The Committee Office supports parliamentary committees in examining policy and legislation and scrutinising the executive. In the 2015–16 financial year, the office supported the work of 11 House standing committees, 10 joint committees (including two joint select committees) and one domestic committee (Petitions) (see Table 7).

These committees were supported by nine Committee Office secretariats. Expenditure on these services in 2015–16 was $8.527 million, which was $0.818 million above the budget allocation of $7.709 million. Staff levels are shown in Appendix 2.

Performance summary

Table 7 Committees of the Fourty-fourth Parliament supported by the Committee Office

House Committees
Standing Committee on Agriculture and Industry
Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts (since 13 October 2015)
Standing Committee on Economics
Standing Committee on Education and Employment
tanding Committee on the Environment
Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs
Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications (until 13 October 2015)
Standing Committee on Infrastructure, Transport and Cities (since 13 October 2015)
Standing Committee on Petitions
Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs
Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue
Joint Committees
Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit
Joint Select Committee on Northern Australiaa
Joint Select Committee on Trade and Investment Growtha
Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters
Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade
Joint Standing Committee on Migration
Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories
Joint Standing Committee on Treaties
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works

a Each of these committees was continued for the life of the parliament.

Note: Five House domestic committees (Appropriations, Procedure, Publications, Selection and Privileges) and the Joint Committee on the Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings are supported by other areas of the department and are discussed on pages 19 to 21.

On 13 October 2015, by resolution of the House, the Committee on Infrastructure and Communications was abolished. In its place two new committees were created—the Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts, and the Standing Committee on Infrastructure, Transport and Cities. This was the first occasion when House standing orders were amended mid-parliament to change the structure of the general-purpose standing committees.

Committee office activity

In 2015–16 Committee Office staff continued to support the diverse work of committees. This involved:

·   supporting committees’ private meetings and public hearings

·   providing procedural and inquiry-related advice for committees and stakeholders

·   fielding inquiries from interested stakeholders about the purpose and progress of inquiries

·   assisting witnesses and the general public to participate in committee inquiries

·   undertaking research and analysing evidence received by committees

·   drafting chairs’ reports

·   facilitating the adoption and tabling of the committees’ reports

·   undertaking projects during the election period to strengthen the framework to support the committees.

Figure 5 shows that committees supported by the Committee Office tabled 72 reports in the 2015–16 financial year (until 10 May 2016). Figure 6 shows that these committees held 555 meetings (public and private) over the period. Appendix 4 presents a breakdown of this activity by committee.

Figure 5 shows that these committees tabled 142 reports in the second and third (financial) years of the Forty-fourth Parliament. This compares with 171 reports (excluding reports by oral statement) tabled in the previous two full financial years of the Forty-third Parliament—the higher level of reporting reflecting the unusually large number of bills inquiries conducted. The level of reporting in the Forty-fourth Parliament is consistent with trend levels.

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Committee work, the prorogation and dissolution of parliament

The Forty-fourth Parliament was unusual in that, for the first time since 1977, parliament was briefly prorogued and a second session was convened. Because of prorogation, House committees were unable to operate between 5.00 pm on Friday 15 April and 9.30 am on Monday 18 April. However, the prorogation had little practical impact on the work of the Committee Office.

The prospect (from at least 21 March 2016) of the dissolution of both Houses had a significant impact on the work of committees as they sought to conclude inquiries and present reports should the parliament come to an end earlier than anticipated. In the three months to 10 May 2016, committees tabled 43 reports (see Appendix 5), more than 60 per cent of the total number of reports presented in 2015–16.

On 1 July 2015, the committees supported by the Committee Office were conducting
41 ongoing inquiries. During 2015–16, the committees commenced 54 new inquiries and tabled 65 reports (including three interim reports) relating to 78 inquiries. As a result of the efforts of committees and secretariats, only 20 inquiries lapsed when the Houses were dissolved, of which six were inquiries by House committees and 14 were joint committee inquiries. The inquiry-related activities of committees are summarised
in Appendix 5.

Changes in committee membership

The period was marked by many changes in the membership and chairs of committees. This was the result of several factors, including changes to the ministry in September and December 2015, and February 2016. There were 29 changes of chairs of committees that are supported by the Committee Office. The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters had five different chairs in seven months and the House Standing Committee on Economics had three chairs during the year.

