Overview

Performance information and reporting model

The DPS Outcome and Program Framework consists of four programs—with subprograms—and administered work programs. The framework is summarised in Figure 4.1.

Performance indicators for each program are established in the Department of Parliamentary Services Portfolio Budget Statements 2009-10. The indicators cover the quality, quantity and price aspects of the department’s programs or services.

In this part of the annual report, performance results and explanatory comments are provided against each of the department’s subprograms.

Program cost attribution

DPS operates through a branch structure that is aligned to its program structure.

Each branch comprises a number of cost centres that collect all direct operating costs, including depreciation, on an accrual basis. The internal overheads attribution process is completed in a number of steps. First, the costs of all corporate cost centres are allocated to subprograms. Then, the cost of providing internal services (IT, communications and accommodation) is attributed to those sub programs that receive the services. This methodology ensures that the department reports the total cost of services provided to clients for each subprogram.

Effectiveness in achieving the planned Outcome

The Outcome statement of DPS is that:

‘occupants of Parliament House are supported by integrated services and facilities, Parliament functions effectively and its work and building are accessible to the public’.

Occupants of Parliament House are supported by integrated services and facilities, …

DPS provides occupants and other users of Parliament House with a wide range of services and facilities. These are described in general terms in Parts 2 and 3. The performance reports in Parts 3 (Parliamentary Library) and 4 measure and discuss the DPS performance in delivering those services and facilities. Environmental performance is discussed in Part 5.

The results demonstrate success in a variety of areas but less satisfactory performance in others. Because of the ongoing nature of the outcome, and the scope for providing our services more efficiently and effectively, DPS will continue to look for further improvements.

Parliament functions effectively …

Parliament’s operations have continued to run smoothly to the extent that this is the responsibility of DPS. Our contribution includes:

1. ensuring the security of the building, including the chambers in particular, and of building occupants;
2. providing a suitable venue for parliamentary activity through building maintenance and provision of building services and information and communications technology services; and
3. providing Library and Hansard services to enable members of Parliament to contribute effectively to parliamentary activities.

… and its work and building are accessible to the public.

In 2009-10, DPS facilitated access for the general public to the work of the Parliament and its building by:

1. providing 1,341 hours of chamber broadcasts;
2. providing 2,191 hours of committee broadcasts;
3. providing print-ready Hansard transcripts on the DPS internet site and the web interface to ParlInfo; and
4. hosting approximately 866,000 visitors.

The effectiveness of our services is assessed through a customer satisfaction survey conducted each Parliament that collects customer views on:

1. the appropriateness of, and satisfaction with, existing services;
2. problems with service delivery;
3. identification of service gaps; and
4. the extent to which services and facilities are appropriately and conveniently integrated and accessible to assist the user.

Program 1—Library services

Program 1 is the provision of an effective knowledge centre for the Parliament through the provision of information, analysis and advice.

Performance reports for the Parliamentary Library subprograms 1.1 and 1.2 are set out in Part 3 of this annual report.

Program 2—Building and occupant services

Introduction

Program 2 of the DPS Outcome and Programs Framework is the provision of an efficiently functioning, safe and secure environment for Senators, Members, other building occupants and visitors.

Two subprograms, Security services and Facilities services, contribute to Program 2.

Subprogram 2.1—Security services

DPS provides security and emergency services to occupants of, and visitors to, Parliament House.

Indicator—Extent to which security procedures are followed

During 2009-10, there were 224 reported security incidents. Of these incidents, 223 were dealt with in accordance with established procedures. In the other incident, information on the correct procedure has been promulgated within the security organisation and the procedure has been the subject of a subsequent validation exercise.

Indicator—Extent to which each validation was successful

Security validation exercises are conducted monthly by the Parliamentary Security Service (PSS) officers and Australian Federal Police-Uniform Protection (AFP-UP) to test how well security procedures work. The results of each exercise are reviewed by the Security Management Board (SMB).

The security validation program was updated in January 2009 to better align with the outcomes of the security risk review.

As a result of lessons learned from exercises conducted in 2008-09, security procedures were updated in 2009-10 to address the issues identified.

Indicator—Validation of security procedures

All scheduled validation exercises were conducted in 2009-10. In total, 20 exercises were conducted, of which four were conducted as joint exercises between the PSS and AFP-UP.

Indicator—Security incidents

Security incident reports are completed in response to events that may require follow-up action, such as protests, threatening telephone calls, non-compliance with security screening and unattended or suspect items. Reports are completed by AFP-UP or PSS staff.

Indicator—Security services

The number of PSS hours used each month varies depending on the number of parliamentary sitting days and, to a lesser extent, the number of functions held in Parliament House.

