Chamber and Federation Chamber

The Clerk’s Office, Table Office, Procedure Office and Chamber Research Office work together to support the day-to-day operations of the Chamber and Federation Chamber, with other areas contributing as necessary.

During the reporting period, the department met the additional demands associated with the opening of the Forty-fifth Parliament following the double-dissolution election. The offices’ role included providing resources on House procedure to support the orientation seminar for new members. We also continued to:

advise the Speaker and members of the House of Representatives
advise on the programming of House business and provide procedural support
process and draft bills
prepare and publish the record of proceedings of the House
process, provide access to and manage the custody of the documents and records of the House
undertake procedural and parliamentary research
produce information and publications on House practice and procedure
maintain procedural and statistical records on the work of the House
provide secretariat support to domestic committees.

In 2016–17, the budget allocation for this activity was $3.384 million and expenditure was $3.210 million. Results against performance criteria are summarised in the annual performance statement (pages 14–15); staff levels are shown in Appendix 1.

In January 2017, some of the additional funding ($2.1 million over four years) received in 2016–17 for parliamentary strengthening through publications and systems was used to create the role of Clerk Assistant (Procedure).

An election year

Following the dissolution of the House on 9 May 2016, we completed a range of administrative activities, including finalising House records for the Forty-fourth Parliament. In preparation for the opening of parliament, we made arrangements for the swearing-in of all 150 members and the elections of Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Second Deputy Speaker. At the request of the incoming government, we drafted amendments to the standing orders, including changes to sitting hours and arrangements for private members’ business.

Performance summary

The focus of the offices is on supporting the sittings of the House of Representatives Chamber and meetings of the Federation Chamber. Our performance is usually measured in two ways: qualitatively, based on an annual survey of members; and quantitatively, based on information relating to the sittings of the House, meetings of the Federation Chamber, and business conducted in the Chamber and Federation Chamber.

The annual survey of members was supplemented by interviews with all new members. Feedback from members on the range and standard of the services we provide was generally positive. This result was largely consistent with comments we received during the reporting period about the procedural resources available online and in hard copy and the briefings on parliamentary topics of interest to members and their staff. The annual performance statement provides more detailed analysis of the results of the survey and interviews.

Statistics on sittings of the House and meetings of the Federation Chamber in 2016–17 and the two preceding years are shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Performance summary, Chamber and Federation Chamber, 2014–15 to 2016–17

Aspect of performance	2014–15	2015–16	2016–17^a
Number of sittings of the House	77	60	64
Number of meetings of the Federation Chamber	57	41	59
Hours of sittings of the House^b	726	592	570
Hours of meetings of the Federation Chamber^b	208	132	237
Number of bills introduced	203	162	248
Number of bills that passed both Houses and were assented to^c	168	118	126

a. Election year.
b. Excludes suspensions and rounded to the nearest hour.
c. Includes bills that passed both Houses in the financial year but were assented to in the following financial year.

The Forty-fifth Parliament opened in August 2016, only slightly later than sittings would ordinarily resume after the winter recess, and the statistics therefore show only a slight reduction in the number of sittings of the House compared with an average year, and a slight increase on 2015–16. There were 64 sitting days in 2016–17, an increase of four days (6.7 per cent) on 2015–16. However, the total number of sitting hours in the House was lower, and the number of meeting hours in the Federation Chamber was higher, partly as a result of changes to the order of business (see the next paragraph). In 2016–17, the House sat for 22 fewer hours than in the previous year (3.7 per cent less time), and the Federation Chamber met for an additional 105 hours in comparison to the previous year (79.5 per cent more time). Legislative activity continued at a high rate during the period: 248 bills were introduced (compared with 162 in 2015–16) and 126 bills were passed by both Houses and assented to (118 in 2015–16).

Changes to the House’s program in the new parliament included an earlier adjournment on Mondays and Tuesdays and a change to the order of business for the Federation Chamber, making the optional Tuesday afternoon meeting a permanent fixture and adding a further 2 hours and 45 minutes of private members’ business on Monday afternoons.
Detailed information on the business of the House and the Federation Chamber is in Appendix 2 and in the department’s publication Work of the Session (available on the Parliament of Australia website).

