| 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 and Privileges Committees. 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 accuracy and 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. |
Activities under the learning and development framework underpinned the department's advisory and support capacities. New clerks at the table were trained. |
| Governance structures advance the department's accountability and the achievement of its outcome. |
Governance forums achieved all significant targets for the year, including managing budgeting and staffing targets.
Contributions to interdepartmental forums supported collaborative and efficient parliamentary administration. |
| Advice, documentation, publications and draft reports are accurate, of a high standard and produced to meet the required timeframes. |
All advice, documents and the draft report produced in support of a committee 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. |
The Procedural Information Bulletin was produced promptly after sitting periods and estimates hearings. Procedural and administrative information for senators was published to the intranet site, Senate Connect. Work commenced on transferring advice provided by the office into more functional databases. |
Overview
The Clerk of the Senate, Richard Pye, manages the department in accordance with the Parliamentary Service Act and other legislation. The Clerk is also the principal adviser to the President of the Senate and senators on proceedings in the Senate, parliamentary privilege, and committee proceedings and their outcomes in the Senate. The Deputy Clerk of the Senate supports the Clerk in these roles and, with the Clerk Assistant (Procedure), provides procedural and legislative advice and support to non-executive senators. The Deputy Clerk also has particular corporate governance roles, including as the department's senior adviser to the Audit Committee and as chair of the Program Managers' Group. The cost of the office for 2023–24 was $1.0m ($1.0m in 2022–23).
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.
A key responsibility of the office was providing briefings and support to the President, Senator the Hon. Sue Lines, the Deputy President, Senator Andrew McLachlan CSC, and other senators who act as temporary chairs of the Senate.
The Presiding Officers concluded negotiations for a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) regarding the exercise of covert investigative powers where parliamentary privilege may be involved. The Deputy Clerks of the Senate and House of Representatives provided secretariat support to a working group of parliamentarians led by the Presiding Officers to negotiate the terms of this MOU with the Australian Federal Police and the Attorney-General's Department.
More generally, advice to senators and committees was often provided immediately, particularly in the Senate chamber, in private meetings of committees, and to senators who sought advice in person. Such verbal 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 number of requests for written advice returned to a level consistent with previous financial years following the increased demand in the last financial year. Advice addressed a diverse range of matters, predominantly concerned with either Senate or committee procedure, and included requests related to parliamentary privilege, the procedures for considering legislation and claims of public interest immunity by the executive. Figure 4 shows the number of written advices provided by topic, while figure 5 shows demand over recent years. The Clerk's Office continued to provide succinct, less formal advice, where appropriate, with a view to directly addressing the needs of the senator requesting the advice.
Figure 4 – Types of written advice provided by the Clerk, 2023–24
Figure 5 – Number of advices provided by the Clerk's Office, 2020–21 to 2023–24
Performance indicators for provision of advice focus on timeliness and accuracy. Senators and other recipients of advice continued to acknowledge its accuracy and its value. All advice was provided in time to meet the purposes for which it was sought. Most advice is provided on a confidential basis and it is for the recipient to decide whether to release it, and if so, on what basis. On several occasions during the year, recipients of advice published it which allows it to be tested through public scrutiny. The reliance of senators and committees on unpublished advice also allows its accuracy and utility to be tested (though not publicly demonstrated). As this advice can inform the actions of senators, the Senate and its committees, as well as public debate, all advice is prepared to the highest standards.
Procedural information
The Clerk produced nine issues of the Procedural Information Bulletin summarising the major procedural developments and matters of procedural interest arising during each sitting period and the three rounds of estimates hearings. Updates on procedural and administrative matters affecting senators were also published to an intranet site for senators and their staff: Senate Connect.
Significant work was completed on a project to transfer advice provided by the Clerk's Office into more functional databases. This has improved the capacity to search previous advice which supports both consistency and efficiency when preparing new advice on related matters. The project will be completed in 2024–25.
The Clerk and Deputy Clerk prepared and presented sessions in the department's learning and development program, and in other forums for parliamentary staff and officers from Commonwealth agencies. They also provided 15 procedural training sessions to senators and nine training sessions to senators who took on the role of temporary chair of the Senate. In response to feedback, the office also produced four short guides, incorporating video examples, to support temporary chairs to perform their role.
Committees
The office provided secretariat support to two Senate standing committees. 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.
The committee presented one report during the year. The report tabled in September 2023 and examined a range of procedural matters including a recommendation of the Set the Standard report relating to the rules governing language and behaviour in the Houses.
Committee of Privileges
The Deputy Clerk served as secretary to the Committee of Privileges, which met three times in 2023–24 (8 in 2022–23) but did not present any reports. The committee protects the integrity of Senate and committee proceedings by inquiring into matters which may amount 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.
Strategic direction and governance
A key responsibility of the office and the department's senior executive is to set the strategic direction of the department. The long-term priorities of the senior executive remained maintaining workforce capability and enhancing the ICT systems which support the department's capacity to perform its core functions. In relation to workforce capability, the department developed a suite of diversity and inclusion action plans for different cohorts. The department has commenced implementation of those plans and completed the last of the action plans early in 2024–25. This work helps to ensure the department recruits and retains the strongest possible team and all officers are supported to best contribute to our work.
We worked closely with our ICT colleagues in the Department of Parliamentary Service on various projects including rolling out the new Online Tabled Documents system for use by executive departments and development of a new document management system for the legislative scrutiny committees. These projects improve the efficiency of the department's operations by improving integration of information technology systems into the processes of the Senate and its committees. Further details of these projects are set out in the chapters detailing the activities of the office which led each project.
The Deputy Clerk was the department's senior adviser to its Audit Committee and chaired the Program Managers' Group. A key area of work for Program Managers was negotiating a new enterprise agreement with staff and updating the department's policies and practices to reflect the terms of the new agreement.
During the financial year, the Clerk attended four meetings of the Heads of the Parliamentary Departments. This group provides a forum to support coordination across the parliamentary service on administrative matters and to set the strategic direction of the service.
The Clerk and other senior officers continued to collaborate with their counterparts in the other parliamentary departments in relation to parliamentary administration. This collaboration is essential for the departments to provide effective support to the Parliament and its committees but it also delivered efficiencies particularly for the smaller departments in the parliamentary service. Where appropriate, the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service is also included in these arrangements.
More information on governance is in the 'Management and accountability' chapter.
Performance outlook
The next reporting period is the final year in an electoral cycle. It is likely to see sustained high levels of committee and legislative activity. However, the number of requests for procedural advice is likely to be consistent with 2023–24.
Work will continue on training officers to act as clerks at the table. Over the last four years, this training has resulted in an additional nine officers developing these skills (not including officers who perform this role as part of their core duties). Given the specialised nature of the role, this represents a significant element of the department's workforce planning as well as deepening the procedural knowledge officers bring to their current roles.
Work will begin on a collaborative project to modernise parliamentary business systems. This work is being led by the Department of Parliamentary Services and will be a key focus over the next two years.
While the precise election period timing is unknown, this period will provide the department with an opportunity to rotate staff with the benefit of broadening their skills, contributing to their professional development and career satisfaction, and maintaining our institutional capability.