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Introduction
The Parliamentary Service was established with the commencement of the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 on 5 December 1999.
The President of the Senate. Senator the Honourable Paul Calvert, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. the Honourable David Hawker MP, are the Presiding Officers of the Parliament.
In addition to their procedural roles in the Chambers. the Presiding Officers are responsible for the administration of the three parliamentary departments which comprise the Parliamentary Service. They have individual responsibility, respectively, for the Department of the Senate and the Department of the House of Representatives and joint responsibility for the Department of Parliamentary Services.
The role of the Presiding Officers in relation to the parliamentary departments is somewhat similar to the role of a Minister in relation to a department of state.
Ms Lynelle Briggs is the Australian Parliamentary Service Commissioner. She was appointed by the Presiding Officers from 8 December 2004 to 5 November 2007. Ms Briggs also holds the office of Australian Public Service Commissioner until 5 November 2007. She replaces Mr Andrew Podger AO who held both offices from 18 January 2002.
The Deputy Public Service Commissioner, Ms Lynne Tacy, has a standing appointment to act as Australian Parliamentary Service Commissioner during periods when the Commissioner is absent or unavailable.
Mr Jeff Lamond is the Parliamentary Service Merit Protection Commissioner. He holds the office of Public Service Merit Protection Commissioner concurrently.
There are no appropriations for the offices of Australian Parliamentary Service Commissioner or Parliamentary Service Merit Protection Commissioner and, therefore, no staff are funded specifically for those offices.
