Download the Corporate plan 2024-25 (PDF 249KB)

The 2024-25 Corporate Plan for the Department of the Senate, which covers the period 2024-25 to 2027-28, is published to meet the requirements of paragraph 35(1)(b) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.

From the Clerk

This corporate plan outlines the role and work of the Department of the Senate, how we plan our work, and how we plan to assess how we've done.

In describing what we do, we focus on the concept of the secretariat. The conventional role of a secretariat is to provide administrative support to the meetings of the institution it serves. Much of our work takes this form. We provide the secretariat for the Senate and for dozens of parliamentary committees. We arrange their meetings, facilitate their work and report their outcomes.

Alongside that administrative work, our core services are described in terms of advice and support. We give senators and others the advice and support they need to participate in meetings of the Senate and parliamentary committees. The 'others' mentioned here include people providing submissions to, or appearing as witnesses before, committees, as well as the many people who need to present documents to the Senate and its committees, or respond to questions raised in their proceedings.

We also advise senators on other matters affecting the operation of the Parliament and its committees, and provide administrative advice and support to them and their staff, particularly in Parliament House. Stepping away from this direct support, we seek to explain the role and work of the Senate to different audiences, including through public information and education programs.

We strive to ensure that the advice and support we provide is consistent, professional and impartial; underpinned by expert procedural knowledge. Much of our corporate and executive work is directed to maintaining our capacity to do so.

As I have often noted, our core activities carry with them the challenges of unpredictable workloads and shifting deadlines. This is mainly because that work is largely determined by senators themselves, through the decisions they make – individually and collectively – in relation to their legislative and committee work. These determine, for example, how often the Senate sits; the level of demand for procedural and legislative drafting advice and support; the number of operative committees and the nature of their inquiries and, in turn, the demand for the advisory, administrative support, research and writing services undertaken by our committee staff.

In other words, the level of legislative and committee activity we support, and the consequent demand for our services, is variable and largely determined by factors beyond our control. This affects how we plan and assess our work. Our core services and activities do not lend themselves to numerical targets. Instead, we must position ourselves to meet whatever level of demand eventuates. This is teased out in the section on Performance, which describes how we assess our work, with a focus on accuracy and timeliness, particularly through the lens of senators' satisfaction with the advice and support we provide.

The shape of our work in 2024-25 will be affected by the upcoming federal election. We know it will happen this year – the Constitution and electoral laws place it between August 2024 and May 2025 – but we don't know when, and that constrains our ability to plan around it. We expect that there will be a lull in legislative and committee activity in the lead up to the election and in its immediate aftermath. Experience suggests that committee work will continue apace until the election is called. Committees often seek to table reports as the parliament winds down to wrap up their longer-running inquiries. Legislative activity – by which we mean the work connected to sittings of the Senate itself – is less predictable. Looking at the last five elections, the number of sitting days in election years has ranged from 33 to 51. In 2021-22, the Senate sat for only 33 days, partly reflecting the need to bring forward the Budget sittings and estimates hearings to accommodate a May election. An election in May 2025 might similarly affect the sitting schedule, but the election may well occur earlier than that.

After the election, our focus will shift to the orientation of newly elected senators, and planning and delivering the opening of the 48th Parliament. Depending on the timing of the election, the new Parliament could be well underway before the end of the current financial year. We will adjust course in planning and delivering our work as these questions of timing become clearer.

Most of our program remains constant over time, however, we have one new element of note commencing this year. Following funding in the 2024-25 Budget, a new Digital Innovation Team has been established to work with the department's ICT provider, the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS), to modernise parliamentary business applications.

This new approach will allow the department and DPS to fast-track the replacement of legacy ICT applications and systems so that they are reliable, secure and responsive to the needs of the Senate and senators at a time of increased cybersecurity threats and rapid technological change.

The funding will, for the first time, allow a dedicated team of Senate specialists to work full time with DPS ICT on the modernisation process, instead of pausing development during sitting periods and other busy times.

Last year's corporate plan foreshadowed the negotiation of a new enterprise agreement with our staff, and the requirement in the government's bargaining framework that the agreement would have regard to the common terms and conditions that would emerge from the APS service-wide bargaining round. The new agreement commenced in March 2024 and work is well underway to refresh the department's policies and workplace practices to implement those arrangements. I expect that work to be finalised toward the end of 2024.

