As the accountable authority of the Department of the Senate, I present the department's annual performance statements for 2023–24, as required by subsection 39(1) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. In my view, these statements are based on properly maintained records, accurately reflect the department's performance and comply with subsection 39(2) of that Act.
(Richard Pye)
Clerk of the Senate
[insert date]
Performance reporting framework
Overview
In 2023–24, which covered approximately the second year of the 47th Parliament and the electoral cycle, the department achieved its purpose of facilitating and supporting all parliamentary 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.
Throughout the year the department also:
- 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 settled a new enterprise agreement with staff
- provided its staff with learning and development opportunities, and
- delivered its services in a cost-effective manner and in accordance with accountability requirements.
The department worked closely with the other parliamentary departments and other entities in the broader parliamentary environment to deliver its services, to improve support for the Parliament and the work of its members, and to support collaborative and efficient parliamentary administration. During the reporting period this collaborative work included implementation of the remaining recommendations of the Set the Standard: Report on the Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces report and a number of joint ICT projects such as implementation of a system for online tabling and publication of documents.
The department's financial result for the year was a deficit of $1.1m (excluding asset-related adjustments). In part this reflected the increasing costs of supporting international parliamentary delegations. However, as with the previous financial year, a significant factor was the continuing elevated level of support required for committees. In this regard, the department anticipates that reduced demand for these services during the election period will decrease pressure on the department's budget in 2024–25. However, the department will closely monitor demand for its services following the election and the implications of this for the sustainability of its financial position over the forward estimates. The department also welcomes the non-ongoing funding agreed to in the 2024–25 Budget to modernise parliamentary business systems.
An analysis of the department's financial performance and the financial statements is located at the 'Management and accountability' and 'Financial statements' sections of this report.
These annual performance statements record the department's results against the planned performance table in figure 2 (on page 17), which is derived from its 2023–24 Corporate Plan and 2023–24 Portfolio Budget Statements. They are based on records of services provided by the department, feedback recorded by departmental staff and comments made by relevant groups and committees.
In summary, this data shows both a high level of demand for the department's services and advice, and high levels of satisfaction with what is provided. The Senate's requirements at the mid-point of the 47th Parliament continued to be driven by a large crossbench and sustained high levels of committee and legislative activity. Factors influencing demand are analysed further throughout this report.
Before addressing the department's performance in detail, this year's report once again includes a case study, this time examining the support the department provided in relation to the sitting week of 18–21 March 2024 (see figure 3, on page18). The case study was selected early in the financial year and builds on previous case studies by demonstrating the support the department provides to the Senate and to senators to enable them to participate in the sittings of the Senate.
Figure 2 – Planned performance
The department is responsible not to the government of the day, but to the Senate and all senators. In planning terms, the department's purpose is expressed as a single outcome to provide advisory and administrative support services to enable the Senate and senators to fulfil their representative duties and exercise the legislative power of the Commonwealth.
These services are delivered through a single program.
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Case study narrative – Sitting week 18–21 March 2024
Case studies have been used to illustrate the kinds of support the department provides to the Senate, its committees and senators. This is the second case study to examine a single sitting week for this purpose (the 2019–20 Annual Report examined a sitting week in 2020). As the case study includes most of the department's key activities over a short span of time, it relates to most of the department's performance measures.
The sitting week of 18–21 March 2024 was chosen early in the financial year because it would generally be a typical week in terms of the volume and type of legislative and procedural support provided by the department.
Sadly, Senator Linda White, a senator for the State of Victoria, died before the sitting week. As a result, the Senate set aside Tuesday, 19 March for a condolence motion. Following the usual practices of the Senate, no other business was conducted on that day and the Senate adjourned as a mark of respect.
In other respects, the week proved to be a typical one in terms of the volume and quality of the work performed by the department.
The department prepared a range of documents and provided written and oral advice to support senators performing their roles during a meeting of the Senate. Documents prepared for each sitting day included:
- the Notice Paper and Order of Business (the matters on the Senate's agenda)
- procedural scripts to support senators chairing the Senate and those who are participating in the proceedings (for example by introducing legislation or proposing that the Senate suspend its standing orders to depart from its scheduled program), and
- the Journals and the Senate Daily Summary (which record the decisions of the Senate including any legislation agreed to, amended or rejected).
