Services and advice
Chamber enhancements
During the reporting period, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker sought enhancements in the Chamber and the Federation Chamber, for which they are respectively responsible. These enhancements include the introduction of screens identifying the business before the House in the Chamber and the restructure of the Deputy Speaker and Clerk’s dais in the Federation Chamber. The work is being coordinated by the Serjeant-at-Arms’ Office together with DPS, and is expected to be completed in late 2014.
Media services
The Serjeant-at-Arms and staff continued to work with the various media bureaux and the governing committee of the Parliamentary Press Gallery to ensure compliance with the Rules for media related activity in Parliament House and its precincts. The Presiding Officers adopted the rules in 2012, and their administration has been delegated to the Serjeant-at-Arms and the Usher of the Black Rod. The rules clarify the areas in the building and precincts where media activity is permitted, permitted only after prior approval, or not permitted at all. They also set out the circumstances where still photography by accredited media personnel is permitted in the chambers, and where filming and photography are more broadly permitted throughout the parliamentary precincts. It is a condition of access to the building that occupants comply with the rules, and a graduated range of sanctions may be applied for non-compliance.
During the year, the Serjeant-at-Arms, the Usher of the Black Rod and their delegates liaised closely with the press gallery to balance media access, security and parliamentary requirements at major events, including the opening of the Forty-fourth Parliament and the swearing in of His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd) as Governor-General.
On a day-to-day level, the Serjeant-at-Arms and her delegates work with ministers’ offices, representatives of the press gallery and the Parliamentary Security Service to ensure that media events on the precincts are conducted in compliance with the rules and with minimum inconvenience to all.
During the year, the Serjeant-at-Arms’ Office responded to some 175 requests to film or photograph within the private areas of the building.
Broadcasting of proceedings
On 9 December 2013, the House adopted a new resolution for the broadcast of parliamentary proceedings. A very similar order was adopted by the Senate two days later. Both the House resolution and the Senate order replace earlier equivalents and authorise the broadcast and re-broadcast of the proceedings and excerpts of proceedings of the two chambers and their committees. The resolution and the order were drafted by the Joint Committee on the Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings during the Forty-third Parliament, following the committee’s 2012 review of media-related activity in Parliament House.
The resolution and the order simplify and harmonise previous conditions of broadcast, and recognise that television and radio are no longer the only broadcast media (given the increase of other media platforms such as internet-based social media) and that previous distinctions between broadcasting and re-broadcasting are becoming less relevant with new technology. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate continue to retain control over broadcast content, which still needs to be supplied by authorised parliamentary staff in accordance with guidelines approved by the Presiding Officers.
The resolution and the order also include the general principles for the radio broadcast of parliamentary proceedings by the ABC, which were tabled in the first half of 2013 by the committee and required to be adopted by the chambers before they could come into force. The general principles determine that the allocation of the live radio broadcast between the two chambers should be approximately equal. For question time, either the House or the Senate session is broadcast live and the other is broadcast later in the day. These general principles are complemented by standing determinations that provide more detailed advice to the ABC for the radio broadcasts.
Information services
To help keep members and their staff informed about developments in the House, three editions of the members’ bulletin, House Update, were published during the year. In addition, the annual series of briefings on procedural and other developments in the House was continued. Seven briefings were held during the year.
The department continued to operate its drop-in centre every sitting Tuesday to enable members and their staff to get information or provide feedback on any of the services provided by the department. During the year, the drop-in centre held 12 sessions, and during these sessions there were nine queries. As in previous years, the sessions were staffed by senior departmental staff members, with a customer service officer from DPS invited to attend to increase the value of the service to members.
Accommodation services
The Serjeant-at-Arms’ Office provides a concierge service for members and, as part of this, coordinates accommodation, capital works and routine maintenance services in the House of Representatives wing.
During the year, the office arranged some 180 office relocations as a result of the 2013 election and the change in government. These relocations reflected the comparatively high number of new members following the 2013 election. The office worked closely with the government and opposition whips to make sure the suites were ready as quickly as possible. The office also coordinated 723 requests to supply and move furniture (significantly more than in the previous year), which arose from the settling in of new members and the movement of members to and from the ministerial wing. All tasks were performed within agreed timeframes and to agreed standards, and to the satisfaction of the whips and individual members.