Technically, this plan gazes out across the next four financial years. So, while the end of the 47th Parliament is fast approaching, this plan is intended to guide the department right through the next Parliament and into the 49th. We expect that the demand for our services will remain high throughout that period. As ever, our approach to meeting that demand is to recruit well, to support the professional development of our staff to enhance their capacity to provide those services, and to foster an environment where all staff can best contribute to our work providing the Senate, its committees and senators with advice and support.

Richard Pye
Clerk of the Senate

The Senate secretariat

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

We provide the secretariat to the Senate – enabling its legislative and accountability activities – and to dozens of parliamentary committees, whose work encompasses the Senate's scrutiny functions and its exercise of Parliament's broad investigative powers. In doing so, we provide expert, impartial advice about Senate and committee operations, encompassing their powers, privileges and immunities, and reflecting well over a century of procedural precedent.

With our colleagues from across the Parliamentary Service we also provide specialised advice and logistical support to senators so they may undertake their duties.

We publish the Senate's records, and produce an array of information resources so that people may understand and engage in its work. These public information activities enhance the transparency of government and, by contributing to a better-informed electorate, promote Australia's democracy and Parliamentary education.

Our capacity to meet the needs of senators and the Senate rests on our people. Among our key objectives are to recruit well and to enhance the skills and knowledge of our staff through targeted learning and development activities, and by mentoring them in the specialised work we undertake.

We strive to ensure adherence to public governance and accountability requirements, and to meet our accountability obligations to the Senate and senators. Our work supports an institution that performs a key role in maintaining the accountability of the executive, so we are particularly mindful of the need to meet the highest standards of probity. Moreover, our daily interaction with senators provides a constant performance measure.

We succeed in our purpose 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. The mechanisms by which we deliver and assess our services are detailed ahead.

Program delivery

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.

Further information about the department's performance framework is summarised under the heading Performance.

Structure and roles

The department is responsible to the Senate through the President of the Senate, Senator the Hon Sue Lines. The administrative head of the department is the Clerk of the Senate, Mr Richard Pye.

The Clerk, Deputy Clerk, Usher of the Black Rod and Clerk Assistants comprise the Program Managers' Group which supports the Clerk to administer the department in an informed, effective and thoughtful manner. To achieve our purpose, the department is structured into seven offices. Their roles and responsibilities are set out in the department's annual work plans and are summarised below:

The Parliament's website contains further information about the department's corporate structure and functions.

Environment

The department occupies a unique place in the machinery of government in supporting the Senate; an independent House of Parliament established by the Australian Constitution.

Our work is determined by the Senate and its committees. The character of our work reflects the constitutional role of the Senate as a constituent part of the Parliament, in which the legislative power of the Commonwealth is vested. Our day-to-day tasks have evolved along with the processes the Senate has developed for scrutinising government policies, operations and legislative proposals.

The department is responsible, not to the government of the day, but to the Senate and all senators, and maintains complete impartiality in serving equally senators from all political parties and independent senators. Our approach and values arise from the need to provide non-partisan advice and support to each senator, to each committee on which senators serve and to the Senate as an institution.

The department is subject to the same financial pressures faced by other public sector agencies. The need for innovative, productive responses to budget constraints and changing expectations of senators pose challenges. These challenges can be particularly pressing because there is no intrinsic connection between the demand for the department's services and the resources for their delivery.

Finally, in addition to working within the constitutional framework and standing orders of the Senate, we work in accordance with the public governance and accountability arrangements set out in the PGPA Act and other legislation in so far as they apply to the parliamentary departments.

Collaboration

The department is one of four departments of the parliamentary service established under the Parliamentary Services Act 1999, the others being the Department of the House of Representatives, the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) and the Parliamentary Budget Office.

The structure of parliamentary administration is also evolving in response to the Independent Review of Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces (Jenkins Review), whose recommendations encompass the establishment of two new independent offices, the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service and the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission.

While our perspectives necessarily differ, we work collaboratively with our colleagues and support the parliament. The department adheres to the purpose of the Strategic Framework: The parliamentary service, to ensure:

• Parliament and its committees are supported effectively
• that senators and members are supported to undertake their work
• the community can easily access and engage in the work of the Parliament and parliamentary committees
• that national, international and regional relationships are maintained with other parliaments, parliamentary bodies and organisations
• Australian Parliament House (APH) is sustained as a workplace and national institution, and
• the parliamentary service is independent and non-partisan.