Advice on practice and procedure

During proceedings, the Clerk, Deputy Clerk and other staff members provided immediate support and advice on the practice and procedure of the House to the Speaker, the Leader of the House, ministers, shadow ministers, members and others. They also provided detailed written advice on subjects such as the application of the standing orders and the practice of the House; the content of questions without notice; procedures for private members’ business; delegated legislation and the disallowance process; the requirements of the Constitution and standing orders with respect to financial legislation; privilege matters; and requirements of the House for the registration of members’ interests.

Programming and coordination of business

During the year, we provided advice and services to facilitate sittings of the House and meetings of the Federation Chamber by:

offering programming and procedural advice to ministers, shadow ministers, party whips, other members, their staff and others

preparing and publishing, each sitting day:

the Notice Paper—a document listing all unresolved business before the House and providing information about committee memberships and other matters

the Daily Program (also known as ‘the Blue’)—an informal agenda for the day

procedural scripts for all items of business for use in the Chamber and Federation Chamber

providing staff from the Serjeant-at-Arms’ Office to:

support sittings of the House and meetings of the Federation Chamber
oversee ceremonial and security arrangements
ensure the availability of chamber papers

processing members’ questions in writing to ministers, which involved:

editing them for compliance with the standing orders
publishing them in the Notice Paper for the next sitting day
managing answers to questions

providing a captioning service for the televised and webcast proceedings of the Chamber and Federation Chamber that describes the current item of business
publishing This Week in the House, a weekly online forecast of expected business for the House, and its counterpart, Last Week in the House.

Table 2 shows the number of questions in writing to ministers and answers that were processed by the House in the five years from 2012–13 to 2016–17.

Table 2 Questions in writing to ministers and answers to questions in writing, 2012–13 to 2016–17

	2012–13	2013–14^a	2014–15	2015–16	2016–17^a
Questions in writing^b	411	201	633	1,310	761
Questions answered^c	374	126	623	1,235	247

a. Election year.
b. Excludes questions withdrawn.
c. The responsibility for responding to questions in writing rests with the ministers to whom the questions are put.

All sittings required the coordination of people, documents and actions, and the programming of the following categories of business:

government business (for example, government legislation)
private members’ business (motions and bills proposed by private members)
House business (matters potentially involving all members—for example, question time, debate on committee reports and matters of privilege).

A longitudinal view of the amount of time the House (Chamber and Federation Chamber inclusive) devoted to each of these three types of business is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4 Government and private members’ business and business of the House (Chamber and Federation Chamber), 2013 to 2017

Note: Private members’ business includes consideration of private members’ motions and bills and other opportunities for private members, such as adjournment debates and discussion of matters of public importance.

Processing and drafting of bills

Legislation

Support for the legislative process in 2016–17 included our traditional responsibilities of:

receiving bills from the Office of Parliamentary Counsel and keeping them in custody under embargo before their introduction in the House
providing bills to ministers for introduction, and to all members in the Chamber after introduction
uploading bills, explanatory memorandums and proposed amendments to the Parliament of Australia website, and providing an over-the-counter service for access to hard copies of bills and associated material
processing all bills and amendments to bills:

initiated in the House—from introduction to assent
initiated in the Senate—from introduction in the House until passage by the House

providing a legislative drafting service for private members
preparing and delivering messages to the Senate. During 2016–17, we delivered 170 messages relating to the passage of bills (173 in 2015–16) and 30 other messages (21 in 2015–16)
preparing and issuing a Daily Bills List for each sitting day. The list provides cumulative information on the status of all bills before the parliament, or assented to in the current calendar year.

Chamber staff of both Houses continued to work with the developer of the bills system to maintain optimal levels of technical support. This included testing on upgrades to the system. Staff also provided input to the Bills System Advisory Group, which continued its role of overseeing the operational governance of the system, the quality of service and the fulfilment of business requirements.

Queries on the bills and legislation collection on the website totalled 1.6 million in 2016–17, representing 14.8 per cent of the 10.8 million queries made through ParlInfo Search.

During the year, 248 bills were introduced (162 in 2015–16), an increase of 53.1 per cent on the previous year. Of these, 239 were initiated in the House of Representatives and nine were received from the Senate. A total of 126 bills passed both Houses (118 in 2015–16), of which 121 were initiated in the House of Representatives (113 in 2015–16) and five in the Senate (five in 2015–16). Table 3 shows the number of bills introduced in the House and assented to in the five years from 2012–13 to 2016–17.