We worked with DPS on a number of accommodation projects affecting suites in the House of Representatives wing, including the conversion of meeting rooms back into members’ suites in view of the heavy demand for members’ suites after the 2013 election.
Replacement of office furniture
Work continues on the replacement of office furniture for departmental staff and the staff of certain parliamentary office holders. The furniture being replaced has been in use since 1988. Work completed to date includes replacing 54 per cent of workstations used by departmental staff, as well as those used by staff of the Speaker and the Leader of the Opposition.
The office furniture used by the remainder of departmental staff and by staff of the government and opposition whips, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and the Manager of Opposition Business will be replaced in 2014–15.
Maintenance, access and transport services
Maintenance requests for work in members’ suites are coordinated by the Serjeant-at-Arms’ Office, and include both emergency and routine work. During the year, the office coordinated 420 emergency requests, which were all attended to within five minutes of receipt. In addition, the office coordinated 285 routine maintenance requests for repairs or alterations to suites or common areas. We take a proactive approach by performing office shutdowns and inspections over the autumn and winter recesses, so that issues can be identified, reported and repaired while parliament is not sitting. The office coordinated 418 requests for assistance with telephone faults, relocations and allocations of telephone numbers. Faults reported were referred to telephone support in DPS within five minutes of receipt, and appropriate timeframes for the matters to be resolved were agreed with that area.
As the area responsible for access to members’ suites, the office approved 1,103 requests by DPS for access to suites and general circulation areas for general maintenance and services.
The Serjeant-at-Arms’ Office also provides a Transport Office to coordinate transport services for members, including managing the COMCAR shuttle service on behalf of the Department of Finance during sitting weeks.
In 2013–14, the Transport Office managed 8,960 bookings by members. This represents fewer bookings than in the previous year, and reflects reduced COMCAR use in Canberra during the election period. During sitting weeks the Transport Office operates morning and evening shifts, opening at 6.00 am each morning for members coming to Parliament House and remaining open in the evening until at least 9.00 pm or until an hour after the House rises.
The Transport Office is also open from 4.00 pm to 10.30 pm on the Sundays prior to sitting weeks to take bookings and facilitate the pick-up of members at Canberra airport as they arrive.
Parliament House security
The Serjeant-at-Arms represents the department on the Security Management Board. The board is established pursuant to section 65A of the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 to provide advice to the Presiding Officers on security policy and the management of security measures for Parliament House. The board met seven times during the year. Matters considered included:
- security screening arrangements
- planned reviews of the pass policy and perimeter security
- a proposed strategic framework for security at Parliament House.
Police access to the parliamentary precincts
Officers of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) must seek the permission of the Presiding Officers before attending the parliamentary precincts. Traditionally, the permission of the Presiding Officers has been sought by the AFP officer-in-charge at Parliament House through the Serjeant-at-Arms or the Usher of the Black Rod, as appropriate. In early 2013, the Presiding Officers agreed that approval of requests for access to the House of Representatives or Senate wings would be through the Serjeant-at-Arms or the Usher of the Black Rod, respectively.
Authorised Assembly Area
DPS has responsibility for managing events on the Authorised Assembly Area at the front of Parliament House. The area is allocated variously to individuals, community groups and organisations to promote their causes and hold events. Under the authorisation signed by the Presiding Officers, the Serjeant-at-Arms and the Usher of the Black Rod are to be notified as soon as is practicable of any protests, other public assemblies, functions or events on the precincts that may disrupt the smooth running of the building or affect the security or decorum of the chambers.
Security screening
Guests of government and parliament are subject to automatic exemption from security screening on entry to Parliament House. Approvals for any other exemptions from security screening are jointly made by the Usher of the Black Rod and the Serjeant-at-Arms. During the year, exemptions from security screening were approved for 16 groups or individuals (compared with 43 in 2012–13).