The department participates in a range of interdepartmental committees through which the parliamentary departments coordinate common and joint activities. Chief among these are quarterly meetings of the heads of the four parliamentary departments and the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service; the Parliamentary Administration Advisory Group; the Security Management Board; the Parliamentary ICT Advisory Board (and its subordinate ICT committees); and numerous boards managing joint projects and endeavours such as the implementation of the Parliament's Reconciliation Action Plan and access and inclusion initiatives.

Capability

Our capability to provide the highest standards of advice and support to senators, the Senate and its committees is founded upon the knowledge, skill, motivation and professionalism of our staff.

It is supported by our learning and development framework; our approach to workforce planning and recruitment; our priorities in negotiating and implementing employment frameworks; and effective governance structures.

Although difficult to measure, the goal here is institutional continuity. The achievement of this goal lies in the recruitment of exceptionally capable staff, in numbers commensurate with workload and within budgetary constraints; the provision of ongoing staff training and support; and the production of authoritative procedural guides and reference works. A focus on the health and well-being of our staff has been a consistent priority over many years, with the release of a strategy in 2019 followed by updates to associated policies and more recent work to refresh our diversity and inclusion policy and action plans. This focus supports our capacity to attract and retain the staff we need to effectively advise and support senators. Importantly, it also ensures the department provides a supportive environment in which all staff can best contribute. The department will participate in the APSC census in 2024 to gauge employee satisfaction and inform development of a strategic approach to staff retention.

During 2024–25, the department will continue to work closely with parliamentarians, the parliamentary departments and others to implement the remaining recommendations of the Jenkins review. While the department has different employment arrangements to those which apply to the staff of members of parliament, implementation of those recommendations has strengthened our policies and procedures for preventing and addressing workplace bullying and harassment and enhanced our ability to meet our obligations to provide a safe and respectful workplace for our staff.

We uphold the values set out in the Parliamentary Service Act 1999, which are embedded into our systems, practices, procedures and culture, and support our relationship with the Parliament and public. These place the highest value on impartial service to the institution of Parliament. They are essential to the department's performance and support good administration. Our values also underpin our relationships and behaviour and establish the way work is completed.

In the period of this plan and into the future, there will be further investment in the development of our critical capabilities to deliver effective services to the Senate. There will be a continued focus on procedural and legislative support and mentorship of the staff involved. Strong and supportive working relationships, knowledge sharing and the effective capture and dissemination of corporate knowledge through publications and strong record keeping are key elements in the continuing evolution of the management team and staff and ongoing succession planning.

Information technology

The ICT and administrative systems we use underpin our ability to support the Senate, committees and senators, and to produce and share information about their work. The department is constantly looking for innovative ways to deliver services, while maintaining the integrity of the advice and support provided.

DPS supports most of the department's ICT systems and works with the department to ensure those systems are updated to harness new capabilities and improve efficiency. The risk of ICT problems interrupting the core work of the Senate is therefore shared with DPS and mitigated through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with DPS, business continuity planning, participation in user groups and management committees, and strategic oversight through the Parliamentary ICT Advisory Board. The parliamentary departments have in place an ongoing annual formal assurance process of the services provided by DPS.

In 2024–25 and beyond, the department is looking to:

• continue project work to digitise manual processes and enhance the document management systems used by the department and in the publication of parliamentary information
• identify required ICT capabilities to support improved efficiency in the work of the department, the Senate and its committees
• contribute to making ICT Governance arrangements more efficient
• continue to strengthen our engagement in and oversight of joint ICT projects managed by DPS through the creation of the Digital Innovation Team, and
• continue work on the management of cyber security as a shared risk with DPS.

Assurance and accountability

We strive to deliver services with innovation and efficiency, and to manage risks and resources effectively and accountably. Our services are enabled by our 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 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 1999.

Risk oversight and management

Risks to the department may arise from circumstances which introduce uncertainty into its capacity to meet its purpose of providing support services to the Senate. Through our risk management strategies, the department aims to ensure that we have in place robust planning and decision making practices that will sustain the department into the future.

