DPS 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 2017–18	Payments made 2017–18	Balance Remaining 2017–18
		$’000	$’000	$’000
		(a)	(b)	(a) - (b)
Ordinary Annual Services1
Departmental Appropriation2		176,374	148,833	27,541
Administered Annual Appropriation		9,235	5,994	3,241
Total Ordinary Annual Services	A	185,609	154,827	30,782
Other services
Administered Assets and Liabilities3		167,382	88,849	78,533
Total Other Services	B	167,382	88,849	78,533
Total Net resourcing and payments	A+B	352,991	243,676	109,315

Departmental operating and capital results

DPS recorded an operating loss of $21.9 million in 2017–18. This loss was primarily caused by $22.3 million in depreciation and amortisation which is not funded through revenue appropriations, but rather through the department’s capital budget. The remaining surplus of $0.4 million was due to lower than budgeted employee expenditure.

The total departmental expenses excluding depreciation and amortisation were $136.7 million. This consisted of $86.4 million in employee expenses, $49.8 million in supplier costs and $0.5 million in write downs and loss on sale of assets. This was mostly funded by $123.0 million in revenue from government and $14.1 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 Parliament House. It incorporates activities relating to technology, the Parliamentary Library and parliamentary experience.

The departmental capital result for 2017–18 was $14.1 million. This is $3.5 million less than the $17.6 million in departmental capital appropriated for 2017–18. In addition to these asset additions, $2.7 million of assets were transferred to DPS from the other parliamentary departments.

Administered operating and capital results

The administered activities of the department deliver a building works program that maintains Parliament House 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 $88.8 million in administered capital and $5.9 million in administered operating in 2017–18 (excluding depreciation and amortisation), which was $36.9 million less than the planned amount. The primary delay was related to the security capital works, for which DPS will seek to move funds from 2017–18 to the forward estimates.

Third party drawing rights

DPS has access to the Department of Finance’s appropriation for the purposes of providing infrastructure and communications technology services to electorate offices and former Prime Ministers, and photographic services to Parliament. From 1 July 2017 to 31 December 2017 this access was in accordance with the Parliamentary Entitlements Act 1990. On 1 January 2018 the Parliamentary Business Resource Act 2017 (PBR Act) commenced, replacing the framework that governs the remuneration and public resources provided to parliamentarians. From 1 January 2018 to 30 June 2018 access was in accordance with the newly introduced PBR Act. In 2017-18 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 to connect to a range of devices wirelessly. DPS drew down $18.8 million from the Department of Finance’s appropriation to deliver these services.