INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT

I, as the accountable authority of the Department of the House of Representatives, present the 2015–16 annual performance statements of the Department of the House of Representatives, as required under paragraph 39(1)(a) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act). In my opinion, these annual performance statements accurately reflect the performance of the entity, and comply with subsection 39(2) of the PGPA Act.

David Elder

Clerk of the House

ENTITY PURPOSE

To support the House of Representatives and the wider parliament in the role of a representative and legislative body by providing advice and services of a high standard.

RESULTS – ACTIVITY 1 – CHAMBER AND FEDERATION CHAMBER

CRITERION     Level of satisfaction among surveyed members with the quality and timeliness of chamber support and advisory services (target: 99 per cent satisfied)

SOURCE          Corporate Plan 2015–16

RESULT           Members not surveyed. Informal feedback suggests that the target was met.

CRITERION     Level of satisfaction among surveyed members with the quality and availability of procedural and statistical publications, and support in obtaining such information (target: 90 per cent satisfied)

SOURCE          Corporate Plan 2015–16

RESULT           Members not surveyed (see analysis below). Efforts were increased to inform members about the procedural and statistical publications, which were produced in varied formats. Informal feedback suggests that the target was met.

CRITERION     Percentage of chamber support service standards met for sittings of the House and meetings of the Federation Chamber with no significant errors (target: 100 per cent)

SOURCE          Corporate Plan 2015–16

RESULT           Target met in respect of services except for a delay in the production of two business documents as a result of ICT issues.

CRITERION      Percentage of bills (proposed legislation) processed within deadlines and with no significant errors (target: 100 per cent)

SOURCE          Corporate Plan 2015–16 RESULT Target met.

RESULTS – ACTIVITY 2 – COMMUNITY AWARENESS

CRITERION      Level of satisfaction among surveyed members with the work of community outreach in raising awareness of the work of parliament (target: 95 per cent satisfied)

SOURCE          Corporate Plan 2015–16

RESULT           Members not surveyed. Good anecdotal feedback was received from members in relation to community outreach activities, such as the production of videos for committees and the My First Speech competition.

CRITERION    Number of participants in community awareness programs and subscribers to digital services (target: number of participants and subscribers continues to increase over time)

SOURCE          Corporate Plan 2015–16

RESULT           The number of participants in community awareness programs grew, with strong seminar attendance and a popular My First Speech competition. The number of subscribers to digital services also grew, with Twitter experiencing 31 per cent growth, Facebook 54 per cent and YouTube 56 per cent.

RESULTS – ACTIVITY 3 – COMMITTEE SUPPORT

CRITERION     Level of satisfaction among surveyed committee members with the thoroughness, accuracy and timeliness of advice and services provided (target: 90 per cent satisfied)

SOURCE          Corporate Plan 2015–16

RESULT           Members not surveyed. Informal feedback suggests that the target was met.

CRITERION     Level of satisfaction among surveyed committee members with the standard of committee reports (target: 90 per cent satisfied)

SOURCE          Corporate Plan 2015–16

RESULT           Members not surveyed. Informal feedback suggests that the target was met.

CRITERION     Number of committee reports (activity measure—no target) SOURCE           Corporate Plan 2015–16

RESULT           Investigative committees      71

Domestic committees           33

Total                                    104

CRITERION    Number and duration of committee meetings (activity measure—no target) SOURCE          Corporate Plan 2015–16

RESULT           No. of meetings                         Duration of meetings

Investigative committees                     529                    907 hours, 47 minutes

Domestic committees                            59                      17 hours, 23 minutes

Total                                                     588                    925 hours, 10 minutes

RESULTS – ACTIVITY 4 – INTER-PARLIAMENTARY RELATIONS AND CAPACITY BUILDING

CRITERION     Level of satisfaction of Presiding Officers with arrangements for incoming and outgoing delegations (target: very satisfied)

SOURCE          Corporate Plan 2015–16

RESULT           Good anecdotal feedback was received from the Presiding Officers and their offices on arrangements for incoming and outgoing delegations during the year, including on the Presiding Officers’ own travel.

CRITERION     Level of satisfaction among delegates and diplomatic representatives with arrangements for incoming and outgoing delegations (target: very satisfied)

SOURCE          Corporate Plan 2015–16

RESULT           Good anecdotal and (for incoming delegations) written feedback from delegations and diplomatic representatives on the quality of the delegation program was received during the year. For outgoing delegations, anecdotal feedback suggests broad satisfaction with arrangements; post-visit feedback from delegates and Australian embassies and high commissions also indicated that visit objectives were met.

