CEO Senate Estimates opening statement 2023

Thank you very much, Chair and Committee Members.

An opening statement for the first Estimates of the calendar year has become a tradition. I thank you, once again, for the opportunity to provide my reflections on the year gone and my thoughts on the year ahead.

2022, opportunities to regulate through education

IPEA commenced the year with the knowledge that there would be an election. We prepared by implementing the lessons from our first election in 2019. These included early engagement with political parties to reinforce the role of IPEA and the application of the principles defined under the Parliamentary Business Resources Act 2017, or the PBR Act that regulates the use of parliamentary expenses.

Post the election, as polls were declared, IPEA made early and personal contact with the 35 newly elected parliamentarians and their staff. We provided opportunities for refresher information for returning parliamentarians and reached out to non-returning parliamentarians to discuss their post- election arrangements. From feedback, this prompt and targeted engagement was well received. We will continue to build upon and refine our approach.

Education first has always been an important aspect to IPEA’s approach. With the large number of newly elected parliamentarians, IPEA is working hard to build understanding of the principles-based framework with offices and the necessary trust with IPEA to raise queries early and often. The response to our interactive education sessions is always very positive. In 2022, 96 per cent of education session participants that completed our survey were satisfied with their session.

A significant piece of feedback has been confusion around who does what in the parliamentary environment; particularly between IPEA and the services provided by other agencies including by Ministerial and Parliamentary Services in the Department of Finance.

In summary, IPEA is responsible for domestic and international travel:

• personal advice
• administration of expenses and allowances 
• travel provider and Cabcharge arrangements.

IPEA also has responsibility for all parliamentary work expenses under the PBR Act:

• reporting
• monitoring
• assurance and auditing.

2023, opportunities to regulate through service delivery

In addition to the election, there were many influences on the parliamentary environment in 2022. For example, there were nearly 60 recommendations for change: these are in the combined IPEA and PBR Act review report¹ and the Set the Standard report², which have been published. These recommendations signal important opportunities for parliament to take a whole-of-system consideration of the parliamentary workplace and its culture, and how to support diversity. Through applying good policy principles there is also the potential to reduce some of that client confusion I just spoke about and to enhance the effectiveness of the services provided.

IPEA welcomes the opportunities in 2023 from these recommendations to fulfil its dual roles of:

1. supporting parliamentarians when undertaking their important role representing all Australians and
2. providing Australians with transparency and assurance on the appropriateness of work expenses incurred by parliamentarians and their staff.

With regard to transparency, on 8 November 2022, the government announced that the publicly available parliamentary expenditure reports from 1 July 2022 would be postponed until the second half of 2023. This is due to delays in finalising the build of the expenditure reporting module in the Parliamentary Expenses Management System or, as we have come to know it, PEMS. IPEA continues to work with the Department of Finance, the project owner, who is working with us to define, build, test and implement this functionality. Eventually, IPEA is keen to move from quarterly to monthly reporting as the system based issues are resolved and full functionality across all of PEMS is implemented.

While published expenditure reports are not currently available, Australians can be assured that IPEA continues to undertake our many behind the scenes assurance activities. Consistent with our no-surprises approach in previous openings statements and our responsibility for assurance on all parliamentary work expenses provided under the PBR Act, in 2023 parliamentarians can expect IPEA to look more broadly at non-travel-related expenses administered by both IPEA and other agencies. This focus is in addition to IPEA administered travel related expenses, such as family related travel, business class travel and desirable destinations previously targeted for assurance activities.

IPEA continues to lead in the parliamentary regulation area, with excellent results in the APS census and independently conducted client satisfaction surveys. The most current results are available on our website. These results are a reflection of the commitment to service and the integrity of all IPEAns, including staff and the Members of the Authority.

Thank you Chair, I am available for questions.

Annwyn Godwin

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¹ The Independent Expenses Authority Act 2017 (the IPEA Act) and the Parliamentary Business Resources Act 2017 (the PBR Act) Reviews were conducted in 2021 by the Hon Kelly O’Dwyer and the Hon Kate Ellis, completed December 2021 and tabled August 2022.
² ‘Set the standard’ the Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces by the Human Rights Commission was completed in November 2021.

This statement, with minor presentation adjustments, was presented to Senate Estimates February 2023