In 2016–17, the House passed 150 bills (136 in 2015–16), an average of 2.3 bills for each sitting (the same as in the previous year).

The House amended 12 (8 per cent) of the bills it passed, compared with eight (5.9 per cent) in 2015–16. The Table Office incorporated the amendments into the text of the bills and arranged for their reprinting (as third-reading prints) before transmittal to the Senate. The House agreed to Senate amendments, made amendments requested by the Senate, or did both, in relation to 13 House bills (20 in 2015–16). After further processing by the Table Office, the bills were presented to the Governor-General for assent. The House made amendments to two bills in place of Senate amendments that were not agreed to (one of those bills is included in the total, above, of House bills with Senate amendments agreed to by the House).

The number of amendments moved during consideration in detail increased from 119 in 2015–16 to 173 in 2016–17. Fifty-nine were passed, of which one was an opposition amendment. The House did not amend any bills initiated in the Senate in 2016–17 or in the previous year.

The Table Office prepared 12 third-reading prints (eight in 2015–16) and 121 assent prints (114 in 2015–16). All documents accurately reflected the decisions of both Houses.

Table 3 Number of bills introduced in the House, and number of bills assented to, 2012–13 to 2016–17

	2012–13	2013–14^a	2014–15	2015–16	2016–17^a
Bills introduced	241	182	203	162	248
Bills assented to^b	228	94	168	118	126

a. Election year.
b. Includes bills that passed both Houses in the financial year but were assented to in the following financial year.

Legislative drafting

The department drafts bills, amendments and second-reading (in-principle) amendments for private members, and ensures that those documents comply with the Constitution and the standing orders. We also arrange copies for circulation in the Chamber.

In 2016–17, 35 private members’ bills were introduced (including two private senators’ bills). Of the 173 amendments moved during consideration in detail, 115 were private members’ amendments, one of which was agreed to. Table 4 provides chamber statistics for private members’ legislation for the past five years. The table does not reflect all of the department’s work in this area, as some drafted material is not introduced into the House.

Since 2010, the department has had an arrangement with the Office of Parliamentary Counsel for one of its senior drafters to be seconded to the department. That arrangement continues to be mutually beneficial.

Table 4 Private members’ bills introduced and amendments moved (Chamber and Federation Chamber), 2012–13 to 2016–17

	2012–13	2013–14^a	2014–15	2015–16	2016–17^a
Bills introduced	30	7	12	21	35
Second-reading amendments moved	9	36	22	16	40
Consideration-in-detail amendments moved^b	923	66	303	119	173

a. Election year.
b. Includes government amendments.

Record of proceedings and House documents

Votes and Proceedings

The Votes and Proceedings continued to provide an accurate, comprehensive and concise record of proceedings. The draft document for each sitting is published on the Parliament of Australia website, usually within an hour of the adjournment of the House.

The Votes and Proceedings is prepared from the Votes Officer’s Minutes (better known as the Live Minutes), an electronic draft record of the proceedings of the Chamber and the Federation Chamber. The Votes Officer’s Minutes are more detailed than the Votes and Proceedings and are compiled progressively throughout a sitting. Because they are available in real time, they provide a practical means for members, staff and the public to follow House proceedings online. Internal and external users continued to rely on this service and provide positive feedback.

Table Offices Production System

Further enhancements were made to the Table Offices Production System (TOPS) during 2016–17. A set of scheduled enhancements was completed in August 2016 and other priorities were identified and progressed during the reporting period. That work will continue in 2017–18.

Table Office staff continued to work with colleagues from the departments of Parliamentary Services and the Senate on preparing and testing the interface between TOPS and the new ParlWork application. ParlWork, developed by the Department of Parliamentary Services in conjunction with the Department of the House of Representatives and the Department of the Senate, gives parliamentarians access to live chamber business information on their mobile devices. It draws on content from both chamber departments, and displays repurposed parliamentary information, including the Live Minutes, Daily Program and Notice Paper produced by the Table Office (alongside the Senate’s equivalent documents, produced by the Senate Table Office). Questions in writing, and any answers provided, were also made available on ParlWork.

Documents

During the year, the Table Office processed all documents presented to the House and recorded their details in the Votes and Proceedings and the Index to Papers Presented to Parliament. Copies were made available on request to members and their staff and others, principally in Parliament House. The original documents were added to the records of the House, which are maintained by the Table Office. Tabling stock requirements continue to be reviewed in light of the online availability of documents and the declining demand for hard copies.