Government responses to committee reports

The government is obliged by resolution of the House to respond to recommendations contained in a report by a House or joint committee within six months of the report’s presentation.

At the start of the year, 50 reports of committees supported by the Committee Office that required a government response had not yet received one. Of these, 34 had been outstanding for more than six months. From 25 June 2015 to 4 May 2016, the government tabled 30 responses to reports of committees supported by the Committee Office (28 in 2014–15). At year’s end, 53 reports for committees supported by the Committee Office were yet to receive a response and, of these, 35 had been outstanding for more than six months.

Liaison Committee of Chairs and Deputy Chairs

The department supports the informal Liaison Committee of Committee Chairs and Deputy Chairs, which is chaired by the Deputy Speaker. The committee was established to provide a forum for discussion on matters of interest among chairs and deputy chairs and to provide advice to the Speaker on matters affecting parliamentary committees. The committee met three times during 2015–16: in September and November 2015, and March 2016.

In 2015–16, the committee continued its focus on helping committees to enhance their effectiveness, using avenues available to committees to require government responses to committee reports and updates on new technologies.

Performance of the Committee Office

A key performance indicator for the Committee Office is the level of satisfaction with committee advice and services reported in an annual survey of members. Because of the timing of the 2016 federal election, the survey did not take place in 2016. Feedback on members’ satisfaction with the performance of staff in the Committee Office was, however, provided through other channels.

The Clerk Assistant (Committees) met individually with most committee chairs during the final quarter of 2015 and received generally positive feedback on the performance of committee secretaries and other secretariat staff. The Committee Office consistently met support standards for providing briefing material and draft reports to committees. Secretariats generally provided timely, accurate and clear advice to chairs and committee members, and arranged public hearings and supported meetings of committees effectively and efficiently.

Positive feedback on the work of secretariats was also received during filmed interviews with nine committee chairs and deputy chairs in March and May 2016. The footage is to be used during the induction of members, in presentations to visiting parliamentarians and staff, and in official seminars.

The satisfaction of members with the work of staff in the Committee Office was also indicated in statements members made when presenting reports.

Comments from members acknowledging the work of secretariats in 2015–16

[The secretariat staff] were just so professional and so good. On behalf of the committee and the parliament, I thank them and their colleagues. I had not actually been involved in committee work for something like 10 years until I took over this committee recently. I had forgotten just how very good they are. I thank them.

The work of the secretariats of all committees is, I venture to say, very much unsung in this place. I know that people do acknowledge it, but, for people out there in the community who might be listening to this, the secretariats of the committees in parliament work very hard to ensure the smooth running of this place. I commend them for that

Public Accounts and Audit is one of the premier committees of parliament, and it is served by a great secretariat that does brilliant work.

The committee’s work is extraordinarily important. We are very ably supported by a very professional secretariat. I thank [the secretariat] for the support they have given us.

I also want to thank the secretariat for the professional support that they have given us and for the invaluable work that they do. Without their support we, as members of parliament, may struggle to bring forward such a comprehensive report.

I, too, at the start, give my sincere thanks to the committee secretariat, who have worked so diligently not just on this inquiry but throughout the course of this parliament. We are privileged to have access to people with tremendous research skills and a great depth of knowledge, and they have helped us to pull together the best reports that we possibly can. Given the breadth of the inquiries this committee takes on, the committee has to work tremendously hard to make sure that all of those inquiries, all of the hearings, run as smoothly as they do.

I also acknowledge the great contribution of all the members of the secretariat. As the chair’s contribution made clear, this was a very extensive inquiry that presented some logistical challenges as well as some other challenges, and the work of the secretariat was invaluable and of the highest professional standard.

I give my appreciation to the inquiry secretariat who worked tirelessly to source appropriate witnesses and managed to pull together some very disparate evidence and submissions.

I thank the hard-working secretariat who helped us through this inquiry. They really sped things up so the committee, like many committees at the moment, could meet the timelines of this parliament, finish our report and present it to the parliament today before, inevitably it seems, it will be prorogued sometime soon.