The reduction in internal guarding hours is attributed to improvements to the structure of the security roster. Staffing requirements for the new roster were developed in consultation with staff and union representatives, with consideration given to peak periods and various response scenarios and contingency solutions. The reduction in guarding hours has been achieved by eliminating a supervisory layer, reducing redundant shift periods and adopting more efficient rostering practices. Service levels and security outcomes have been maintained since the commencement of the roster in August 2009.

The reduction in external guarding hours is attributed to the transfer of the Ministerial Wing patrol function to the PSS. Daily external guarding hours did not drop below the required minimum staff levels.

Two emergency evacuation exercises were scheduled and conducted in 2009-10. Both activities were partial building evacuations.

Some parliamentary and non-parliamentary functions require additional security resources from the PSS. The definition of a parliamentary function includes functions in support of the whole of Parliament, but excludes specific political party or executive government functions. Official visits include guests of Government and guests of parliamentary delegations.

Indicator—Cost of security services

Increases to salary costs have been offset by efficiencies achieved through a reduction in overtime expenditure; a smaller and more streamlined management and administrative structure; and the new security roster. The transfer of the Ministerial Wing patrol function to the PSS provided an offset against increased AFP-UP costs.

There is no cost-recovery applied to security services provided to parliamentary functions. The cost of security services for non-parliamentary functions is recovered from function organisers.

Subprogram 2.2—Facilities services

DPS provides facilities management, health and wellbeing, and visitor services to occupants of and visitors to Parliament House.

Quality indicators

The term customer refers to Parliament House building occupants, whilst the term visitor is taken to mean members of the public visiting Parliament House. There are no customer satisfaction figures for 2009-10 as DPS conducts a customer satisfaction survey once for each Parliament. The last two surveys conducted were for the 41st and 42nd Parliaments in 2006-07 and 2008-09 respectively. (See Figure 4.7)

Indicator—Customer satisfaction

DPS received a total of 58 complaints, of which 30 related to catering and 28 related to cleaning, pest control and sanitary services. All complaints were referred to the relevant contractor for corrective action and resolution with the individuals concerned.

Indicator—Visitor satisfaction

Visitor satisfaction measures provide feedback on how well visitor services are delivered, and how well visitor expectations are met. The Facilities Management Section continued to use the approach that was introduced in 2008-09 to record visitor complaints.

Visitor Services received 17 complaints relating to the provision of guided tours from a total of 933,878 visitors recorded over the 2009-10 period. The majority of the complaints related to changes to the guided tour schedule. Complaints received were assessed by the Visitor Services team and selected actions were taken to improve service delivery, including the review and distribution of advertising material outlining tours times and products.

Visitor Services staff also received 14 complaints relating to the temporary disruption created by the reconfiguration works in the public underground car park. This feedback was considered by the relevant project team and, where appropriate, changes were made to the car park design.

Two complaints were received about the Parliament Shop regarding disability access and DVD products with no subtitles for hearing-impaired customers. Staff responded to these concerns by ensuring floor space and walkways in the Parliament Shop were clear at all times and that future purchasing of DVD products includes subtitles wherever possible.

Over the period 2009-10, DPS received five complaints from visitors in relation to Facilities services, which is a reduction on the 44 complaints received in the previous year and is attributed to the catering contractor responding to visitor feedback. Four of the 2009-10 complaints related to catering services and, as a result, the catering contractor made menu changes and provided improved staff awareness and training. One complaint related to cleaning services.

Indicator—Facilities management

The conduct of functions at Parliament House allows the catering contractor to provide catering services to the Parliament in a sustainable and cost-effective manner. The conduct of these events is closely managed by DPS and the catering contractor in consultation with the Department of the Senate and the Department of the House of Representatives to ensure parliamentary business is able to proceed unimpeded.

When required, Facilities Management provides room set-up and pack-down services in support of official visits or non-catered parliamentary functions. The number of contracted labour hours used for official visits and parliamentary functions was not available due to changes in the way these tasks were administered. This will be rectified to ensure data is available for 2010-11. However, the overall costs for contracted labour are consistent with the previous year and there was only a slight reduction in the combined total of official visits and parliamentary functions.

Over the financial year 2009-10, DPS negotiated and finalised new licence arrangements with 22 Press Gallery organisations and six of the nine retail outlets.

Indicator—Nurses Centre

The Nurses Centre focuses on the delivery of a range of health services to both visitors and occupants of Parliament House.

There was a small decrease in the number of incidents, accidents and requests for first aid services responded to by the Nurses Centre. The delivery of an awareness program by the Nurses Centre resulted in building occupants being able to access first aid boxes within their own areas and manage first aid needs instead of necessarily presenting to the Nurses Centre.

The number of participants in the 2010 Influenza Vaccination Program remained stable at around 620. The program was scheduled later in the year compared to 2009 due to the delayed availability of the vaccine; however, the vaccinations were provided within the period advised by the Therapeutic Goods Administration. The later scheduling also meant that there was no conflict with the April school and public holidays, which maximised availability of the program.

