The Governance and Administration Committee has reported on the Parliamentary Agencies Delegations Legislation Bill and recommends that it proceed without amendment.
The Committee considered three submissions and heard oral evidence from one submitter.
The bill is an omnibus bill that seeks to amend the Parliamentary Service Act 2000 and the Clerk of the House of Representatives Act 1988 to enable Parliamentary Service and the Office of the Clerk to implement closer working arrangements. The Parliamentary agencies wish to share a number of services and to enable this the two Acts need to be amended to empower delegation between the agencies staff.
The Committee supports the sharing of certain corporate services between parliamentary agencies to enable cost efficiencies, and also supports the view of the Clerk of the House that the bill would not be a step in merging the agencies. The Committee believes they need to remain two distinct entities.