I would especially like to thank the committee secretariat for their assistance in enabling the committee to develop this high-quality report in such a short time frame.

I would like to also express my sincere thanks to the secretariat for the fine work that they do to assist all members and senators on the committee.

Finally, I would like to thank the hardworking secretariat, who have been called on to go beyond the call of duty to ensure that the reports that we have delivered have been done on time and, I think, with serious detail and commitment to the task that was given to us.

Capability development

The Committee Office is led and managed by the Clerk Assistant (Committees) in conjunction with committee secretaries and the Director of the Office of the Clerk Assistant (Committees). Weekly meetings were held throughout the year (except in recess periods) to discuss departmental and office management and secretariat staffing and resource issues.

The department undertook recruitment for the business-critical ongoing positions of committee secretary (two external officers were engaged and two internal officers promoted), inquiry secretary (process in train at year end) and Committee Office research and administrative staff (four external officers were engaged and three internal officers were promoted), and recruitment for several vacancies for non-ongoing positions.

Committee Office debriefs and ‘Inside Committee’ sessions were held approximately six-weekly during the year. The debrief sessions are led by different secretariats and provide an opportunity for informal discussion of experiences and issues relating to committee support, including procedural, administrative and cultural matters. The ‘Inside Committee’ sessions are one-hour presentations by senior staff on committee operations. Many staff also participated in the department’s leadership training and other training and development activities.

The Committee Office hosted three graduates from the department’s graduate program and two Department of Defence graduates. The office also hosted placements for committee staff members from the Legislative Assembly of Victoria and the National Assembly of Kenya, and presented to a visiting official parliamentary delegation from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and visiting international parliamentary staff from Pakistan and from the Bahrain National Assembly. The secretariat of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties met with a group from the Royal Government of Bhutan who were in Australia to study the Australian treaty-making process. Australia was identified as a country with a well-established system with features that may be useful in the development of Bhutan’s process.

Secretariat support for committee inquiries

Committee Office staff supported complex and demanding committee inquiries in 2015–16

Handling email campaigns

Three committee inquiries supported by the department received substantial public interest: the inquiry into the Register of Environmental Organisations, and the inquiries into the China–Australia Free Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The Standing Committee on the Environment’s inquiry into the Register of Environmental Organisations commenced in February 2015. Significant volumes of submissions and other written contributions were received from stakeholder groups and members of the public, and public hearings were held throughout the year. More than 12,000 written contributions were received, largely by email, many of which were based on one of 22 different form letter templates, with some being facilitated by campaign-style websites. In all, the committee accepted 685 unique submissions to the inquiry, and noted a broad range of general correspondence relating to the inquiry.

The Joint Standing Committee on Treaties’ inquiry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership received over 16,000 written contributions by email and hard-copy letters. Of these, 316 were received directly from individuals or organisations, while the remainder were generated through campaign-style websites. The committee accepted and published 3,348 contributions as formal submissions.

For both inquiries, the large volume of written contributions resulted in increased administrative workloads. The secretariats had facilitated appropriate levels of public engagement, and ensured the committees had access to the written evidence necessary to carry out their functions

Supporting domestic public hearings and site visits

Secretariats in the Committee Office supported public hearings and site visits across
the country.

·   As part of its inquiry into agricultural innovation, the Agriculture and Industry Committee visited the Alpine Valleys Dairy 
    Pathways Project in the Kiewa Valley, the University of New England’s Kirby SMART Farm in Armidale, and the Australian
    Centre for Field Robotics at the University of Sydney.

·   As part of its inquiry into the Register of Environmental Organisations, the Environment Committee conducted several site
    inspections, public hearings and roundtable discussions in Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia and
    Victoria.

·   As part of its inquiry into Smart ICT, the Infrastructure, Transport and Cities Committee visited BCE Surveying in
    Bunbury to inspect the company’s mobile spatial imaging system.

In October 2015, the Public Works Committee conducted an inspection of proposed works at HMAS Stirling on Garden Island in Western Australia.

Managing organised protests

The Treaties Committee inquiry into the China–Australia Free Trade Agreement received considerable interest from key stakeholder groups. Six large demonstrations were held to coincide with the committee’s public hearings. Demonstrations were also staged to coincide with some public hearings of the inquiry into the Register of Environmental Organisations.