In 2016–17, 3,702 documents were presented to the House, an increase on 3,023 in the previous year.

Each sitting day, the Table Office prepares and issues a Disallowable Instruments List in both electronic and hard-copy form. The list provides details of all instruments presented to the House that are subject to disallowance, by the number of sitting days remaining in which a notice of disallowance can be lodged.

Parliamentary Papers Series

The Parliamentary Papers Series consists of documents of a substantial nature presented to the parliament since 1901. An electronic repository for the series, instituted in 2013, enables centralised electronic access to the documents through the ParlInfo Tabled Papers Register. The documents section of TOPS has helped to streamline the process of uploading parliamentary papers to the repository.

The Presiding Officers advised that 2016 would be the last year in which hard copies of the series would be distributed to the 27 external recipients. In 2015–16, the department took over responsibility from the external service provider for administering the distribution of the printed copies, and work continued during 2016–17 on clearing the distribution backlog.
The department is responsible for the custody and preservation of, and provision of access to, the official records of the House, including Acts, bills, the Votes and Proceedings and all documents presented to the House dating from 1901. The records are stored in an archive in the basement of Parliament House, and staff continue to monitor the suitability of the archive environment.

Petitions

The House petitioning process enables Australians to raise issues with the House that are of interest to them. Table 5 shows the number of petitions presented to the House, and the number of signatories, for the past five years. In 2016–17, 185 petitions were presented, compared with 87 in 2015–16. The number of signatures increased to
235,751 from 118,846 in the previous year.

Table 5 Petitions and signatories to petitions, 2012–13 to 2016–17

	2012–13	2013–14^a	2014–15	2015–16	2016–17^a
Number of petitions presented	125	75	101	87	185
Number of signatories	325,360	1,365,151	250,369	118,846	235,751

a. Election year.

Research

The Chamber Research Office continued in its principal function of collecting, analysing and publishing procedural and statistical information on the work of the House and its committees.

In 2016–17, the office provided:

advice, and assistance with advice, to the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker and members on the application of the standing orders and House practice
secretariat services to the Standing Committee on Procedure
advice about and publications on House statistics, practice and procedure
information to the public, the media and other parliaments on the operations of the House.

The services of the office continued to be in high demand, reflecting sustained high levels of interest in the procedures and operations of the House.

Publications

The Chamber Research Office continued to produce regular publications outlining significant procedural events and popular statistics for a variety of readers. After each sitting fortnight, we published the Procedural Digest, an online, subject-based record of proceedings, and the Statistical Digest, a statistical record of the work of the House. Work of the Session, a comprehensive six-monthly overview of the business of the House and committees, was published in January 2017. The series of 22 infosheets on the work of the House was updated to incorporate changes introduced in the Forty-fifth Parliament.

Together, these publications provide a current and concise record of the work of the House and the more significant aspects of that work. The department’s publications, including the Infosheet series, are listed in Appendix 5.

The Chamber Research Office maintains, publishes and distributes the standing orders of the House. The standing orders were reprinted as at 13 September 2016, incorporating a number of amendments made by the House on 31 August, 1 September and 13 September 2016.

We continued to expand and diversify our publications about the work of the House to cater to the wide range of needs and interests of members, staff and the public. The intention is to increase procedural capability and understanding of the House’s role and formal processes. Several new publications were created. Three editions of House Review, a publication that provides a plain-English analysis of significant events in the House in the previous fortnight, have now been published on the Parliament of Australia website. House Review is prepared by the Procedure Office and is published on the second Friday of the sitting fortnight. It complements Last Week in the House, which collects and outlines the business transacted each week in the House, and the Procedural Digest, which provides more technical procedural analysis.

Parliamentary Procedural Records System

The Parliamentary Procedural Records System, which records significant procedural events in the House and Federation Chamber, became operational in 2016. The system was the product of a joint project between the department and the South Australian House of Assembly and replaced the Procedural Records System. Further work to refine this technical database is anticipated in the coming year.

Collaboration with the Department of the Senate

The Chamber Research Office continued its longstanding collaboration with colleagues in the Department of the Senate, including through participation in orientation seminars for the Australian National Internship Program and the Australian Defence Force parliamentary exchange program (discussed in more detail on page 42).