An important aspect of supporting the Senate is providing live tracking of the meeting so that senators and their staff, ministerial offices, departments providing support to ministers, the media and the general public can follow the proceedings; this occurred via the Dynamic Red which is supported by a team of staff monitoring proceedings closely throughout the day. Similarly, advice provided by the clerks in the Senate was done at short notice, sometimes instantaneously, to support the President and senators acting as chairs to apply the rules of the Senate consistently.
The oral and written advice provided by Senate officers during the week also included advice about the powers and practices of committees and orders for production of documents. This advice assisted senators to utilise the procedural mechanisms available to them to inquire into issues (particularly to support their role in holding the government accountable for its administration of policies and programs), to debate issues of concern to the people they represent and to propose changes to government bills or their own legislation. For example, the department provided support to senators by drafting, circulating and publishing 17 sheets of amendments (containing 38 individual amendments) for non-government senators. Once bills were dealt with by the Senate, a message was drafted by the Table Office and its physical delivery to the House of Representatives coordinated with the Usher of the Black Rod's office.
The department also supported a minor party senator to introduce a bill which proposed amendments to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 to give courts the power to make divestiture orders against corporations that have misused their market power. This was one of 31 private senators' bills introduced during the year. The drafting of such bills often involves several months of highly technical work with a senator and their staff which culminates in the administrative tasks required to finalise the private senator's bill and supporting documents for introduction and publication.
The department provides secretariat support to three legislative scrutiny committees which examine bills and legislative instruments from the perspective of their compatibility with the protection of individual rights, principles of parliamentary oversight, the rule of law and human rights. Legislative scrutiny of bills and instruments supports senators in several ways: it may highlight issues with a bill and form the basis of a non-government senator's instructions for amendments, or it may identify concerns in relation to a legislative instrument which lead to a senator lodging a proposal that the Senate disallow (or veto) the instrument. The legislative scrutiny committees tabled three reports which reported on 67 bills and instruments during the week. These committees almost invariably table a report during sitting weeks in order to ensure their analysis is available to inform debate on bills and consideration of any proposed disallowance of a legislative instrument.
Senate standing and select committees were supporting 50 inquiries at the commencement of the week: the tasks involved in providing secretariat support to those committees are detailed at pp. ###. Those committees tabled 15 reports during the week. Senators are able to 'take note' of a tabled report which provides an opportunity for them to highlight the findings of inquiries and often discuss areas where they may have diverged from the majority committee view. During the case study week, senators spoke to reports on child exploitation and additional estimates as well as a government response to a committee report on the capability and culture of the National Disability Insurance Agency.
The department also provided secretariat support to an all-party committee, the Selection of Bills Committee, which meets every sitting week to recommend whether bills should be referred to committees for detailed consideration. On 21 March, the Senate accepted its recommendation for a new inquiry into a package of government bills dealing with biosecurity levies. Subsequently, secretariat staff supported the committee to which the bills were referred to advertise the inquiry, identify potential submitters, and suggest a proposed approach to the inquiry including a timetable to meet the reporting deadline set by the Senate.
Interestingly, the results of this case study are largely consistent with those of the 2020 sitting week despite that earlier sitting week coinciding with a period of significant legislative responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Three key differences to the earlier case study are apparent:
- fewer 'notices of motion' (21; 75) and procedural scripts (89; 145) than in the equivalent case study in 2020—largely reflecting the introduction of more restrictive rules governing notices of motion
- a much larger number of documents processed (282; 85) which likely reflects the difficulties presented by staff working remotely during the early stages of the COVID pandemic, and
- a larger number of committee reports tabled (15; 0)—this may reflect the sustained high volume of committee work but, given the number of current inquiries was very similar (50; 47), it is more likely to be a random fluctuation.1
Results
The balance of these annual performance statements reports on the department's performance in each of its key areas of service delivery and activity.
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
Achieved
One of the key responsibilities of the department is providing advice about the operations of the Senate and its committees. This advice is often given orally and immediately by the Clerk, Deputy 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 to provide advice by the Clerk Assistant (Committees) and the Senior Clerk of Committees, ensuring advice to committees is consistent, timely and accurate.
Senators and other recipients of written advice continued to acknowledge its value, and advice was invariably provided within agreed timeframes to meet the purposes for which it was sought. On occasion 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 often for the purpose of publishing it, to show the basis on which committees may have taken particular decisions or reached particular conclusions. No committee expressed dissatisfaction with advice received and several senators expressed their satisfaction with such advice in contributions in the Senate or informally.