The Nurses Centre responded to suggestions provided in the 2008-09 staff and customer surveys for a Health Promotion Program within Parliament House. An Annual Health Promotion Calendar was implemented and included sessions on weight, diabetes, healthy bones, kidneys, heart, non-smoking and asthma awareness. The program was well attended and received positive feedback.

Indicator—Health and Recreation Centre

The Health and Recreation Centre provides recreation and sporting facilities for Parliament House, as well as direct services for building occupants such as fitness classes and assessments.

Total membership of the Health and Recreation Centre decreased by 17% in 2009-10. However casual attendance increased by 44% over the same period. The majority of casual visits to the Health and Recreation Centre were by parliamentary staff, who experience irregular and intermittent work schedules during sitting periods. The reason for a reduction in class attendance is being considered as part of a review of the Health and Recreation Centre.

A number of new exercise initiatives were trialled in 2009-10, including boot camp, walking classes and cycling classes.

Indicator—Community engagement with Parliament House

The total number of reported visitors to Parliament House is measured by the number of people entering the Main Front public entrance. For nearly four months of the year, an estimated 67,000 passholders were redirected through the Main Front public entrance whilst the staff basement entry was being refurbished. When this is taken into consideration, the 2009-10 visitor numbers are consistent with 2008-09.

During 2009-10, there was a decrease in the number of general (public) tours due to the trial and subsequent implementation of fixed tour times. The introduction of fixed tour times was an initiative implemented to allow additional support to be provided to school tours, which increased by 4% in 2009-10.

The decrease in garden tour participants is related to a change in the way the tours were promoted and availability of qualified staff to provide the tours. The gardens tours are scheduled to coincide with Floriade and will continue to feature as a tour option for visitors.

DPS continued to recognise the importance of community engagement and, during 2009-10, developed renewed partnerships with tourism bodies including the Canberra Convention Bureau, National Capital Attractions and ACT Tourism. During this time, these relationships provided valuable information to the review of visitor products and services including the development of conference gift packages and a self-guided tour option.

Indicator—The Parliament Shop

The Parliament Shop is a gift and souvenir retail outlet, run by DPS for the benefit of visitors and building occupants. The Parliament Shop had 284,599 visitors in 2009-10. In a similar trend to last financial year, 23% of Parliament Shop visitors went on to make a purchase.

As in previous years the Parliament Shop hosted a number of successful book launches, which helped promote book sales and uphold the customer’s expectation of the Parliament Shop as a provider of quality parliamentary reference and Australian literature.

Indicator—Facilities services

Contracts and licence revenue has increased slightly, in line with CPI adjustments and the commencement of the licence renewal program. The net decrease in the cost of operating the Health and Recreation Centre is due to increased revenue from memberships and casual visits, and improved staffing arrangements.

The Parliament Shop experienced a net profit decrease of 4% attributable to salary costs and increased cost of goods. Net profit, although slightly decreased, remains well above the 10% revenue target.

The outlook for Facilities is one of continued focus on sound contract and licence management, improved administration, investigation of future revenue potential and efficiency improvements.

Program 3—Infrastructure services

Introduction

Program 3 of the DPS Outcome and Programs Framework is the supply of integrated services and facilities through the provision of maintenance, infrastructure and support services.

This program comprises two subprograms—Building infrastructure services and IT infrastructure services.

Subprogram 3.1—Building infrastructure services

This subprogram involves the provision of building and security infrastructure, maintenance services and landscape services, as well as utility services (electricity, gas, water and sewerage).

Explanation of indicators

The Building Condition Index (BCI) measures the current condition of the building fabric of Parliament House, expressed as a percentage of the original condition.

The Landscape Condition Index (LCI) measures the current condition of the landscape surrounding Parliament House, expressed as a percentage of the total possible condition.

The Engineering Systems Condition Index (ESCI) measures the current operation and condition of the engineering systems in Parliament House against the expected decline of those systems through their life cycles. The system of scoring has been designed so that the optimum target of 90% is achieved if all systems are ageing through their life cycle as expected.

Indicator—Extent to which building condition is maintained

Parliament House is divided into seven zones, as shown in Figure 4.12, to measure the BCI. The seven zones have different condition targets that combine to give an overall score for the BCI. The target range of 89-92% has been determined, based on external benchmarks, as the optimum balance of condition and cost.

There has been a decrease of 0.3% in the overall building condition when compared to 2008-09, which reflects the effects of ageing and use since the building opened in 1988.

The contributing factors to the drop in the Ministerial Wing score are:

1. reduced painting and carpet replacement being carried out within the general circulation areas; and
2. the six-monthly condition monitoring for June was delayed until July and therefore recent maintenance is not reflected in the overall reading for the year.

