Chapter 5 - Officers
of the Senate:
Parliamentary administration
The Clerk of the Senate
The Clerk of the Senate is the
principal adviser in relation to proceedings of the Senate to the President,
the Deputy President and Chair of Committees, and senators generally. The
Clerk’s advice is given both in the Senate chamber when the Senate is sitting
and at other times, and may be in oral or written form. Each senator has access
to the advice on the basis of equality and confidentiality. Frequently,
however, written advice is made public by the senator who sought it.
In addition, the
Clerk is the departmental head of the Department of the Senate, exercising in
accordance with the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 the powers of a
secretary of a department, and is responsible to the President and to the
Senate for the budget, staffing and operations of the department.
The Clerk is appointed by the President of the Senate after
consultation with senators for a non-renewable term of 10 years.
In the chamber, the Clerk sits at the table on the floor of the Senate,
on the President’s right. All proceedings are noted by the Clerk, who is
responsible for the preparation and publication of the Journals of the
Senate (SO 43). The Clerk has
the custody of the Journals, records and all documents laid before the Senate,
and they must not be taken from the chamber or Senate offices without the
permission of the Senate (SO 44). (A resolution
of 6
October 2005, on the recommendation of the Procedure Committee, authorises the
storage of original tabled documents outside Parliament House: 6/10/2005, J.1200).
Whenever the office of President becomes vacant, the Clerk acts as
chair of the Senate prior to the election of the President, and has the powers
of the President under the standing orders while so acting (SO 6(1)).
Before a bill is
sent or returned to the House of Representatives, the Clerk certifies at the
top of the first page the manner in which the Senate has dealt with the Bill (SO 125). When a bill
which originated in the Senate has finally passed both Houses, the Clerk must,
before the bill is presented to the Governor‑General for assent, certify
on the last page of the bill that it originated in the Senate and has finally
passed both Houses (SO 137).
The Clerk also acts
as secretary and adviser to the Procedure Committee, which is appointed at the
commencement of each Parliament. The committee, which was called the Standing
Orders Committee before 1987, consists of the President, the Deputy President
as chair and leaders and senior members of all parties represented in the
Senate. It examines procedural matters referred to it by the Senate or the
President, and evaluates, and recommends changes to, the rules of the Senate to
facilitate full and fair debate and the proper conduct of the business of the
Senate and its committees.
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