The Department of Parliamentary Services receives departmental and administered operating and capital funding as well as funds through third-party drawing rights. Details of the DPS appropriations, programs and an explanation of the results are provided below:

Table 1: Summary of Financial Performance

Department of Parliamentary Services		Actual Available Appropriation for 2016–17	Payments made 2016–17	Balance Remaining 2016–17
		$’000	$’000	$’000
		(a)	(b)	(a) - (b)
Ordinary Annual Services2
Departmental Appropriation3		173 475	153 775	19 700
Administered Annual Appropriation		12 265	7 776	4 489
Total Ordinary Annual Services	A	185 740	161 551	24 189
Administered Non-operating
Administered Assets and Liabilities4		176 902	38 481	138 421
Total Other Services	B	176 902	38 481	138 421
Total Net resourcing and payments	A+B	362 642	200 032	162 610

Departmental operating and capital results

DPS recorded an operating loss of $20.3 million in 2016–17. This loss was primarily caused by $17.2 million in depreciation and amortisation which is not funded through revenue appropriations but rather through the department’s capital budget. $3.1 million of the remaining loss was due to higher than budgeted software licenses, unbudgeted separation and redundancies and the implementation costs for establishing in house catering at APH.

The total departmental expenses excluding depreciation and amortisation were $132.0 million. This consisted of $84.2 million in employee expenses, $47.7 million in supplier costs and $0.1 million in loss on sale of assets and write downs. This was mostly funded by $118.6 million in revenue from government and $10.1 million in own source revenue.

Figure 1: Departmental Operating Expenses by Functional Area

Departmental capital is used to deliver a program of work in support of the work of parliamentarians, occupants of the building and visitors to APH. It incorporates activities relating to technology, the Parliamentary Library and parliamentary experience.

The departmental capital result for 2016–17 was $22.8 million. This is $0.3 million more than the $22.5 million in departmental capital appropriated for 2016–17. This $0.3 million was funded through unspent appropriations from prior years.

Administered operating and capital results

The administered activities of the department deliver a building works program that maintains APH as a safe and accessible workplace and public building. It incorporates activities relating to the building or art within the building. The administered program also includes the Australian Parliament House Security Upgrade project budget measure which was originally appropriated in 2014–15.

DPS spent $38.5 million in administered capital and $8.0 million in administered operating in 2016–17 (excluding depreciation and amortisation), which was $73.0 million less than the planned amount. The primarily delay was related to the Security Upgrade, for which DPS sought and had approved a $75.7 million movement of funds from 2016–17 to the forward estimates.

Third party drawing rights

DPS has access to the Department of Finance’s appropriation for the purposes of providing technology services to electorate offices and photographic services to Parliament in accordance with the Parliamentary Entitlements Act 1990. DPS also provides infrastructure and communications technology services to former Prime Ministers’ offices. In 2016–17 DPS replaced network equipment in each electorate office and Commonwealth Parliament Office as part of a project to enhance network services for parliamentarians. The result is increased network bandwidth and WiFi in those locations, to provide an improved user experience and enable parliamentarians and their staff connection to a range of devices wirelessly. DPS drew down $20.2 million from the Department of Finance’s appropriation to deliver these services.