The increase in the Back of House score is due to a considerable amount of painting and some carpet replacement during the year.

Indicator—Extent to which landscape condition is maintained

The parliamentary landscape has been divided into eight zones for the purpose of measuring the LCI. The zones have different targets that combine to give an overall score.

There was a 3% increase in overall landscape condition in 2009-10. The increase is due to the reinstatement of the Forecourt water feature and replacement of some plantings in courtyards.

Parliament House is in the fourth consecutive year of ACT stage 3 water restrictions, with significant parts of the landscape not able to be watered. This has had a cumulative impact on the landscape condition.

Trials of couch grass and associated maintenance issues continue at Parliament House, and may lead to improvements in the overall landscape without impacting on the water requirement.

Indicator—Condition and ageing of engineering systems

To calculate the ESCI, 83 engineering and structural systems—including air conditioning, hydraulic, power, fire and security systems—are scored for reliability, life cycle progress and actual versus expected condition.

The overall ESCI score of 88.2% reflects the ageing of the building, including a number of ageing electrical and mechanical systems that have been identified for replacement. These systems include the central energy plant, kitchen equipment replacement which is underway and replacement of exterior street lighting which is due for completion early in 2010-11.

Indicator—Extent to which design integrity is preserved

The Design Integrity Index (DII) is the mechanism used to measure, review and report on DPS’s performance with regard to design integrity and heritage management within the Parliamentary Precincts. In addition, the DII is the methodology adopted to assess all projects completed within a reporting year for their consistency with the original design intent of Parliament House.

For the purpose of measuring the DII, Parliament House is divided into eight zones, as shown in Figure 4.13.

In each zone, the components of language, symbolism, design order, change and the overall impression are examined and given a score from one to five. The outcomes for each component are added together to obtain a zone score. The zone scores are added to obtain a building score. This score is then expressed as a percentage of the total possible score.

The DII for 2009-10 is assessed at 91.2%. The 2009-10 DII results remain above the 90% threshold.

The Facilities areas and tenancies had improved scores due to good maintenance and restoration of the private dining rooms.

Building-wide issues that adversely affected the overall DII rating included inactive water features, inadequate cleanliness and presentation of building interiors and facades, minor maintenance issues, poor cable management (electric and data cables in committee rooms and office areas), the proliferation of business machines throughout the circulation spaces and the introduction of non-standard furniture.

Indicator—Performance of security systems

The card management system, closed circuit television system (CCTV), radio network, electronic doors and alarms are connected to a single security network. Overall, the security network remains stable, and there are a range of built-in redundancies to ensure the system continues to function in the event of equipment failure.

Standard security foot patrols are backed up by daily camera coverage checks and weekly camera maintenance. Performance checks are conducted on all CCTV cameras to ensure they are operational. From time to time these routine checks identify individual camera units that require some form of maintenance, but this does not detract from the overall performance of the CCTV system. Faults with individual camera units are generally rectified within acceptable timeframes.

Indicator—Managing the potential impact on the environment

Environmental performance reporting information is in Part 5 of the annual report. Part 5 includes information on managing the potential impact on the environment.

Indicator—Maintenance of plant and building fabric

The Maintenance Services section achieved 88% of the planned maintenance for 2009-10 against a target of 85%.

Indicator—Maintenance Help Desk requests

The number of reported calls to the Maintenance Services Help Desk this year substantially increased due to a new and more accurate process of recording calls. All maintenance requests are now logged through the Help Desk. Maintenance request numbers for previous years were taken from the number of work orders raised to respond to requests.

Indicator—Maintenance cost

The 22% increase in the cost of maintenance is largely attributable to the transfer of internal and external cleaning from Program 2 to Program 3.

Indicator—Energy cost

The 2009-10 year energy consumption increased by 3% and energy cost increased by 23% from the previous year.

The 2009-10 year had slightly fewer sitting days. However, energy use is consistent with previous non election years. The main contributor to higher energy use in 2009-10 was the occurence of higher average daily temperatures, which in turn increased demand on our heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) requirements.

Furthermore, as well as higher than average summer temperatures in 2009-10, winter saw very low consecutive overnight temperatures contributing to increased gas use for heating.

Indicator—Water cost

Parliament House has over 4,500 rooms on a site of 32ha, of which 23ha is landscaped. The total cost of water and sewage use for Parliament House in the 2009-10 year was $625,320, which is an increase of 1.6%% from 2008-09. Total water consumption decreased overall by 4% from the previous year. However total water cost increased due to a tariff per/kL rise for potable water.

Indicator—Total cost of subprogram

The total cost of providing building infrastructure services has increased by 18.2% compared to 2008-09.

This increase is attributed to the previously mentioned increases in the cost of water and electricity, along with CPI increases in other maintenance contracts and salary increases provided for in the DPS certified agreement. The transfer of the internal and external cleaning contracts to Infrastructure Services also increased costs.