In both cases, the secretariats worked with stakeholder groups and the Australian Federal Police to ensure that the demonstrations did not prevent the orderly conduct of committee proceedings or endanger the public hearing participants.

Facilitating international visits

Committee Office staff supported several overseas committee visits over the reporting period.

In September 2015, the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit visited New Zealand and Fiji. The secretariat supported several meetings with the joint committee’s counterparts and other public account and audit bodies in these countries. It drafted recommendations that identified areas of New Zealand’s oversight of public administration to be assessed for use in Australia.

In October 2015, the secretariat of the House Standing Committee on the Environment supported a committee visit to Singapore and Malaysia. The secretariat prepared a series of meetings with relevant parliamentarians, public officials, academics and companies in these countries to help the committee to understand some of the key environmental challenges facing these nations.

In December 2015, the secretariat of the Trade Sub-Committee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade facilitated a committee visit to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar. The secretariat assisted with the committee’s busy program of meetings in these countries. It drafted a comprehensive report, tabled in May 2016, outlining the current state of, and future prospects for, Australia’s trade with the Middle East.

 

Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works with ADF personnel at HMAS Stirling, October 2015. The Department of Defence sought committee approval to upgrade and refurbish key infrastructure and facilities, some of which had been operating for nearly 40 years

Supporting significant legislative reforms

The secretariat of the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters supported a significant bill inquiry proposing reform of the Senate voting system. The Commonwealth Electoral Amendment Bill 2016—the centrepiece of which was the abolition of group voting tickets—was touted as the biggest reform to Australia’s electoral system in 30 years.

The committee’s majority report recommended a significant amendment to the bill to allow for partial optional preferential voting below the line. This recommendation was accepted and the revised bill passed both Houses. The Australian Electoral Commission made the corresponding changes in time for the 2 July 2016 federal election.

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security conducted two bill inquiries on national security matters over the reporting period. Its advisory reports on these bills made a significant contribution to parliamentary scrutiny. Indeed, of the six bills it scrutinised in the Forty-fourth Parliament, the committee made 48 recommendations
to amend provisions or introduce further safeguards and oversight mechanisms.

 

Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade delegation members meet Saudi Arabian politicians following the December 2015 municipal council elections, which were the first elections in which women in Saudi Arabia were allowed to vote and stand for election. Left to right: Maria Vamvakinou MP; Dr Lama Al Sulaiman, the successful candidate for Jeddah Municipal Council election; Her Excellency Dr Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, the appointed member of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council; two members of Dr Al Sulaiman’s campaign team; and the Hon Dr Sharman Stone MP.

Gathering evidence internationally

In his last speech in parliament, the Hon Philip Ruddock MP presented the report of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade on its inquiry into Australia’s advocacy for the abolition of the death penalty. The inquiry report,
A world without the death penalty, tabled on 5 May 2016, concluded that the need for Australia to solidify its efforts towards global abolition has never been more pressing. The inquiry followed the executions carried out in 2015 of Australians in Indonesia, despite impassioned appeals, including from Australian parliamentarians and sympathetic Indonesians. To ensure the committee’s access to the best evidence and information internationally, the secretariat assisted with the committee’s extensive engagement with overseas-based witnesses, typically using videoconferencing, and contributions from foreign governments and their diplomatic representatives.

The 20th anniversary of the Treaties Committee

On 18 March 2016, the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties held a seminar in the Main Committee Room of Parliament House to mark its 20th anniversary. The chair and deputy chair of the committee gave presentations, as did the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and various academic experts. The committee secretariat organised the event and presented a statistical overview of the committee’s work.

 

Left to right: Deputy Chair and Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, the Hon Kelvin Thompson MP and
the Hon Luke Hartsuyker (respectively), and committee member the Hon Melissa Parke MP at the seminar in March 2016 celebrating 20 years of the committee.

Information and communications technology projects

The improved use of ICT has been critical to increasing the efficiency of the Committee Office’s work and enabling the committees and their many stakeholders to connect more effectively.