Heritage Advisory Board
The Heritage Advisory Board held eight meetings during the year. The primary function of the board is to oversee and provide advice to the Presiding Officers on the heritage management of Parliament House. The board is also required to oversee detailed heritage issues for Parliament House. The members of the board are the Secretary of DPS (chair), the Serjeant-at-Arms and the Usher of the Black Rod. In May 2014, the Presiding Officers decided to disband the board in June 2014, as the work of the board would be substantially complete. The board met for the last time on 12 June 2014.
Matters considered by the board during the year included:
- the development of a conservation management plan for Parliament House, and the establishment of an expert advisory panel to provide high-level and independent advice to aid the development of the plan
- the management of cultural heritage items at Parliament House.
Information and communications technology
In response to the recommendations of the 2012 review of information and communications technology for the parliament, the ICT responsibilities of the chamber departments were transferred to DPS on 1 July 2013. As part of this process, four departmental staff and funding for ICT assets were transferred to DPS.
The Joint Management Committee, which comprises senior parliamentary department staff, oversaw the transfer of ICT responsibilities to DPS. The committee is now responsible for monitoring ICT issues and performance against the service-level agreement. The Serjeant-at-Arms represents the department on the committee.
A one-stop shop for ICT support has been established for members and senators and will be applied more generally to the chamber departments in 2014.
Software and hardware services
The department continued to drive and develop innovative projects for ICT solutions.
Projects to replace many of the ICT support systems for the Chamber, committees and members’ services continued throughout the year. These systems included:
- the Table Offices Production System (see Chamber and Federation Chamber section)
- the Parliamentary Procedural Records System (see Chamber and Federation Chamber section)
- the Shared Committee Information Database (SCID—formerly the Senate Committee Information Database)
- the Serjeant-at-Arms’ Office booking system—the venue management system—for school visits, chamber gallery reservations and committee room bookings.
Work continued on a new committee report template that will make it easier to publish committee reports in PDF, HTML and ePub format.
The rollout of e-Trim has been implemented across the department, and more than 95 per cent of departmental staff now use the system to file and manage their records electronically. Since the implementation of e-Trim in 2012, the number of records and files created in the system has increased by one-third. All new staff receive e-Trim training as part of their induction. In addition, ongoing tailored one-on-one e-Trim support is provided to existing staff.
Internet and intranet services
The rollout of the redeveloped SCID took place in early April 2014. This project was undertaken by the department and the Department of the Senate and involved the development of a bespoke management system for committee inquiry content. SCID doubles as a web publishing tool that is used to create and manage inquiry web pages. Training in the use of SCID commenced in March 2014 and will continue during the deployment phase.
The upgraded version of CommDocs, a secure intranet portal for committees, was deployed at the beginning of the Forty-fourth Parliament. The new version includes several enhancements, most notably the ability for committee secretariats to manage their own site permissions and a simplified method of site creation.
The department commenced a project to develop and distribute digital publications via the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite. Digital publications have been created and distributed for the New Members Seminar and several outgoing delegations. A publicly available interactive seating plan has been released, and several more digital publications are in development.
The department continued to use the Ooyala video streaming platform to provide a video-streaming service on the Parliament of Australia website, and expanded its use to include our social media channels. Ooyala uses adaptive bitrate streaming technology and can be accessed by desktop, iOS and Android devices. Closed captioning for pre-recorded videos is provided on this service.
Printing
The department’s in-house printing service produced around 1.3 million impressions in 2013–14 (a decrease from around 2.7 million in 2012–13). The decreased volume was a direct result of the election period in the first half of the financial year, when no chamber documents were required and committee report printing ceased.
In response to the changing economic environment, we are now producing more committee reports internally and reducing the number of reports printed while increasing our online presence.
Parliamentary assistants program
The parliamentary assistants program, managed by the Serjeant-at-Arms’ Office, entered its fourteenth year. Parliamentary assistants are university students who perform the duties of messengerial attendants for an average of 10 hours per week; rosters are planned around student commitments and the requirements of the House of Representatives.
There were six students in the program this year: three were existing assistants, and three were new appointments. The applicants came from metropolitan and country New South Wales, Canberra and Victoria, and all were studying at universities in Canberra. Former parliamentary assistants were also engaged in the Serjeant-at-Arms’ Office to work at the front counter and in other areas of members’ services.