CRITERION     Level of satisfaction among parliaments in the Pacific region with the training and equipment purchases provided through the education fund (target: very satisfied)

SOURCE          Corporate Plan 2015–16

RESULT           Feedback suggested satisfaction with the training and equipment purchases that were able to be provided.

CRITERION    Levels of participation in parliamentary organisations (activity measure—no target)

SOURCE          Corporate Plan 2015–16

RESULT           The department continued to support Australia’s membership in international parliamentary associations, including active participation in relevant conferences and general assemblies, such as the Inter-parliamentary Union General Assembly, the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the Asia–Pacific Parliamentary Forum and the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth.

The department provided significant ongoing support for other parliamentary organisations, including the Australia and New Zealand Association of Clerks-at- the-Table and the Australasian Study of Parliament Group.

RESULTS – ACTIVITY 5 – MEMBERS’ AND CORPORATE SUPPORT

CRITERION     Level of satisfaction among members and staff with the provision of accommodation and office support services (target: 95 per cent satisfied)

SOURCE          Corporate Plan 2015–16

RESULT           Members not surveyed. Informal feedback suggests target met.

CRITERION    Percentage of variations to salary and allowances and salary increases processed accurately (target: 99 per cent)

SOURCE          Corporate Plan 2015–16 RESULT Target met.

CRITERION     Number of Parliament House suite-related services provided to Members (activity measure—no target)

SOURCE          Corporate Plan 2015–16

RESULT           28 accommodation relocations were undertaken—fewer than the previous reporting period, which included ministerial change.

428 furniture-related tasks were undertaken—similar to the previous reporting period.

6,414 incoming and outgoing mail deliveries and collection visits to offices were undertaken.

163 urgent maintenance tasks were coordinated and 155 routine requests were processed.

1,108 telephone support tasks were coordinated.

CRITERION    Number of transport services provided to members (activity measure—no target) SOURCE          Corporate Plan 2015–16

RESULT           7,631 Shuttle cars were allocated and 4,924 booking requests received (excludes COMCAR bookings and unbooked use).

CRITERION    Working through various forums across the parliamentary departments, ensure common policies and frameworks are effectively aligned and assessed to achieve the right outcomes

SOURCE           Portfolio Budget Statements 2015–16

RESULT           Target met. The department’s Executive took on an active role in a number of forums across the parliamentary departments throughout the reporting year, including formal meetings of departmental heads (see page XX), the Parliamentary Administration Advisory Group (see page XX), the Parliamentary Information and Communication Technology Advisory Board and the Security Management Board  (see page XX).

Members of the Executive also participated in various project-specific forums, including a committee to develop the Parliamentary Service Reconciliation Action Plan (see page XX) and committees to oversee the introduction of closed captioning for broadcasts of parliamentary proceedings, installation of video-conferencing equipment in Parliament House meeting rooms, and redesign of the Parliament House website.

The effect has been to foster collaboration on matters of common interest and to bring a ‘whole-of-parliamentary-service’ approach to strategic planning.

CRITERION     Manage financial and staff resources efficiently and effectively, constraining expenditure levels to budget allocations

SOURCE           Portfolio Budget Statements 2015–16

RESULT           Target met. The department’s financial position as at 30 June 2016 was sound, with expenditure levels within budget allocations for 2015–16 (see page XX, Part 4 and Appendix 1). The department’s staff complement of 153 FTE (see financial statements) was deployed effectively throughout the reporting year and responded in a flexible manner as work requirements changed in accordance with the parliamentary cycle.

RESULTS – ACTIVITY 6 – SCHOOLS HOSPITALITY

CRITERION     Level of satisfaction among visiting school groups with hospitality provided (target—very satisfied)

SOURCE          Corporate Plan 2015–16

RESULT           3,530 school bookings were made. Informal feedback from schools, tour operators and Visitor Services officers suggests that the target was met.

CRITERION     Percentage of visiting school groups provided with hospitality on time
(target: 100 per cent)

SOURCE          Corporate Plan 2015–16

RESULT           115,784 students toured Parliament House during the review period. Of these students, 89,087 participated in a Parliamentary Education Office program and 95,006 received hospitality. Visitor Services officers received informal feedback suggesting that the target was met.