procedure Office

5,510

5,701

-192

Committee Office

8,879

10,657

-1,777

Black Rod’s Office

2,552

2,603

-51

Total expenses for Outcome 1

21,736

23,901

-2,165

2014–15

2015–16

Average staffing level (number)

150

158

Note: This table excludes resources received free of charge.

1 As published in the department’s portfolio budget statement for 2015–16

2 Variations include internal budget reallocations and allocation of corporate overheads across offices.

Appendix 2—Staffing

The figures in these tables include staff on long-term paid leave, but exclude staff on leave without pay or on temporary movements out of the department at 30 June 2016, as well as non-ongoing staff employed on an irregular or intermittent basis who did not work on 30 June 2016.

Staff numbers, by classification, salary range and gender, 30 June 2015

Salary ($)

Gender

Total

Classification

Male

Female

Clerk of the Senate

417,800*

–

1

1

Deputy Clerk of the Senate
(SES Band 2)

212,868–224,071

1

–

1

Clerks Assistant and Usher of the Black Rod
(SES Band 1)

175,642–184,468

2

2

4

Parliamentary Executive Level 2 (PE 2)

132,963–142,170

12

12

24

Parliamentary Executive Level 1 (PE 1)

106,886–119,727

17

10

27

Parliamentary Service Level 6 (APS 6)

88,440–97,014

17

25

42

Parliamentary Service Level 5 (APS 5)

78,516–83,381

3

3

6

Parliamentary Service Level 4 (APS 4)

70,280–75,490

5

24

29

Parliamentary Service Level 3 (APS 3)

62,665–67,696

9

15

24

Parliamentary Service Level 1/2 (APS 1/2)

49,053–61,401

4

5

9

Total

70

97

167

SES = Senior Executive Service, PE = Parliamentary Executive, APS = Australian Parliamentary Service

* Indicates total remuneration package

Employees by classification

2015–2016

2014–2015

Classification

Ongoing

Non-ongoing

Ongoing

Non-ongoing

Clerk of the Senate

1

-

1

-

SES2

1

-

1

-

SES1

4

-

4

-

PEL2

24

-

24

-

PEL1

26

1

27

3

APS6

33

9

29

6

APS5

6

-

6

-

APS4

26

3

23

7

APS3

17

7

18

2

APS2

6

1

5

1

APS1

-

2

-

2

Total

144

23

138

21

Full-time and part-time employees

2015–2016

2014–2015

Full-time or Part-time

Ongoing

Non-ongoing

Ongoing

Non-ongoing

Full-time

125

16

114

19

Part-time

19

7

124

2

Total

144

23

138

21

Employees by gender

2015–2016

2014–2015

Gender

Ongoing

Non-ongoing

Ongoing

Non-ongoing

Female

84

13

81

15

Male

60

10

57

6

Total

144

23

138

21

Appendix 3—Contact details

This appendix lists contact details for all areas of the department.

Department of the Senate

Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600

Phone: 02 6277 7111
Fax: 02 6277 3000
Website: www.aph.gov.au/senate/dept

Office-holders and senior officers of the Senate

President’s Office

President of the Senate
Senator Stephen Parry

Email: senator.parry@aph.gov.au

Parliament House

Phone: 02 6277 3300

Fax: 02 6277 3108

Electorate Office—Launceston, Tasmania

Phone: 03 6334 1755

Fax: 03 6334 1624

Deputy President of the Senate
Senator Sue lines

Email: senator.lines@aph.gov.au

Parliament House

Phone: 02 6277 3804

Fax: 02 6277 5857

Electorate Office—West Perth, Western Australia

Phone: 08 9481 4844

Fax: 08 9481 4244

Clerk’s Office

Clerk of the Senate
Rosemary Laing

Email: clerk.sen@aph.gov.au

Phone: 02 6277 3350

Fax: 02 6277 3199

Deputy Clerk of the Senate
Richard Pye

Email: depclerk.sen@aph.gov.au

Phone: 02 6277 3360

Fax: 02 6277 3199

Table Office

Procedure Office

Clerk Assistant (Table)

Email: ca.table.sen@aph.gov.au

Phone: 02 6277 3020

Fax: 02 6277 3098

Clerk Assistant (Procedure)

Email: ca.procedure.sen@aph.gov.au

Phone: 02 6277 3380

Fax: 02 6277 3289

Committee Office

Black Rod’s Office

Clerk Assistant (Committees)

