Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, there are four parliamentary departments that provide advice and support to both Houses of the

Australian Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...

, their members, committees as well as services to Parliament House, including visitors. The parliamentary departments operate under the ''Parliamentary Service Act 1999'' and report only to one or both of the presiding officers of the Australian Parliament — the

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...

and the Speaker of the House of Representatives — who in turn are responsible for the departments to their respective house of parliament. Employees of these departments constitute the Australian Parliamentary Service, which is not part of the

Australian Public Service The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the G ...

. The parliamentary departments are independent of the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

, though the

Merit Protection Commissioner The Australian Merit Protection Commissioner is an independent statutory office holder providing employment services to the Australian Public Service and the Parliamentary Service. The current Commissioner is Linda Waugh. The Commissioner is assis ...

provides employment services to both services on an equivalent basis.

Australian parliamentary departments

The parliamentary departments are:

Department of Parliamentary Services

The Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) provides advice and various facilities and services for the Australian Parliament and members of parliament, including: * library and research. * information and communication technology. * security. * building, ground and design integrity. * audio visual and ''

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official print ...

''. * art services. * visitor services. * retail, health, banking, and childcare, and * corporate, administrative and strategic services for DPS. The head of the DPS is called Secretary, currently Rob Stefanic, who reports to both the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Department of the Senate

The Department of the Senate helps run the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

. The Clerk of the Senate, who since 9 March 2017 has been Richard Pye, is responsible for managing the department to the

who in turn is responsible for the department to the Senate.

Department of the House of Representatives

The Department of the House of Representatives provides advice and support to the various parts of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

. The

Clerk of the House of Representatives The Clerk of the United States House of Representatives is an officer of the United States House of Representatives, whose primary duty is to act as the chief record-keeper for the House. Along with the other House officers, the Clerk is elec ...

is responsible for managing the department to the Speaker of the House of Representatives who in turn is responsible for the department to the House. As at 30 June 2014, the department had a staff of 176.Department of the House of Representatives, 2017-18 Annual Report, Management of people
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Parliamentary Budget Office

The

Parliamentary Budget Office The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) is an agency of the Australian Parliament whose purpose is to "inform the parliament by providing independent and non-partisan analysis of the budget cycle, fiscal policy and the financial implications of p ...

(PBO) was formed to "inform the parliament by providing independent and non-partisan analysis of the budget cycle,

fiscal policy In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government revenue collection (taxes or tax cuts) and expenditure to influence a country's economy. The use of government revenue expenditures to influence macroeconomic variables ...

and the financial implications of proposals".

References