The department has a current risk management framework that is fit-for-purpose and consistent with the requirements of the PGPA Act and related policies. The framework acknowledges that the department's application of the Senate Standing Orders, procedures and the Parliamentary Service Values are the foundation of our risk management practices. The framework also includes an articulation of the department's risk appetite and tolerance, and provides guidance to further embed effective risk management practices throughout the department and to support staff to understand their role in risk management. The framework was reviewed in 2023, following revisions to the Commonwealth Risk Management Policy.

The main vehicle for the ongoing monitoring and treatment of risks is our strategic risk assessment report which the department regularly reviews and updates to address any emerging areas of risk or opportunity. The risk assessment provides a focus for talking about risk and incorporating appropriate mitigation activities in our governance and business processes and is a primary focus of the department's annual internal audit program.

Monitoring the risk assessment and testing of the effectiveness of risk controls, and other risk related matters, is the responsibility of senior management and the strategies to address the department's key risks are considered at each Program Managers' Group meeting. Program Managers regularly report to the department's Audit Committee, which in turn provides advice to the Clerk on the appropriateness of our risk oversight and management.

Key business risks

The following table provides a snapshot of the department's five strategic risk categories at 1 July 2024. The residual risk ratings are determined after the effective implementation of risk treatment strategies and controls.

Ref.	Risk	Risk strategies and controls	Rating
1	Workforce capability The risk that the department does not have the skills, capacity or experience to provide the advice and support required.	Program Managers oversee the department's workforce plan and engage in strategic workforce management. The department encourages ongoing learning and development, as well as the rotation of staff, to broaden the skills and experience of staff. The rating for this risk was reduced from 'medium' during 2023−24. This is largely due to concerted effort implementing the department's workforce capability strategies, and the likelihood now being considered rare.	LOW
2	Management of relationships The risk that the department fails to maintain productive relationships with: senators and their staff external agencies parliamentary departments; and the community.	The department maintains or supports various forums (most significantly, the Standing Committee on Appropriations, Staffing and Security) which provide a conduit for direct communication with the President, office holders and other senators. The department maintains complete impartiality in serving equally senators from all political parties and independent senators. The department works closely with the other parliamentary departments through both formal and informal bodies. The department also engages with the broader Public Service through participation in various forums, including the Chief Risk Officer forum, HR Professional Network and Chief Financial Officer forums.	MEDIUM
3	Governance and accountability The risk that the department fails to appropriately manage its governance and accountability obligations and financial resources.	Program Managers closely monitor the performance of each function through monthly reporting of key activities to the Clerk. Progress against the department's performance indicators is monitored and discussed bi-annually. The department has mature and well-developed accountability frameworks which are regularly reviewed through the department's audit committee and internal audit.	LOW
4	Business operations ^ The risk that the department does not address potential disruptions to the effective delivery of services.	Senior staff of the department sit on key administrative, security and ICT governance boards and steering groups. The department coordinates its business continuity planning and responses with other parliamentary departments.	MEDIUM
5	ICT systems and resources ^ The risk that ICT systems and resources do not adequately support the work of the Senate (or Parliament) and its committees, and long term strategic planning is inadequate to ensure that appropriate systems and resources are developed for the future.	The department has a memorandum of understanding with DPS, which is responsible for the delivery of ICT services to the Parliament. The department actively engages through the ICT Governance Framework and with DPS officers to ensure ICT platforms are fit for purpose and planned ICT development appropriately reflects the needs of the Senate and its committees, and the department. The likelihood of this risk was reduced to 'unlikely' during 2023−24. This reflects the maturing of collaborative relationships with DPS that support the delivery of ICT services.	MEDIUM

^ These are shared risks that require a collaborative effort of oversight and management.

Governance forums and activities

The department's capacity to achieve its purpose is supported by effective governance arrangements. These include:

• advice, support and scrutiny provided by a senior management committee, the Program Managers' Group, chaired by the Deputy Clerk
• a Workplace Consultative Committee through which formal consultation on workplace relations occurs between the department and staff, and
• regular reviews of compliance with relevant legislative requirements and obligations, the results of which are articulated to the various governance bodies of the department.