Email: ca.committees.sen@aph.gov.au

Phone: 02 6277 3371

Fax: 02 6277 3199

Usher of the Black Rod

Email: blackrod.sen@aph.gov.au

Phone: 02 6277 3398

Fax: 02 6277 3199

Other contacts

Accounts

Email: finance.sen@aph.gov.au

Phone: 02 6277 3897

Fax: 02 6277 3085

Annual report

Email: depclerk.sen@aph.gov.au

Phone: 02 6277 3360

Fax: 02 6277 3199

Committee room bookings

Email: senate.hotline@aph.gov.au

Phone: 02 6277 3500

Fax: 02 6277 3000

Committees

Email: seniorclerk.committees.sen@aph.gov.au

Phone: 02 6277 3555

Fax: 02 6277 3899

Legislation

Email: table.legislation.sen@aph.gov.au

Phone: 02 6277 3455

Fax: 02 6277 3448

Parliamentary Education Office

Email: info@peo.gov.au

Phone (general inquiries): 02 6277 3147

Phone (school visits): 02 6277 3508

Fax: 02 6277 5775

Parliamentary research

Email: research.sen@aph.gov.au

Phone: 02 6277 3078

Fax: 02 6277 5838

Registrar of Senators’ Interests

Email: senators.interests@aph.gov.au

Phone: 02 6277 3360

Fax: 02 6277 3199

Senate Public Information Office

Email: spio@aph.gov.au

Phone: 02 6277 3238

Fax: 02 6277 5941

Senators’ services

Email: senate.hotline@aph.gov.au

Phone: 02 6277 3500

Fax: 02 6277 3000

References

Glossary and abbreviations list

amendments and requests for amendments

Proposals to alter a bill, which may be moved by any senator or member. Any amendments made by one House must be agreed to by the other House before a bill can become law. The Senate may not amend bills imposing taxation or appropriating money for the Commonwealth’s ordinary annual services; nor may it amend an appropriation bill so as to increase a charge or burden on the people. The Senate may ‘request’ the House of Representatives to make such amendments.

ANZACATT

Australia and New Zealand Association of Clerks-at-the-Table

AusTender

Australian Government tender information system

bill

A proposal for a law that is introduced into parliament. Bills are considered consecutively by the two Houses of the Commonwealth Parliament, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The two Houses must agree to a bill in identical terms before it can be transmitted to the Governor-General for assent, which marks its passage into law.

clerks at the table

Clerks, including the Clerk (the head of the department), the Deputy Clerk and other senior officers of the department, who sit in the Senate and provide procedural advice while taking the minutes of Senate proceedings.

Comcare

Agency responsible for workplace safety, rehabilitation and compensation for Australian Government employees

committee of the whole amendments

Amendments proposed to the text of bills dealt with by a committee consisting of all the members of the Senate formed to consider a bill in detail

DPS

Department of Parliamentary Services

estimates committees

The term commonly used to describe the consideration of the annual and additional estimates of expenditure of government departments and agencies.

IPRO

International and Parliamentary Relations Office

IPU

Inter-Parliamentary Union

motions

Proposals for the Senate to agree to something, which must be expressed in a way that conforms with the standing orders.

parliamentary privilege

Two significant aspects of the law relating to parliament: the privileges or immunities of the Houses of the Commonwealth Parliament; and the powers of the Houses to protect the integrity of their processes, particularly the power to punish contempts.

PEO

Parliamentary Education Office

PGPA Act

Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013

PICTAB

Parliamentary ICT Advisory Board

PPS

Parliamentary Papers Series

PSC

Parliamentary Skills Centre

Presiding Officers

The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives are the Presiding Officers. Each presides over the proceedings of his or her respective House. Administratively, each is responsible for his or her respective House department and together they are responsible for the Department of Parliamentary Services and the Parliamentary Budget Office.

procedural scripts

Scripts containing both routine and complex wording to be used by senators to ensure compliance with standing orders when taking part in proceedings in the Senate.

questions on notice

When referred to in the context of the Senate, these are written questions to ministers from other senators. Questions on notice in the context of estimates proceedings are written or oral questions from committee members to a minister and/or the minister’s departmental officers, which require written answers from the minister or the minister’s department.