Collaboration with other parliaments

Staff members are frequently asked to share their experiences and knowledge with counterparts from other parliaments. The offices continued to participate, with colleagues and members from other parliaments, in study programs, meetings during delegation visits and capacity-building work. Colleagues from other parliaments continued to be interested in the longstanding practices of the department in recording, analysing and publishing information on the procedural work of the House.

Parliamentary committees

The department continued to provide effective secretariat and advisory support to five House committees and one joint committee dealing with the powers and procedures of the House (see Table 6).

In 2016–17, those committees held 47 meetings and produced 29 reports. Details of meetings and reports are set out in Appendixes 3 and 4.

Table 6 Committees supported by the Chamber and Federation Chamber activity, 2016–17

House committees

Selection Committee

Standing Committee on Appropriations and Administration

Standing Committee of Privileges and Members’ Interests

Standing Committee on Procedure

Standing Committee on Publications

Joint committee

Joint Committee on the Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings

Selection Committee

Table Office staff support the Selection Committee in fulfilling three important roles:

selecting and programming private members’ business and committee and delegation business
selecting items of private members’ business and committee and delegation business for referral to the Federation Chamber or return to the House
considering all bills introduced and determining whether to refer bills directly to House or joint committees for inquiry.

The committee has 11 members: the Speaker (as chair), the chief whips of the three largest parties, four government members and three non-government members. The committee met 13 times during the reporting period.

Standing Committee on Appropriations and Administration

The Standing Committee on Appropriations and Administration considers, among other things, estimates of the funding required for the operation of the department each year. When conferring with its counterpart Senate committee—the Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations and Staffing—the House committee may consider estimates of the funding required for the operation of the Department of Parliamentary Services each year.

The committee has nine members: the Speaker (as chair), four government members and four non-government members. It is supported by the Clerk, the Serjeant-at-Arms and other officers of the department. During the year the committee met three times and presented two reports (see page 76).

Standing Committee of Privileges and Members’ Interests

The Standing Committee of Privileges and Members’ Interests met 11 times during the reporting period and presented three reports to the House. Two of the reports were presented under the resolution agreed to by the House that allows individual citizens to have published in Hansard a response to an adverse reference made to them in the House.
The report, Claim of parliamentary privilege by a member in relation to material seized under a search warrant (presented in November 2016), followed an inquiry by the committee. The task for the committee was to consider a member’s claim for privilege in relation to material seized by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) under a search warrant executed on the Department of Parliamentary Services at Parliament House on 24 August 2016. The search was effectively a data search of records held in the name of one of the member’s staff. The execution of the warrant and the claim of privilege occurred in accordance with a formal process established under the terms of a memorandum of understanding between the Presiding Officers and the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and a related 2005 AFP guideline. Shortly after the material was seized it was given into the custody of the Clerk of the House, at the request of the member. The committee concluded that the seized material fell within the definition of ‘proceedings in Parliament’ and so was not subject to impeachment or questioning, and that the search warrant amounted to such an impeachment or questioning. The committee recommended that the House rule to uphold the member’s claim of parliamentary privilege, the AFP be advised and the seized material be returned to the member. The House passed a resolution to that effect on 1 December 2016.

The committee presented six sets of alterations of members’ interests during the period and in February 2017 reported on its operations in connection with the registration and declaration of members’ interests in 2016.

Standing Committee on Procedure

The Standing Committee on Procedure usually meets once each sitting week. The committee commenced two inquiries during the reporting period, one into the maintenance of the standing orders and the other into the provisions relating to disorder in the House.

Standing Committee on Publications

The House Publications Committee makes recommendations to the House on which documents that have been presented to the House (and that the House or the Senate has not already made a determination on) should be included in the Parliamentary Papers Series. The committee may confer with the Senate Publications Committee, forming the Joint Committee on Publications. The House Publications Committee held four meetings in 2016–17 and met with the Senate Publications Committee on seven other occasions. The committee presented 10 reports containing recommendations on which documents presented to parliament should be included in the Parliamentary Papers Series. All recommended documents were agreed for inclusion.

In November 2016, the committee, together with the Senate Publications Committee, commenced an inquiry into the printing standards for documents presented to the parliament. Submissions to the inquiry were received and a roundtable public hearing was held on 22 June 2017.