Subprogram 3.2—IT infrastructure services

IT infrastructure services provided include the maintenance of information technology, broadcasting and telecommunications infrastructure, and customer support for these services.

Indicator—High level of critical systems availability

Systems identified as critical in the Department of Parliamentary Services Portfolio Budget Statements 2009-10 are:

1. House of Representatives applications:
   1. Chamber applications; and
   2. Table Office applications;
2. Senate applications:
   1. Chamber applications; and
   2. Table Office applications;
3. Hansard applications;
4. OneOffice;
5. Building Management System (BMS);
6. Parliamentary Computing Network (PCN);
7. home servers;
8. print servers;
9. email;
10. sound reinforcement; and
11. DPS applications:
    1. SAP; and
    2. PeopleSoft.

Critical systems availability is defined as critical systems being operational and useable during scheduled service hours.

Although the 100% target for all critical systems availability was not met, overall performance achieved high levels of availability. Responses to interruptions were timely and technical staff had the skills and resources to quickly diagnose and correct the faults.

IT critical systems were unavailable on various occasions throughout the year, with total aggregate outages being 176 minutes. The system failures were due to several factors:

1. The chamber systems server that supports Hansard and Table Office systems had five outages totalling 71 minutes.
2. One of the six servers holding network drives had an outage of 25 minutes.
3. One email server had an outage of nine minutes, and another email server had an outage of 71 minutes.

Broadcasting Infrastructure Support again had no downtime recorded in 2009-10.

IT infrastructure (network) down time was largely due to the failure of small-scale communications devices that connect personal computers (PCs) and printers from office areas to the network. During business and sitting periods these failed devices are quickly replaced, but outside these times a failed device might only be restored the next morning, before commencement of the next business day.

Major network components have a high degree of fault tolerance, with most of the critical systems being connected to the network via two communication paths. Faults that are detected in the major network switches can therefore be bypassed without affecting the overall performance of the network.

Telecommunications infrastructure achieved 100% availability. The PABX system has a backup processor which takes over when any system faults occur. However, some individual handsets had failures totalling 24 hours. Given the number of handsets that are deployed, individual handset failures have an isolated, but personal, impact on performance.

Indicator—Timeliness of incident resolution

Service standards for resolution of Client Support 2020 help desk requests with high, medium or as agreed priority were met comfortably. Responses to immediate priority requests did not meet the 95% target for the 2009-10 year. Only 93.27% of immediate priority requests were handled within the service standard. This was an improvement on 2008-09.

Indicator—Support services

The reduction in the number of phone calls made and facsimiles sent via the broadcast facsimile gateway can be attributed to mobile phones and the internet offering alternative ways of sharing information.

Indicator—Volume of IT services required

This year saw a 3.2% increase in the total number of PCN user accounts over 2008-09. User account use is reviewed twice per year to identify unused accounts that can be deleted.

Indicator—Total cost of subprogram

The increase in the total cost of subprogram 3.2 is attributed to an increase in staffing and supplier costs.

Electorate office support

The Presiding Officers and the Special Minister of State signed an agreement on 14 May 2003 with respect to DPS providing IT support to electorate offices on behalf of the Department of Finance and Deregulation (Finance), which meets agreed costs of this support. The original agreement covered the period from 1 July 2003 until 30 June 2006. The 2003-06 agreement, although expired, has continued as the basis for the service arrangement.

Under this agreement:

1. DPS (in consultation with Finance) develops and maintains the Standard Operating Environment (SOE) which is used in Parliament House and electorate offices, and for mobile use; and
2. DPS provides service desk and remote desktop support services for fixed and mobile access.

Finance engages external contractors to supply, maintain and support onsite hardware in electorate offices, to maintain communication links to Parliament House from electorate offices and to provide training services for electorate office staff.

During 2009-10, DPS performed a range of electorate office support activities including:

1. support and maintenance of the OneOffice SOE and Electorate Office File Servers including security patch updates;
2. SOE application updates including Adobe Reader 9.3 and Internet Explorer 8;
3. release of the EOnet (a website for the purpose of providing up to date information and tools for technicians in the field) into production; and
4. completing the rollout of BlackBerry phones for Senators, Members and their staff.

The workload for 2009-10 financial year of 23,557 calls to the Client Support help desk was on par with the 23,582 calls received in the 2008-09 financial year.

The cost recovered by DPS from Finance for providing core electorate office support services for the 2009-10 financial year was $2.06 million (GST exclusive).

A joint working group, comprising the parliamentary departments and Finance, was established in 2008-09 to determine the feasibility of transferring electorate office IT responsibilities from Finance to DPS. The recommendations of the group have not yet been finalised.

Program 4—Parliamentary records services

Introduction

Program 4 of the DPS Outcome and Programs Framework is access to the work of the Parliament through the provision of audio-visual and Hansard records of parliamentary proceedings.

