The department’s workforce, ICT and financial planning processes are aimed at ensuring the department has the organisational capability to achieve its purpose.

Workforce plan

The development and implementation of a workforce plan will assist the department in meeting its objectives and the delivery of better support to the Speaker and Members. It will also assist in prioritising human resources activities such as recruitment and retention, training and development and succession planning.

In 2015-16 the department will develop a workforce plan, commencing with a workforce risks assessment.

ICT capability planning

The information and communications technology (ICT) functions and responsibilities of the Department of the House of Representatives and the Department of the Senate were transferred to the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) on 1 July 2013 following a review of parliamentary ICT conducted in 2012. The department’s ICT planning processes are therefore focused on identifying its operational and strategic requirements and ensuring those requirements are communicated to DPS in as timely and effective a manner as possible.

Strategic financial planning

The department’s strategic financial planning processes are focused on equipping the department to serve its clients efficiently and effectively, develop its staff and work collaboratively with its stakeholders. A key priority for the department is to keep pace with technological change, including by investing in new business systems, as a way of sustaining and enhancing the quality of its service delivery to Members and the wider community. The department’s financial planning processes also enable it to respond flexibly to the changing demands and workloads experienced during the different phases of the parliamentary cycle.

In 2014-15, all areas of the department experienced high levels of activity resulting in increased supplier and employee expenses, which is typical for the middle year of the three-year parliamentary term. 2015-16 will be the final year of the parliamentary term, however activity levels across all areas of the department are expected to remain high. The department has been granted additional funding for departmental functions in the first two financial years covered by this corporate plan but total appropriations are expected to decline in the latter two years, requiring a renewed focus on expenditure restraint and productivity improvements.