Advice about the programming of business in the Senate is the responsibility of the Clerk Assistant (Table), as is the provision of advice and support to government Senate office holders. Procedural advice and support for non-government senators is the particular responsibility of the Deputy Clerk and the Clerk Assistant (Procedure). Senators continued to acknowledge the value of their advice. The Procedure Office drafted large numbers of procedural scripts, legislative amendments and private senators' bills, helping senators participate in legislative proceedings. Amendments and bills accurately reflected the drafting instructions and were prepared to the satisfaction of senators.
Advice provided by the department was also tested during estimates hearings and in other Senate proceedings and senators relied on such advice throughout the year. In addition to comments made by senators recorded in Hansard, feedback from senators and their staff provided directly to the Table Office and the Procedure Office indicated high levels of satisfaction with both advice and the levels of administrative support provided.
Procedural briefings among senior officers and the publication and dissemination of procedural resources assisted in maintaining the department's institutional knowledge and the capacity of officers to provide advice and support. This strengthening of institutional capability was also delivered through senior officers training additional staff to provide support and advice to senators as clerks at the table.
Secretariat support for the Senate and its committees
Assessment
The department's activities enable the Senate and its committees to meet in accordance with their decisions
Achieved
This outcome has been met during 2023–24 through two program components.
1. Secretariat support for the Senate
The department provided secretariat support for the Senate on each of its 59 sitting days (an increase on the 56 sitting days in the previous financial year).
During the sittings the Clerk, the Deputy Clerk and senior officers provided advice in the Senate to the President, Deputy President and other occupants of the chair, as well as to other senators and their staff. The Table Office and the Procedure Office provided procedural scripts and advice to assist senators participating in proceedings. Feedback from senators and their staff acknowledged the value and accuracy of this advice and support.
The Black Rod's Office provided formal and ceremonial support for sittings, including the swearing in of four new senators who filled casual vacancies during the year.
The Table Office and the Senate Public Information Office (SPIO) published the Senate's formal records as well as informal guides to its work. These resources were accurate and timely, and produced to meet the needs of senators and Senate deadlines. Documents supporting the Senate's legislative work were also uniformly accurate and timely.
Documents received for tabling were processed, recorded in procedural documents and archived. A growing proportion of documents and other information is published online, enhancing the ability of senators and others to follow and participate in Senate proceedings, and further improvements to digital publishing processes were implemented during the reporting period.
2. Secretariat support for 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 support. This support was primarily provided by the Committee Office, although other offices also supported a number of standing committees. Secretariat support for committees encompasses:
- procedural advice for the chair and other members, including advice and support to new senators and training for new chairs of committees
- logistical support for meetings (which includes arranging and attending interstate hearings and meetings via videoconference and site visits)
- preparation of meeting documents, including briefing documents, minutes and agenda
- managing and publishing submissions, and organising witnesses
- research, analysis of evidence and briefings to members, and
- preparation of draft reports, and their finalisation for tabling.
The Committee Office experienced another sustained period of high workload. The office supported 16 legislation and references committees, nine Senate select committees, two joint select committees and four other joint committees, undertaking between them, at one point, 66 separate inquiries.2 Secretariat staff in the Committee Office processed more than 8,831 submissions and arranged 252 public hearings, including 82 estimates hearings (which heard from 7,184 witnesses), and 532 private meetings. The Senate made 97 references during the year and the office drafted 189 reports.
Advice, documentation 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 set by committees and by the Senate.
Secretariat staff work closely with senators and their staff to support committees. In particular, they work with the chair to guide and plan the committees' inquiries and collection of evidence and prepare draft reports. This provides an opportunity for direct and immediate feedback about senators' satisfaction. Importantly, these open lines of communication allow the Committee Office to be responsive to feedback, and to make improvements to service delivery whenever it is required. Secretariat staff continue to tailor their service delivery to respond to feedback received from senators and their staff during the year.
Despite the workload, this direct feedback continues to indicate high levels of satisfaction with the service provided to chairs and other committee members. On numerous occasions during debate on committee reports in the Senate, senators took the opportunity to provide highly complimentary feedback about the support they received from secretariat staff.
Administrative advice and support for senators
Assessment
Senators are satisfied with the administrative advice and support they receive from the department
Achieved
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 preparing and supporting the Senate chamber for each sitting day, general office support, asset management, maintenance of equipment and furniture, and stationery services. The office also paid senators' salaries and allowances as required, organised office accommodation within the Senate wing and provided other services such as arranging transport and delivery services.