Joint Committee on the Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings

The Parliamentary Proceedings Broadcasting Act 1946 requires ABC radio and, in some circumstances, ABC television to broadcast the proceedings of parliament. It is the statutory role of the Joint Committee on the Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings to advise parliament on general principles for the allocation of radio broadcasting time between the House and the Senate chambers and to determine a more detailed schedule of broadcasting allocations. The committee is supported by the Serjeant-at-Arms’ Office.

Under the Act, the committee has nine members, including the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate. By tradition, the Speaker is chair and the President is vice-chair. The committee meets when required and did not meet during the reporting period.

Procedural training and resources

In collaboration with the Table Office, the Procedure Office is working to further develop the procedural capability of members and staff, in particular by publishing key procedural resources. During the election period, senior Table Office staff reviewed and redesigned the guidance notes prepared for members who take the chair in the House and Federation Chamber and updated the professional development DVD for members, House Rules. The DVD was provided to new members at their orientation in August 2016, and is available to all members via their intranet. A glossary of key parliamentary terms was created to provide members with concise, practical guidance for their work in the Chamber. It was published in hard copy and on the members’ intranet site. Summary guidance notes were created for ministers on their roles and opportunities in the Chamber and Federation Chamber. The regular program of House Briefing sessions for members and their staff continued and included topics such as private members’ business and the budget process.

The department continued to use a range of measures to support its staff to develop the specialised knowledge and skills required for applying parliamentary law, practice and procedure. These included:

debriefs following each sitting week or fortnight, focusing on matters of procedural interest. The format was changed to include videos of some of the more complex events, allowing for easier explanation and analysis
regular parliamentary briefings and training provided by senior departmental staff
specialist training and coaching for departmental staff who undertake duty as Clerks and Deputy Clerks in the Chamber and Federation Chamber. The number of these sessions was increased and supporting written materials were made more detailed and formal
shadowing opportunities that enable staff to learn specialist skills such as preparing House procedures, the Notice Paper and the Votes and Proceedings. Once the trainee staff have sufficient experience, the use of shadowing allows chamber support staff to finish work earlier on some sitting nights and provides a back-up in the event of staffing absences or turnover
opportunities for participation in parliamentary conferences, including the annual Australia and New Zealand Association of Clerks-at-the-Table (ANZACATT) professional development seminar
participation in the Graduate Certificate in Parliamentary Law and Practice, currently taught by the University of Tasmania under the auspices of ANZACATT.

Departmental staff who are rostered for duty at the table were invited to identify their procedural training needs and preferences. Their responses prompted some changes to existing activities and the establishment of new ones. Beginning in March 2017, on each sitting day a briefing was provided for staff who act as Clerk and Deputy Clerk at the table in the Federation Chamber. Those briefings complement the sitting-day briefings traditionally provided by the Deputy Clerk for staff who are rostered for duty as Clerk and Deputy Clerk in the House. Both sets of briefings provide an opportunity for staff to prepare for the day’s events and discuss procedural issues in general.

Improving performance

Procedural training and development continued to be a priority during the year. The complexities that were addressed last year during prorogation, a second session and a double-dissolution election provided us with a rich period of learning and development that we have recorded and will capitalise on. In addition, the finely balanced numbers in the House in the Forty-fifth Parliament provide challenges and opportunities for professional development that build on the experience gained during the Forty-third Parliament. The significant turnover in members and the retirement of several senior departmental staff have necessitated a renewed emphasis on procedural capability. Where possible, resources and activities that are established for this purpose are designed so that they can be easily used or adapted for use by more general audiences.

Outlook

Further improvements to TOPS and the Parliamentary Procedural Records System will make them easier to use and result in further efficiencies. The long-term pattern of chamber support activity resumed in 2016–17, with increases in the hours of meeting of the Federation Chamber and the number of bills introduced. This is expected to continue in 2017–18.
Our focus in 2017–18 will continue to be on providing high-quality services to meet the needs of the Speaker, members and others and ensuring that understanding of the role and operations of the House is increased.

In 2017–18, highlights for the Procedure Office will include the publication of two well-established procedural resources: the seventh edition of House of Representatives Practice and the sixth edition of the Guide to Procedures. Both publications are well known and cater to different levels of interest. House of Representatives Practice is the most authoritative reference on House procedure, providing a wealth of history and analysis. The Guide to Procedures is a much more concise resource and is ideal for readers who seek a more straightforward explanation of processes and events in the House.

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