To complement these internal mechanisms, the department's activities are scrutinised by both an internal audit service provider and the Australian National Audit Office. In addition, the department's Audit Committee provides relevant independent advice to the Clerk. The Audit Committee:

• reports regularly to the Clerk
• provides independent written advice to the Clerk on the appropriateness of the department's financial reporting, performance reporting, system of risk oversight and management, and system of internal controls, and
• produces an annual report, which is provided to the President of the Senate and the Appropriations, Staffing and Security Committee as part of the department's accountability arrangements.

We report on the activities and recommendations arising from these forums in our annual reports.

Performance

The department's performance framework focuses on our ability to achieve our purpose. We succeed when the Senate and its committees meet in accordance with their decisions, and when senators and others receive the advice and support needed to participate in these meetings. This Plan describes our approach to measuring success.

Our core services and activities do not lend themselves to numerical targets. As explained further, below, the demand for our services shifts in line with legislative and committee activity making it impossible to forecast our workload with any precision. Moreover, targets based on supporting a particular level of legislative or committee activity would not be indicative of the department's performance because such targets will not consistently reflect the real-time requirements of the Senate and senators. Instead, the department must position itself to meet whatever level of demand there is for its 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 the following criteria:

These criteria are the cornerstones for assessing all services and activities provided by the department. The mechanisms for measuring performance are described under the heading How performance is assessed.

Factors influencing demand

The department will also report on the demand for its services. A constant in our planning and reporting has been the recognition that much of the demand for our services shifts in line with levels of Senate legislative and committee activity. Demand is overwhelmingly driven by decisions 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 the sittings of the Senate
• the legislative workload of the Senate, and
• the number of committees, and their workload.

Gathering performance information

Workload and deadlines are largely dictated by decisions of the Senate and its committees, so it is not always possible to set specific targets. Assessing performance relies on a measurement of the work undertaken and the feedback received from those who rely on these services.

The department monitors its performance through formal and informal channels. Formal processes for assessing senators' satisfaction with our work include the use of targeted surveys designed to elicit feedback from senators and their offices on specific services, providing both quantitative and qualitative information on our performance. To improve the level of survey responses, the department has established a benchmark and uses the parliamentary cycle to schedule surveys. Much of the department's work involves contact with senators and their staff, presenting a direct means of eliciting, often informal, feedback about services and performance and an avenue for addressing concerns as they are raised. Senators' comments about the department and its staff, placed on the public record during Senate and committee proceedings, constitute a valuable source of performance information. Performance information is also gathered from management information systems and seminar evaluation forms.

Performance can also be assessed through external scrutiny. Senate committees provide opportunities for senators and others to scrutinise 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. This provides 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 are provided to the President of the Senate and the Appropriations, Staffing and Security Committee. The Chairs' Committee typically meets twice a year, providing an opportunity for senators who chair Senate committees to give feedback on the advice and services provided by the department.

Finally, the department's performance framework continues to be influenced by consideration of internal audit recommendations, results of better practice assessments and the advice of our audit committee. This framework has and will continue to evolve and mature.

How performance is assessed

The department's purpose is achieved through the delivery of its core services summarised on page 4, Program delivery. These services are largely demand driven and to demonstrate our performance, the department will report on the provision of significant services and feedback from those who rely on them.

Case studies

The department undertakes an annual case study to illustrate the connection between its work and the activities of the Senate. Case studies are selected early in the financial year, and on a rotating basis to ensure transparency, an objective reflection of performance and coverage of all the key activities of the department. Some of the case study topics relate to secretariat services, legislative process or corporate responsibilities. If a case study is no longer available for analysis, a replacement will be selected which meets the same criteria. The results of a case study are included in the annual performance statements.

Performance measures of key activities

The following tables on pages 15−18 show how information will be gathered and applied in assessing our performance against our key activities over the period covered by this plan.

Reporting

Program Managers are responsible for maintaining the department's performance information and ensuring there is a clear line of sight from our planned performance, outlined in the department's Portfolio Budget Statements and this plan, through to how we have achieved these performance targets.

The department reports performance to its audit committee biannually. The audit committee uses this information to form an opinion and provide advice to the Clerk on the appropriateness of the department's performance reporting framework as a whole.

Formally, the assessment of the department's performance in achieving its purpose is reported in its annual performance statements, included in the department's annual report.