Two subprograms, Broadcasting services and Hansard services, contribute to Program 4.

Subprogram 4.1—Broadcasting services

Broadcasting services involve the production of an audio-visual record of parliamentary proceedings (including committees), which are available for broadcasting and archiving.

Indicator—Customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction surveys are conducted once per Parliament. The survey for the 42nd Parliament was conducted in 2008-09. Two main themes emerged from the individual comments on Broadcasting services:

1. the need to improve our webcast service or introduce video on demand services; and
2. perceived problems with using external service providers to record parliamentary committee hearings held interstate.

A project is underway to replace part of our ageing broadcast archiving technology. The new system will enable DPS to record and archive parliamentary broadcast material in digital format and will also provide for video-on-demand services.

The use of external service providers to record parliamentary committees held interstate is an important part of Broadcasting’s ability to ensure we are able to cover multiple hearings held concurrently in different locations across Australia.

During 2009-10, Broadcasting services received one formal complaint. The single complaint was prompted by a human error which disrupted broadcasting services to an estimates committee for 8 minutes. Standard procedures were revised to minimise the risk of recurrence.

Nine plaudits were received including feedback from ministerial and parliamentary clients, as well as commercial television stations, for our broadcast of the National Apology to the Forgotten Australians and former Child Migrants and coverage of the Indonesian presidential visit.

Indicator—Broadcasting services (quantity)

Chambers

There were 1,341 hours of chamber proceedings broadcast (television and audio) in 2009-10. This is 132 fewer hours than 2008-09.

Committees

In 2009-10, 2,191 hours of parliamentary committee hearings were recorded. While this is a significant decrease compared with 2008-09 (2,804 hours), it is 9.8% higher than the preceding pre-election year, 2006-07 (1,995 hours). The 22% committee workload reduction in 2009-10 provided an opportunity for staff to participate in broadcast system asset replacement projects.

In 2009-10, following a successful six-month trial, Broadcasting implemented single-officer support to most parliamentary committee hearings held interstate (where previously one staff member from each of Broadcasting and Hansard were involved). This significantly reduced travel costs involved in providing this service.

As in previous years, Senate Estimates hearings (Estimates) placed considerable pressure on broadcasting resources. During each week of Estimates, four Senate committees generally sit concurrently from 9am until 11pm. This is in addition to sittings of the House of Representatives, the Main Committee of the House of Representatives and, on occasion, House of Representatives standing committees.

In May/June 2010, 16 House of Representatives Committees met at the same time as Estimates hearings. This was a particular challenge for Broadcasting and, in order to meet this demand, additional personnel were drawn from Broadcasting’s temporary employment register and extra overtime was required of permanent staff.

Other productions

In addition to core broadcasting business, DPS also provides audio-visual and production services on a cost-recovery basis. These services are subject to availability of staff not otherwise engaged on primary parliamentary broadcasting duties. There were 909 other productions in 2009-10. This is a 15% increase compared with 2008-09 productions.

Audio-visual services

In 2009-10, Broadcasting provided 1,352 stand-alone audio-visual services—a small reduction from the previous year (1,373). This service mostly involves lending audio-visual equipment to clients in Parliament House. It also includes sound reinforcement and recording services for functions, meetings, seminars and special events.

Master control services

Master control services involve Broadcasting staff connecting external media organisations to the broadcast of selected parliamentary proceedings and other special event productions inside, and in the grounds outside, Parliament House. In 2009-10, the number of master control services increased marginally from 1,532 in 2008-09 to 1,582.

Requests for extracts of parliamentary broadcast material

DPS received 1,162 requests for extracts of parliamentary broadcast material, most of which were for chamber proceedings. This is a small decrease when compared with the 2008-09 financial year (1,245). Requests for this service came primarily from Senators and Members.

Indicator—Broadcasting services (price)

The increased cost per hour of material captured on the audio-visual record for chambers and ACT committees is mainly due to the fact that Broadcasting has a fixed cost structure and the significant decrease in broadcast hours results in an increased cost per hour.

Overall, the total cost for broadcasting services in 2009-10 increased by 3%. This was largely due to salary increases and increases in the cost of the replacement of a variety of low-value assets and was offset by decreases in travel expenditure and offsite tape storage costs.

Cost of other productions

The cost to DPS of other productions in 2009-10 increased by 14% to $369,003. This is attributable to increased demand for this service.

Cost recovery from other productions

DPS recovered $350,812 through charging for services provided to clients for non-parliamentary business. Revenue increased by approximately 4% due to the demand for production services from external clients.

DPS does not recover the cost of services provided to clients for parliamentary business.

Subprogram 4.2—Hansard services

Hansard services comprise transcribing and publishing reports of proceedings of the Senate, the House of Representatives and all parliamentary committees. Hansard also provides transcription services for some ministerial or Parliament-related conferences.

