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Structure of the Legislative Assembly
The Structure of the Parliament
The Parliament of NSW is comprised of the two Houses - the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. The principal functions of Parliament are:
- provision of responsible Government in the tradition of the Westminster system
- representation of the people
- passage of legislation
- approval of finance for government operations
- monitoring and scrutiny of government administration and expenditure.
The building known as Parliament House houses the Assembly and Council Chambers, offices for Members and their staff and accommodation for the Parliamentary staff who provide services provided Members and others. In addition to space set aside for the provision of joint services such as the library and dining rooms, there are storage areas, a central plant room and car parking.
The two House Departments provide procedural and administrative services, including financial and human resource management to their own Members and staff. The joint services provided by Parliamentary staff to Members of both Houses are:
- library services
- reporting services (Hansard)
- building management services
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- catering
- information technology
- printing
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- security
- education services
- archives
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In terms of the service provided, the principal clients of Parliament House are the Members, who are elected to represent the people of NSW. The Members have elected Presiding Officers and office holders who are recipients of more specialised services.
In the running of Parliament as an administrative entity, the two Presiding Officers have a role that is similar to Ministers and their departments. The Speaker and the President are the single employing authority of the staff in their respective Departments and the joint employing authority for the joint services staff. In consultation with their Clerks (the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly and the Clerk of the Legislative Council) the Presiding Officers determine policy for the operation of their House Department and jointly for the whole of the Parliament.
The Department of the Legislative Assembly
The Department of the Legislative Assembly, as its mission, aims to provide excellent service to ensure optimum support for the functioning of Parliament.
The Department is comprised of seven functional areas 
the Office of the Clerk, the Procedure Office, the Committees Office, Members' Services, Employee Services, Chamber and Support Services and Parliamentary Accounts.
The file below is a diagram showing the administrative structure of the Legislative Assembly. It is in PDF format, so Adobe Acrobat reader will be required to view the diagram. If you do not have this facility it is available for downloading on this website.
Office of the Clerk
The Office of the Clerk provides executive assistance and advice to the Speaker in both the Speaker's roles as the Presiding Officer in the Chamber and Chair of the Standing Orders and Procedure Committee and as the ministerial head of the Department and joint head of the Parliament (with the President of the Legislative Council).
The Office of the Clerk comprises the Clerk and Deputy Clerk who sit at the Table of the House and provide procedural advice to all Members, the Parliamentary Officer - Research and Projects and the Parliamentary Officer - Projects.
The Clerk (as the joint chief executive officer for the Parliament) and the Deputy Clerk are also involved in the management of the Parliament as a whole.
The Procedure Office
The Procedure Office is managed by the Clerk-Assistant (Procedure) who is also a Chamber Officer.
The Procedure Office is responsible for setting up the Chamber with the bills to be dealt with and other procedural information, provides information and support to Members on procedural matters, prepares the daily papers (the Program, the Votes and Proceedings, the Business Paper and the Questions and Answers Paper), administers the rooms booking system, provides additional support for committees and is the central contact for general enquiries from the public about business before the House and Members.
Ms Ronda Miller
Clerk-Assistant (Procedure)
and Serjeant-at-Arms
phone: (02) 9230 2225
fax: (02) 9230 2828
ronda.miller@parliament.nsw.gov.au | General enquiries
phone: (02) 9230 2616
fax: (02) 9230 2828
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The Committees Office
The Clerk-Assistant (Committees) is a Chamber Officer and manages the Committee Office.
This Office co-ordinates and oversees the operation of parliamentary committees, including staffing, resources, arrangements for hearings, witnesses and the publication of reports. The Office also provides budget forecasts for annual operations and once-off events, specialised procedural, administrative and policy advice concerning the operation of committees, publishes information on committee operations and responds to enquiries from the public and government agencies in relation to committees.
Employee Services
Employee Services is responsible for policy development and implementation, corporate and strategic planning, personnel and human resources, records management, industrial relations and the oversight of training and development.
Members' Services
Members Services is managed by the Deputy Clerk and provides advice and administrative services in relation to Members' entitlements, electorate office fit-outs, furniture, equipment, security and leases.
Chamber and Support Services
The Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms manages Chamber and Support Services.
Chamber and Support Services is responsible for the security of Legislative Assembly areas; emergency procedures; delivery of tours of the Chamber areas for schools and other groups (in conjunction with Parliamentary Education); the management of committee rooms; implementing policy on televising and broadcasting of Assembly proceedings; requests to film and photograph in the building; Members' photographs and bookings for the Parliamentary Theatrette.
Mr Greg Kelly
Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms
phone: (02) 9230 2277
fax: (02) 9230 3460
greg.kelly@parliament.nsw.gov.au | School and tour bookings:
phone: (02) 9230 2637
fax: (02) 9230 3460 |
Parliamentary Accounts
Parliamentary Accounts provides payroll advice services to Members and to all the staff of the Parliament, provides a full accounting function for the Parliament, undertakes long term budget planning and forecasting, prepares submissions for budget funding including capital funding bids to Treasury, provides statutory reporting information as required by Treasury and the Auditor-General’s Office.
The Office, through monthly reports, also monitors expenditure and provides a range of financial advice to Departmental and Office managers.
Last modified 26/02/2008 16:39:20 : Update this page