SCID

The Shared Committees Information Database which is used to manage information and documents to support committee inquiries.

second reading amendments

Proposed resolutions which comment on or affect the passage of bills, but do not propose specific changes to the text of bills.

SES

Senior Executive Service

SPIO

Senate Public Information Office

Standing Orders

Procedural rules that govern the conduct of proceedings in the Senate and its committees.

TOPS

Table Office Production System

Compliance index

Requirement

Location

General

Letter of transmittal

iii

Table of contents

v

Alphabetical index

137–144

Glossary and abbreviations list

131–132

Contact officer(s)

ii, 125–126

Internet home page address and internet address for report

ii, iv

Clerk’s review

Review by the Clerk

3–6

Departmental overview

Role and functions

7

Organisational structure

7–8

Outcome and program structure

9–10

Where outcome and program structures differ from portfolio budget statements or other portfolio statements accompanying any other additional appropriation bills (other portfolio statements), details of variation and reasons for change

N/A

Portfolio structure

N/A

Report on performance

Review of performance during the year in relation to programs and contribution to outcomes

15–18

Actual performance in relation to deliverables and performance indicators set out in portfolio budget statements or other portfolio statements

18, 19, 27, 33, 45, 53

Where performance targets differ from the portfolio budget statements, details of both former and new targets, and reasons for the change

N/A

Narrative discussion and analysis of performance

15–57

Trend information

15–57

Significant changes in nature of principal functions/services

None

Performance of purchaser/provider arrangements

None

Factors, events or trends influencing departmental performance

16, 25, 32, 42–43, 51, 57

Contribution of risk management in achieving objectives

63

Performance against service charter customer service standards, complaints data, and the department’s response to complaints

17

Discussion and analysis of the department’s financial performance

4, 6, 67–68

Discussion of any significant changes in financial results from the prior year, from budget or anticipated to have a significant impact on future operations

3–6, 15–18

Agency resource statement and summary resource tables by outcome

117–118

Management and accountability

Corporate governance

Agency head’s certification of their agency’s actions in dealing with fraud.

63, 124

Statement of the main corporate governance practices in place

61–63

Names of the senior executive and their responsibilities

8

Senior management committees and their roles

61–63

Corporate and operational plans and associated performance reporting and review

61

Internal audit arrangements including approach adopted to identifying areas of significant financial or operational risk and arrangements to manage those risks

56–57, 62, 63

Policy and practices on the establishment and maintenance of appropriate ethical standards

64

How nature and amount of remuneration for SES officers is determined

66

External scrutiny

Significant developments in external scrutiny

64

Judicial decisions and decisions of administrative tribunals and by the Australian Information Commissioner

64

Reports by the Auditor-General, a parliamentary committee, the Commonwealth Ombudsman or an agency capability review

64

Management of human resources

Assessment of effectiveness in managing and developing human resources to achieve departmental objectives

64–67

Workforce planning, staff turnover and retention

65

Impact and features of enterprise or collective agreements, individual flexibility arrangements, determinations, common law contracts and Australian Workplace Agreements

66

Training and development undertaken and its impact

66–67

Work health and safety performance

67

Productivity gains

3–6

Statistics on staffing

119–121

Statistics on employees who identify as Indigenous

121

Enterprise or collective agreements, IFAs, determinations, common law contracts and AWAs

66, 119

Performance pay

66

Assessment of effectiveness of assets management

68

Assessment of purchasing against core policies and principles

68

Consultants

Summary statement

68

Statement that information on contracts and consultancies is available through AusTender website

68

Absence of provisions in contracts allowing access by the Auditor-General

None

Contracts exempted from publication in AusTender

None

Procurement initiatives to support small business

68

Financial statements

73–112

Other information

Work health and safety (schedule 2, part 4 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011)

67, 123

Advertising and market research (section 311A of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918) and statement on advertising campaigns

123

Ecologically sustainable development and environmental performance (section 516A of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999)

N/A

Legal services expenditure (paragraph 11.1(ba)) of the Legal Services Directions 2005

68

Compliance with the agency’s obligations under the Carer Recognition Act 2010

N/A

Grant programs

None

Disability reporting – explicit and transparent reference to agency-level information available through other reporting mechanisms

N/A

Information Publication Scheme statement

123

Correction of material errors in previous annual report

None

Agency resource statements and resources for outcomes

117–118

Compliance index (list of requirements)

133–135