Indicator—Customer satisfaction

Surveys are conducted once per Parliament. The survey for the 42nd Parliament was conducted in 2008-09. Two main themes emerged from the individual comments on Hansard:

1. delays in timeliness of transcription delivery, particularly during Senate Estimates hearings; and
2. number of errors in the electronic publishing codes which cause difficulties for customers searching ParlInfo.

Senate Estimate periods are the busiest times of the year for Hansard and, despite the use of technology, Hansard continues to be a very labour-intensive process. To assist customers, we now provide committee secretariats with DVDs to enable Senators to review proceedings while waiting for their Estimates transcripts.

The new Hansard Production System (HPS) is currently in development and will enable Senators and Members to see a rough unedited version of Hansard every 15 minutes as it is being produced. The new HPS will also use new technology which will reduce the likelihood of human error in selecting publishing codes. This in turn will improve ParlInfo searching.

Hansard received two customer complaints during 2009-10 (in respect of 3,532 hours of transcribed proceedings). One complaint related to the limitations of the current HPS in sending draft speeches to Senators and Members, and the timeliness of committee transcripts. The second related to an urgent transcript which was not loaded onto the internet the same day. As issues arise and on an ongoing basis, Hansard continues to review and streamline its processes to improve services to the Parliament.

Indicator—Accuracy of transcription

Hansard error rates are based on the number of corrections to draft chamber speeches returned by Senators and Members, or corrections to committee transcripts made by witnesses, and accepted as Hansard errors. In 2009-10, the error rate for chambers decreased by 0.1 to 2.6, while that for committees increased by 0.6 to 1.3. Both figures are well within the target of five errors per 100 pages.

Indicator—Timeliness of transcription

Chambers

The service delivery standards for chamber transcripts are listed at Figure 4.25. As the delivery of draft speeches gives Senators and Members their first opportunity to review the Hansard transcript, delivery time is critical. Hansard achieved 96.2%, exceeding the 95% target and improving on the 95.2% achieved in 2008-09.

The service standard for publishing electronic proof Hansard reports within three hours of the chamber adjourning was met on 94.2% of occasions. This was an improved result from 2008-09 (70.3%) and 2007-08 (74.1%), but still slightly below the 95% target. Delays were experienced due to initial installation difficulties with DPS’s new digital audio system. The delivery standard for hard-copy proof Hansard reports delivered to Parliament House was met on 100% of sitting days.

Committees

The service delivery standards for committee transcripts are in four categories: within 24 hours (priority), within 1–3 days (priority), within 3–5 days and over 5 days. Delivery times for priority hearings are negotiated with the relevant Clerk Assistant, Committees.

There are several reasons for the improved performance, including the reduced workload normal in the third year of the parliamentary cycle; improved resource planning and management and implementing single-officer support to committees held interstate (where previously two officers travelled). Sending one officer instead of two to support these committees in most circumstances enabled us to redeploy Hansard staff to transcription tasks in Parliament House. This also contributed to improved timeliness of committee transcriptions.

Indicator—Transcription services

Chambers

The figures for transcription services are the same as those reported for broadcasting activity and show the number of hours transcribed in 2009-10 is lower than in 2008-09. The figure of 1,341 chamber hours for 2009-10 is slightly lower (7%) than the previous second year of a parliamentary cycle.

Transcripts were provided to occupants of Parliament House in hard copy and were also available electronically through ParlInfo, the parliamentary database. Transcripts were provided to the general public through:

1. the Australian Parliament House website (including a search option using ParlInfo Web);
2. libraries and educational institutions, through the Legal Deposit and Commonwealth Library Deposit and Free Issue Schemes; and
3. direct subscriptions.

Committees

There were 2,191 hours of committee hearings transcribed in 2009-10. This is a 22% decrease when compared with 2,804 hours in the 2008-09 year, but a 10% increase on 1,995 hours in 2006-07 (the previous second year of a parliamentary cycle). Senate Estimates hearings again took place concurrently with House of Representatives and Main Committee sittings. This presented significant workload challenges for Hansard.

Senate committee hearings, including Estimates hearings, made up 74% of the total committee workload, up from 66% in 2008-09. House of Representatives committees made up 14% (down from 20% in 2008-09) and joint committees 12% (down from 14% in 2008-09).

In 2009-10, DPS continued to use external transcript providers to manage its peak workload. External providers are engaged on occasions to record and transcribe parliamentary committee hearings held interstate and to assist with the transcription of committee hearings in the ACT, particularly during the busy Senate Estimates hearings. Hansard could not meet its delivery standards during peak periods without assistance from external providers. This has become increasingly important in managing workloads with the general increase in committee activity, particularly during sitting weeks. Without relying on external providers in peak times, Hansard would need additional permanent staff to cover peak workloads, resulting in excess transcription capacity at other times.

