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Appendix A

August 2003 resolution to establish the Department of Parliamentary Services

In August 2003, following a report to the Senate by the Senate Appropriations and Staffing Committee, the Presiding Officers introduced identical resolutions into their Houses for abolition of the Department of the Parliamentary Library, the Department of the Parliamentary Reporting Staff and the Joint House Department. and the establishment of the Department of Parliamentary Services. After the resolution passed the House, the Senate passed the following resolution on 18 August 2003:

1. That, in accordance with section 54 of the Parliamentary Service Act 1999. the Senate resolves that:
1. the Joint House Department, Department of the Parliamentary Reporting Staff and Department of the Parliamentary Library are abolished with effect from 31 January 2004; and
2. a new joint service department, to be called the 'Department of Parliamentary Services' be established from 1 February 2004 to fulfil all the functions of the former joint departments;

and supports the Presiding Officers in the following endeavours:

3. to reinforce the independence of the Parliamentary Library by strengthening the current role of the Library committees of both Houses of Parliament:
4. to bring forward amendments to the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 to provide for a statutory office of Parliamentary Librarian within the new joint service department and conferring on the Parliamentary Librarian direct reporting responsibilities to the Presiding Officers and the Library committees of both Houses of Parliament;
5. to ensure that the resources and services to be provided to the Parliamentary Library in the new joint service department are specified in an annual agreement between the Departmental Secretary and the Parliamentary Librarian, approved by the Presiding Officers following consideration by the Library committees of both Houses of Parliament; and
6. to consider, after the establishment of the joint service department, that department providing human resources and financial transaction-processing activities for all the Parliamentary departments, subject to such an arrangement being proven to be both cost-effective and efficient.
2. That any savings achieved by the amalgamation may be used to offset increases in costs of security measures approved by the Presiding Officers for Parliament House. but if those increases in costs exceed those savings, the appropriations for the Parliamentary departments are to be supplemented for the excess.
3. That any redundancies arising from the amalgamation must be of a voluntary nature and that no staff will be forced to take involuntary redundancies as a result of the amalgamation.

Paragraph (2) was added by amendment in both Houses. Paragraph (3) was added by amendment in the Senate.

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