Part 1 Secretary’s review

Work that builds on 2017–18

In 2018–19 the department will continue to strive for excellence in supporting the functions of Parliament and the work of parliamentarians, through the provision of professional services, advice and facilities. We will continue to enhance our security arrangements to ensure building occupants and visitors are as safe as possible and implement the 2018–19 DPS Corporate Plan to deliver the following outcomes.

Respond to the changing needs of the Parliament

  • We have embarked on a major project that will digitally transform the way voting is undertaken and counted in the House of Representatives. An electronic voting system will capture voting by members during divisions, automate the counting and tallying process and—in near real time—publish the results to the internet. This new approach will use advances in technology to improve the visibility and transparency of the democratic process for the general public and deliver process efficiencies and time savings.
  • In collaboration with the Department of the Senate, the Department of the House of Representatives and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, we will transform the process of tabling of documents in Parliament, going from a predominately paper-based system to a digital document delivery and workflow solution. The system will reduce the use of paper, will speed up the public release of tabled documents through publication on the Parliament of Australia website, and will deliver a number of other efficiencies and cost savings across the Commonwealth.
  • We will develop stage two of the retail strategy and develop a press gallery strategy to guide the provision of professional services made available to parliamentarians, building occupants and visitors to Parliament House beyond 2019.

Enhance the Parliament’s engagement with the community

  • Following on from the successful 30th anniversary celebrations in May, DPS is working towards an Open Day on 6 October 2018—the culmination of the 30th year program.
  • We will continue to build traffic and following of our social media channels to increase public awareness and understanding of Parliament House and encourage virtual visitor interactions via the Parliament of Australia website.
  • DPS will continue to build strategic partnerships with tourism groups and cultural institutions. Our partnerships will foster strong cooperation and collaboration.

Effective stewardship of Parliament House

  • The cyber security resilience of the Parliament and its ICT systems and networks will be enhanced through the formation of a Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC). The centre will employ a number of cyber security specialists as well as employing the latest cyber protection tools to improve the cyber detection and response capabilities of DPS in protecting the parliamentary network. The establishment of the CSOC builds on previous investments in implementing the Australian Signals Directorate’s strategies to mitigate cyber intrusion.
  • Building on the success of the Parliamentary Business Information Management (PBIM) project, which delivered a robust Data Management Framework adopted by three parliamentary departments, we are looking ahead to the development of a Parliamentarian Information Portal (PIP). The PIP is an in-house developed database interface that is currently in the user acceptance testing phase. It allows parliamentary departments to update parliamentarian information (e.g. address, mobile number, electorate information), which then feeds through to other parliamentary systems. The PIP will help manage a large volume of parliamentary data across multiple ICT systems.
  • The Parliament House Art Collection Audit and Digitisation Project will improve management of our collection of cultural assets (currently valued in excess of $120 million). Benefits will include:
    • the creation of high-quality images that can be made publicly available online and in an internal catalogue which can be accessed by building occupants including parliamentarians
    • the ability to track, via RFID, the movement of artworks, vastly improving stock-take capabilities
    • a full survey of the current condition of the collection to identify recommendations for its ongoing conservation and care and identify any treatment required, and
    • improved cataloguing standards, to ensure high quality and accurate data is captured for all artworks.

Effective delivery of the Parliament House works program

  • A program to replace the mechanical and lighting components of the 42 passenger and goods lifts is under way. Four lifts were refurbished in 2017–18 with the remaining lifts to be upgraded over the next 24 months. Outages are being carefully scheduled to minimise the inconvenience to building occupants.