Introduction
In 2017–18 the Chief Operating Officer Division comprised the Chief Finance
Officer Branch, the People and Governance Branch, and the Parliamentary
Experience Branch.
The division provides advice and services to DPS on governance, strategy,
finance, procurement, and human resources. This ensures that DPS complies with
its responsibilities under the PS Act, the PGPA Act and a range of other
legislative obligations, including human resources-related legislation. The
division also provides visitor programs, catering and events services, art
services, legal services, communication/marketing services, risk and auditing
services, planning and performance reporting and manages licences and contracts
for building occupants.
Divisional highlights
Chief Finance Officer Branch
The Chief Finance Officer Branch provides financial advice and services to the
department.
The branch is made up of four sections, which report to the Chief Finance
Officer:
- Financial Accounting and Business Operations
- Management Accounting
- Procurement and Contract Management, and
- Corporate Systems Program and Support
Key highlights of the branch include:
- facilitated in-house Certificate 4 training in Government Procurement &
Contract Management across the department
- implementation of the DPS Enterprise Agreement 2017 the Enterprise Human
Resources System, and
- increased use of the Sucess Factors Learning and Development module for
online course delivery.
People and Governance Branch
The People and Governance Branch provides people, governance and legal advice
services.
The branch is made up of five sections which report to the Assistant
Secretary:
- Communications
- HR Services and Strategy
- Central Rosters Unit
- Legal Services, and
- Risk, Audit, Planning and Performance Reporting.
Key highlights of the branch include:
- the successful bargaining of the DPS Enterprise Agreement 2017. The ballot,
held in October 2017, had a participation rate of 80 per cent, with 75 per
cent of participants voting in favour of the agreement. This followed a
series of 26 bargaining meetings over the course of nine weeks. The
agreement was approved by the Fair Work Commission in January 2018
- creation of the Central Rosters Unit, to plan for the implementation of new
rostering arrangements across a number of DPS work groups, and
- the development of additional performance measures for inclusion in the
2018–19 Corporate Plan, to ensure that relevant aspects of DPS’ performance
are measured and reported. The additional performance measures relate to
catering, Hansard and broadcasting. Performance against these performance
measures will be reported in the 2018–19 Annual Performance Statements.
Parliamentary Experience Branch
The Parliamentary Experience Branch is responsible for the development and
delivery of a broad range of experiences and services for parliamentarians,
visitors and all building occupants. The branch works closely with stakeholders
across the Parliament.
The branch is made up of four sections, which report to the Assistant
Secretary:
- Art Collection and Exhibitions
- Contracts and Licences
- Visitor Experience, and
- APH Catering and Events
Key highlights of the branch include:
- the introduction of pharmaceutical services for parliamentarians and their
staff in February 2018 and the continuation of eight established retail
services within the building
- support by APH Catering and Events of 658 events attended by 97,717 people
(see Table 20).
Aside from slight reductions in the number of people attending events and
the number of people dining in the Members and Guests Dining Room, the
results for other outlets have shown growth exceeding 10 per cent
- the movement of more than 340 artworks to facilitate building and
construction projects across Parliament House, including major commissions
like The Great Hall Tapestry. The tapestry is currently off display
to undergo an extensive conservation and cleaning program for the first time
in almost 20 years
- the acquisition of 88 works of art for the Parliament House Art Collection.
Fifty-seven were purchased for the Rotational Collection and 20 gifted to
the Rotational Collection, six were added to the Historic Memorials
Collection and five archival works were acquired
- the delivery of specially designed seasonal and thematic tours—the ‘spring
glory’ courtyard tours attracted 831 participants over 31 days, while the
Democracy in Design tours attracted 375 participants over twelve days
- the production of more than 75kg of honey by the Parliament House beehives.
The first honey was harvested at a launch attended by the Presiding Officers
in the Great Hall in December 2017. The beehive initiative has allowed us to
form a number of partnerships while promoting the importance of bees and how
they are critical to our environmental sustainability, and
- continued growth in product range and revenue in The Parliament Shop,
including product collaborations in conjunction with temporary exhibitions.
Revenue increased by 8.1 per cent, from $1,173,488 (exclusive of GST) in
2016–17, to $1,268,009 (exclusive of GST) in 2017–18. This was due to
the introduction of new, quality product lines and special events, including
book signings with parliamentarians and guest appearances by popular authors
including Mem Fox.
Table 20: Total number of meals/beverages served at Parliament
House
Area |
APH
FY 2017–18
(75 sitting
days) |
APH
Jan–June 2018
(39 sitting
days) |
APH
Jan–June 2017
(37 sitting days)
|
2018 compared to 2017 |
Functions and
House Services |
Number of
people attending |
97,717 |
41,537 |
45,040 |
-8% |
Members and
Guests Dining Room |
Number of
people attending |
6,320 |
3,293 |
3,544 |
-7% |
Members Club |
Number of
people attending |
866 |
507 |
508 |
0% |
Staff Dining Room |
Number of transactions |
276,303 |
145,956 |
132,117 |
10% |
Queen’s Terrace Cafe |
Number of transactions |
98,208 |
50,648 |
45,441 |
11% |
Schools Hospitality |
Number of
people attending |
96,575 |
39,886 |
40,928 |
-2% |
Coffee Cart |
Number of transactions |
64,750 |
34,666 |
29,831 |
16% |