E-petitions

The department worked with the Department of Parliamentary Services in 2015–16 to develop the capacity for electronic petitions to be hosted on the Parliament of Australia website. This project is expected to be completed in time for commencement of the Forty-fifth Parliament. Subject to the House amending its standing orders to allow electronic petitions, the new system will make it easier for the public to petition the House, and also streamline secretariat support for the Petitions Committee.

SCID and Report Builder

The Committee Office continued to collaborate with the Department of the Senate on the Shared Committee Information Database (SCID), a data management and publishing tool. An exhibits module has been added to SCID that will provide greater flexibility in the recording of committee exhibits and allow staff to produce a comprehensive list of exhibits for committee reports.

Committee Office staff continued to test the new report template, Report Builder, carrying out several rounds of user acceptance testing during the reporting period. Report Builder will draw on information contained in SCID to include in committee reports and will produce reports in PDF, HTML and eBook format.

Videoconferencing facilities

In the past, the videoconferencing facilities available to committees even within Australia have often been unreliable. Moreover, tight travel budgets and time constraints have restricted committees’ ability to take oral evidence from overseas witnesses and those in very remote parts of Australia.

Committee Room 1R3 in Parliament House in Canberra now has state-of-the-art Cisco-based videoconferencing facilities, which will be operational from the beginning of the Forty-fifth Parliament. A wide range of committees will benefit from the capacity to hold public hearings via videoconference with witnesses based in places where committees do not have the resources to travel.

Election period projects

Committee Office staff worked on a variety of projects during the election period following the dissolution of the House in May. These included:

·   updating and enhancing access to material in committee manuals

·   developing a discussion paper on committee secretariat staffing

·   reviewing the structure and content of committee reports

·   developing a system for committee member induction and training

·   coordinating the preparation and delivery of the induction seminar to new members before the Forty-fifth Parliament

·   streamlining the collection of the Committee Office’s statistics

·   updating Committee Office guides for committee chairs, members and members’ staff, and brochures and guidance
    material for prospective submitters to, and witnesses before, parliamentary committees

·   reviewing committees’ experience with major email campaigns in the Forty-fourth Parliament with a view to coordinating 
    their approach to these campaigns

·   planning for an event in 2017 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the House committee system

·   delivering a Committee Office training and development seminar before commencement of the Forty-fifth Parliament

·   enhancing the professionalism and consistency of committee papers across secretariats, including standardising and
    developing templates for committee business documents and developing standard first meeting papers and committee
    resolutions.

The department also supported several Committee Office staff to undertake secondment opportunities with external agencies over the election period. One staff member was placed with the Bundestag (German lower house).

 

Departmental staff attending the annual planning day, 28 October 2015.

Improving performance

During the year the Committee Office focused on capability development. It exercised limited recruitment and continued training and development, effective performance management, and process improvement, particularly in the area of ICT.
As a result, the Committee Office achieved some enhanced capability during the year.

As noted earlier, the department prioritised opportunities to develop leadership qualities in its staff. Between April 2015
and September 2015, 12 Committee Office staff at various classification levels participated in Yellow Edge leadership development programs. In September 2015, three staff gave presentations to the senior executive on what they had learned from these courses.

Outlook

Committee activity will resume after the new parliament first sits in August 2016. The first priority will be to support
re-establishment of committees in the new parliament, and to settle secretariat staffing. Significant recruitment activity is planned from early August, to restore staffing numbers to trend levels following some turnover at the end of 2015–16. This will be followed by continuing investment in staff training and development to ensure all staff have the knowledge and skills to support committees to a high standard.

The Committee Office will be supported in the new parliament by a number of new ICT applications. Report Builder will enable a more flexible and streamlined platform from which to draft and publish reports. The new videoconferencing facilities will enable committees to take evidence reliably from wider sources than travel budgets and committee members’ schedules have previously allowed.

CommDocs will continue to offer a secure, paper-free environment for committee members. The anticipated introduction of electronic petitioning of the House will require changes to website information, Petitions Committee processes, and secretariat administration.

In introducing new technologies and developing existing platforms, the department is committed to comprehensive training for Committee Office staff and committee members. This will be an ongoing priority for the Committee Office.

 

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