Indicator—Questions on Notice

In 2009-10 1,675 pages of answers to Questions on Notice or Questions in Writing were included in proof Hansard. This is a 50% increase compared with 2008-09 (1,116) and resulted in a significant increase in workload for Hansard pre-publishing staff.

The hourly cost for chamber and committee transcription in 2009-10 rose slightly (10.6% and 4.8% respectively) compared with 2008-09. The increased cost per hour of transcription is mainly due to the fact that Hansard has a fixed cost structure and significant decrease in hours of transcription results in an increased cost per hour. The 2009-10 transcription costs per hour of chamber sittings ($2,360) and ACT committee hearings ($1,830) are directly comparable with those of the second year of the previous Parliament.

The transcription cost of interstate committee hearings remained constant despite the reduction in hours transcribed. This represents a relative decrease in cost and reflects the success of single officer travel in reducing travel costs and increasing in-house transcription capacity. In turn, this reduces the use of, and expenditure on, external providers to complete transcription work.

Overall, the total cost for Hansard services in 2009-10 decreased by 6%. This was mostly due to significant savings in payments to external service providers and reduced travel costs in support of interstate committees.

Product and Service Development Branch

Administered items

Introduction

DPS uses administered funds to plan, develop and deliver into service:

1. a building works program; and
2. an artworks conservation and development program.

These programs support the operation of Parliament into the future, while at the same time preserving the design integrity of the architecture, engineering systems, art collections and landscape that make up Parliament House.

Indicator—Extent to which building works projects meet objectives

During 2009-10, 21 projects were completed with all projects meeting the agreed objectives and in three of the projects, agreed objectives were delivered above user expectations.

A further three projects were stopped at an early stage in favour of more cost-effective solutions.

Indicator—Extent to which building works projects are completed on time

Of the 21 projects completed, 19 were delivered within the agreed timeframe. Of the two late projects, the first was delayed by access constraints, and the second by actions to ensure that safety requirements were met. The late delivery did not affect service delivery.

Indicator—Extent to which building projects are completed on budget

All projects were completed within their allocated budget.

Indicator—Extent to which administered funds are expended on building projects

Increased capacity and capability in the Building and Security Projects team resulted in some $15.55m of administered funding being spent on building projects. This was 84% of the budgeted spend, a significant improvement compared with $8.42m, or 54% of the budgeted spend achieved in 2008-09, and $5.56m, or 39%, achieved in 2007-08.

Indicator—Extent to which the art collection is developed

In 2009-10, the focus for art acquisitions continued to be on areas of the collection that are under-represented, and on increasing the number of artworks available for display in Senators’ and Members’ suites. Two acquisition proposals submitted to the Art Advisory Committee were not approved. In both cases, the Committee requested that proposals for alternative works by the same artists be re-submitted when other suitable work became available. The Art Advisory Committee also approved a forward plan for acquisition activity for the next three years.

Ninety-one new artworks approved for purchase for the rotational collection addressed priority areas for acquisition, including works by artists based in Western Australia and Queensland, indigenous artists and female artists, as well as landscape works.

Three new portrait commissions for the Historic Memorials Collection (HMC) were finalised; former Prime Minister the Hon. John Howard; former President of the Senate, Senator the Hon. Alan Ferguson; and Chief Justice of the High Court, Robert French. A new commission for a portrait of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Harry Jenkins MP, commenced and is expected to be complete in late 2010.

All art collection development projects were completed on time.

Indicator—Extent to which the art collection is conserved

Nine artworks were subject to conservation treatment in 2009-10. Many of the works requiring conservation come from the HMC, which includes a large number of paintings dating from the early 20th century. The style of framing and age of these paintings mean that they generally require more active conservation work than the more contemporary artworks in the rotational collection. In addition to these conservation treatments, a detailed assessment of early HMC portraits was completed. This assessment enabled a prioritisation of future conservation work on this collection. A small number of important contemporary artworks in the collection were also conserved, primarily to improve the quality of their mounts and frames, with the objective of providing better long-term protection.

A major project completed in 2009-10 was the relocation of the 1297 Inspeximus Issue of Magna Carta. This work was undertaken in collaboration with the Department of the Senate and, as part of the relocation exercise, significant improvements were made to the display case, lighting and security systems supporting Magna Carta, with the objective of ensuring the long-term preservation of this internationally significant document. The new display has improved the overall visibility of Magna Carta, and includes enhanced interpretation material, for a better visitor experience, without compromising the security and protection of the document.

All artworks conservation projects were completed on time.

Indicator—Extent to which administered funds are expended on the art collection

Costs attributed to art collection development and conservation include the purchase price of individual artworks, as well as payments for delivery, framing, art consultancy services and contracted conservation services.