Parliamentary Service Commissioner Annual Report 2012-2013

 

Administration of the Parliamentary Service

Review of the Parliamentary Service Act

The Commissioner's Annual Report 2011–12 foreshadowed a bill to change the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 (Parliamentary Service Act) to mirror, where appropriate, changes made to the Public Service Act 1999 (Public Service Act) that arose from the report Ahead of the game: Blueprint for the reform of Australian Government administration (the Blueprint).

The Parliamentary Service Amendment Act 2013 received Royal Assent on 1 March 2013 and came into effect on 1 July 2013 when the changes to the Public Service Act also came into effect. Changes to the Parliamentary Service Act include:

  • revised Parliamentary Service Values and a set of Employment Principles
  • a statement about the role of the Parliamentary Service
  • expanded roles and responsibilities of secretaries
  • revised roles of the Senior Executive Service
  • revised provisions for receiving and dealing with whistleblower reports
  • revised arrangements for the provision and use of confidential information
  • a power for the Merit Protection Commissioner to delegate his or her powers to Parliamentary Service or Australian Public Service employees.

The amended Parliamentary Service Act is supported by the Parliamentary Service Determination 2013 made by the Presiding Officers on 26 June 2013 and effective from 1 July 2013. The Presiding Officers made this determination after consultation with the Parliamentary Service Commissioner as required by the Parliamentary Service Act.

On 25 June 2013 the Parliamentary Service Commissioner issued the Parliamentary Service Commissioner's Direction 2013, which establishes basic requirements for parliamentary department secretaries' procedures for handling suspected Code of Conduct breaches.

Freedom of information

The Parliamentary Service Commissioner Annual Report 2011–12 indicated that the Australian Information Commissioner had amended the guidelines issued under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) in May 2012 to state that the Department of the House of Representatives, the Department of the Senate and the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) were subject to the FOI Act. Prior to this, it had been accepted that the FOI Act did not apply to the departments of the Parliament. This change did not result from an amendment to the FOI Act or any other legislation.

The Parliamentary Service Amendment (Freedom of Information) Act 2013, which came into effect on 28 June 2013, excludes the parliamentary departments and office holders under the Parliamentary Service Act from the FOI Act. The effect of the amending legislation is that, as of 28 June 2013, the FOI Act is taken not to apply and not to have ever applied to the parliamentary departments and persons who hold or perform duties of an office established under the Parliamentary Service Act.

The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) is expressly exempted from the application of the FOI Act, under s. 7(1) and Division 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the FOI Act.

Parliamentary Budget Office

The Parliamentary Service Amendment (Parliamentary Budget Officer) Act 2013 amended the Parliamentary Service Act, with effect from 30 June 2013, to give the Parliamentary Budget Officer an additional function of preparing a report on designated parliamentary parties' publicly announced policies by 30 days after a government forms following a general election. The amendments also enhanced the PBO's access to information from Commonwealth bodies to assist in delivering the report and amended the Taxation Administration Act 1953 to allow the Australian Taxation Office to provide confidential taxpayer data to the PBO for the purposes of the PBO's statutory functions.

Information and communications technology review

In November 2011 the Presiding Officers commissioned Mr Michael Roche to undertake a review of information and communication technology (ICT) services provided to the Parliament. The Roche Review report was tabled at the Supplementary Budget Estimates hearing of the Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee in October 2012.

The Roche Report made 11 recommendations to develop and implement a whole-of-Parliament approach to the delivery of ICT services. The recommendations included: the establishment of a one-stop shop to address the needs of Senators and Members; the development of a Parliament of Australia ICT strategic plan; the establishment of a Parliamentary ICT advisory board to provide guidance and advice on ICT strategic issues; the appointment of a Chief Information Officer (CIO); and the consolidation within DPS of ICT resources across the parliamentary departments. Significant progress has been made to implement the Roche Report recommendations.

In January 2013, a CIO was appointed to lead a new DPS ICT division and to act as a focus for Parliament-wide ICT issues.

The Parliamentary ICT Advisory Board (PICTAB) was established to oversee the development and progress of the parliamentary ICT strategic plan and to provide guidance to the CIO on strategic objectives and outcomes.

The Board consists of eight representatives from the following:

  • the four parliamentary departments
  • the Parliamentary Service Commissioner
  • Government
  • Opposition
  • minor parties/independents.

PICTAB first met on 29 November 2012. It met a further three times in 2012–13.

The consolidation of parliamentary ICT functions progressed with agreement to the formal transfer of ICT staff from the chamber departments to DPS on 1 July 2013.

DPS and the Department of Finance and Deregulation collaborated to reform the electorate office mobile phone (Mobile Personal Digital Assistant, or MPDA) entitlement. The new entitlement will allow Senators and Members greater choice of devices. DPS also established a one-stop shop to enable Senators and Members and their staff to preview a range of equipment available under the entitlement.

At the conclusion of the reporting period, work was proceeding, under the guidance of PICTAB, on the development of a Parliament of Australia ICT Strategic Plan 2013–18.

Common service arrangements

Previous annual reports have referred to work by the parliamentary departments addressing common service arrangements. The main related development during the year was the ICT changes reported above. In addition, the Department of the House of Representatives continued to provide the payroll function for DPS and the PBO during the year, and DPS provided corporate support services for the PBO.

Inquiries

Section 40(1)(b) of the Parliamentary Service Act enables the Commissioner to inquire into and report on matters relating to the Parliamentary Service, if requested by the Presiding Officers. No requests were made during the reporting period.

Liaison between the Australian Public Service Commission and the Parliamentary Service

Representatives of the parliamentary departments and the Commission have continued to liaise on relevant current issues, including the changes to the Parliamentary Service Act and subordinate legislation, award modernisation, and the Public Interest Disclosure Bill.

There was also substantial executive-level consultation on the draft of Parliamentary Service Determination 2013.