The Usher of the Black Rod provided security advice and support to the President, committees, senators and the department. The Usher of the Black Rod and Deputy Usher of the Black Rod also worked with colleagues in the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) Security Branch and the Serjeant-at-Arms' Office, and with the Australian Federal Police, providing the Senate's perspective on security matters.
One focus of the office during 2023–24 was preparing systems to implement legislation which provided for senators to be paid fortnightly instead of monthly, consistent with the wider Commonwealth service, from 1 July 2024. The office also facilitated 11 suite moves during the year.
The Usher of the Black Rod's office assisted with the organisation of events and facilitated ceremonies including preparation for the swearing-in of Australia's 28th Governor-General, Her Excellency Sam Mostyn AC, in the Senate chamber on 1 July 2024.
Services were delivered within established timeframes and met relevant legislative requirements. This aspect of the department's work involves regular and direct contact with Senate office holders, senators and their staff, and other stakeholders, all of whom provided regular informal feedback which was very positive. Positive comments were also recorded in Hansard about the quality of the support for senators provided by the office and the department.
Public information and parliamentary education
Assessment
Public information about the work and role of the Senate and its committees and parliamentary education programs are current and accessible to all
Achieved
The department delivers public information and parliamentary education in a number of ways, primarily through the publication of information on the Parliament's website (aph.gov.au) and the delivery of seminars, training and education programs to senators and their staff, the public service, community groups and school students.
In this reporting period, the Procedure Office delivered 21 seminars for public service officers and community groups, 21 training sessions for senators and their staff, and six public lectures, as well as publishing material on the role and work of the Senate and its committees to both internal and external audiences. Formal and informal feedback about these services, for example from senators, training participants and our seminar audience, indicates that the programs effectively met their objectives.
The Parliamentary Education Office (PEO) continued to deliver high quality education programs to students, in person at Parliament House, in classrooms through its outreach program and via videoconference across Australia. Nearly 2,100 education programs were provided to school groups at Parliament House and over 370 programs were delivered via videoconference. Feedback collected indicated high levels of satisfaction with all programs. The PEO website (peo.gov.au) continues to be well utilised, with approximately 1.35 million instances of individual users accessing the site. Feedback about the educational information and resources on the website was very positive.
The Senate Public Information Office (SPIO) develops and publishes a range of public information resources to support the operation of the Senate, including on sitting days the Dynamic Red (a live update on proceedings) and Senate Daily Summary (an informal summary of each day's proceedings). SPIO also manages the department's social media presence. The office collates statistics on Senate activity and in this reporting period continued to refine the Senate's online statistical collection, StatsNet.
These resources were provided on all sitting days, and accurate, reader-friendly public information resources were delivered within established timeframes.
Capability, governance and accountability
Assessment
All identified accountability obligations to the Senate are met
Achieved
Senate committees provide opportunities for senators and others to monitor the department's performance. The department met its accountability obligations to the Senate during the year, including through its appearance before estimates hearings in October 2023 and February and May 2024. The Clerk provided the Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee with a briefing on the department's support to committees prior to each round of Senate estimates.
These activities provide an important accountability mechanism by which senators may test advice provided by departmental officers and evaluate the department's performance. The department also responded to 167 questions on notice which were published on the committee's website.
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. 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. Regular reports on other departmental matters are also provided to the President.
Analysis
The department reports against the performance indicators contained in its portfolio budget statements, tabled in the Senate in May 2023, and those in its Corporate Plan for 2023–24. 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. 2023–24 was the second year of the 47th Parliament and the Senate's large and diverse crossbench continued to affect the level of demand for advice, and the character of advice and support required.
The Senate sat on 59 days. High levels of committee activity continued, with nine Senate select and two joint select committees supported during the year (in addition to the standing and statutory committees supported by the department). There was also high demand for legislative drafting services.
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 (often informal) feedback about services and performance, and an avenue for addressing concerns as they are raised. During 2023–24, direct feedback was very positive across all service areas, particularly in relation to core advisory, drafting 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 resoundingly positive during 2023–24. 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 positive. The direct accountability of the department to the Senate through its committees was noted above.
The department's program managers have adopted a formal process for recording and providing feedback to the Clerk to provide assurance for his certification of the annual performance statements. These measures have been provided to the department's Audit Committee, which has provided advice that the measures and these annual performance statements are appropriate.
The subsequent parts of this chapter report on the activities and performance of the department against the criteria contained in the departmental work plans.