Office and budget management

The Office Manager role will vary from office to office, depending on the requirements of the employing parliamentarian. Despite the variance, there are several key responsibilities that fall under the domain of the Office Manager. These include:

• Managing budgets
• Managing office records
• Managing work expenses
• Booking travel
• Preparing reports
• Overseeing office maintenance and managing supplies
• Assisting with staff recruitment and termination
• Managing staff performance and career planning
• Managing WHS roles

The section below has been designed to assist Office Managers undertake some of the main functions of their role, and to provide an overview of the key contacts available to provide additional support.

Key contacts

Managing budgets

As an Office Manager, you will typically manage the Electorate Support Budget (ESB) and the office expenses budget.

The ESB is an annual financial year budget allocated to each parliamentarian to fund the employment of electorate employees (generally on a short-term, relief basis), and travel for official business by electorate employees and nominated personal employees.

Click here for further information on the ESB.

Parliamentarians are also provided with an annual budget for office expenses under s67 of the Parliamentary Business Resources Regulations 2017 (the Regulations). Details on the types of office expenses that can be claimed are available here.

Click here for further information on the office expenses budget including the conditions for claiming, requirements for printing and communication related expenses, and more!

Reporting

Budget reports

Budget reports are available for the office to track budget expenditure and usage.

If you are authorised to access the ‘Reporting – Office Information’ tile within PEMS, the following budget reports are available:

• office expenses budget
• family reunion travel
• electorate support budget
• travel allowance for party political duties other than in Canberra, and electorate duties outside your electorate
• travel on unscheduled commercial services within your electorate
• privately leased office costs (satellite office expenses budget).

These reports will provide details of expenditure claimed. It is important for you to maintain a running record of all committed expenditure to track against budgets more accurately.

Expenditure reports  

Expenditure reports are prepared quarterly and include payments made, invoices raised and repayments received within the reporting period. Expenses appear in an expenditure report based on when the expense was paid, noting this differs from your budget report which is based on when an expense was incurred.

Parliamentarians are asked to certify that the expenses listed in their expenditure report were used for the dominant purpose of conducting parliamentary business.

Expenditure reports and certifications are published on the IPEA website and the data from the reports is published on data.gov.au. Reports only include aggregate travel expenses for staff. Further information can be found on the IPEA website, or you can contact IPEA directly: 02 6215 3000.

Managing expenses

Office Managers may be asked to manage a variety of ad-hoc expenses on behalf of the parliamentarian. These expenses could relate to private plated vehicles, Canberra-based vehicles, vehicle administration, legal assistance expenses and injury compensation claims. 

Click here for further information on any of the above, in addition to other expenses and related resources.

Managing office records

Good record keeping not only helps make life in a busy office easier but assists in meeting obligations under the PBR Act and other legislation (e.g. Fairwork Act). Where possible, records should be kept electronically on your designated server as this is secure and backed up, or within relevant system (e.g. PEMS) where they exist. All physical records should be digitised where possible.

The way in which you choose to keep records should be clearly communicated, logical and consistent to make it easily accessible and organised. A set of simple guidelines for record keeping in your office can help ensure this. Guidelines may include: 

How the architecture of files/folders is organised in your office

A clear and actionable records management strategy should be at the heart of your organisation’s records and information architecture, processes, and procedures. Guidelines should detail how the architecture of files/folders is organised in your office.

The requirement to digitise physical records where possible

While digitisation of physical records can be seen as a time consuming and costly endeavour, the result will far outweigh the interim costs and effort. Note, Adobe Professional software provides the ability to complete and sign forms electronically.

Naming conventions

The name given to a file or document should follow a standard sequence e.g. 'Monthly Office Report February 2024'.

If a system does not already exist, spreadsheets (typically excel) provide a platform to track information, e.g. parcels/mail in and out, constituent interactions, office assets, staffing details, payment of invoices.

All records (digital and physical) are vulnerable to data breaches. Whilst statutory regulations dictate that some records need to be kept indefinitely, most records should be destroyed after a prescribed period. It is good practice to schedule a regular audit of files and folders.

Privacy and sensitivity of information should be considered in all recording keeping procedures and guidelines.

Booking travel

Travel for parliamentarians and MOP(S) Act employees is administered by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA). Further information can be found on the IPEA website, or you can contact IPEA directly on 02 6215 3000.

Overseeing office maintenance and managing supplies

Some office maintenance issues are a landlord responsibility, while others are managed by Ventia (the contracted property provider). MaPS state and territory offices work closely with both parties to ensure offices are properly maintained.

Click here for further information on office maintenance including instructions on how to log issues.

The supply, maintenance and replacement of office furniture and major office equipment is arranged by the MaPS state and territory offices. State and Territory offices also coordinate the information and communication technology (ICT) equipment provided by the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS).

Click here for further information on furniture, equipment and office ICT.

Assisting with staff recruitment

As an Office Manager, you may be responsible for assisting your parliamentarian with staff recruitment.

To assist with the recruitment process, position description and job advertising templates are available under ‘Related Resources’ on the Recruiting staff page on the MaPS website. The PWSS can assist with the placement of job advertisements for ongoing positions on online advertising platforms.

Click here for further information on recruitment.

Managing staff performance and career planning

Inducting new employees, providing clarity around roles in the workplace and routinely holding performance discussions (including conversations around career planning), are all ways in which employers and managers can support employees to perform at their best. 

Click here for further information on managing staff performance, including guidance on how to create a position description and establish a performance agreement. 

Probationary periods provide the opportunity to review and assess the performance of new employees within the first several months of their employment. It is strongly recommended that all new ongoing and non-ongoing employees are placed on probation at the beginning of their employment. 

Click here for further information on probation and probation periods. 

Managing WHS roles

There are four Work Health and Safety (WHS) roles within each parliamentarian’s Commonwealth-funded office (electorate office). These are:

• WHS Site Officer
• First Aid Officer
• Emergency Officer
• Deputy Emergency Officer

Under the WHS Act 2011, it is a requirement for each role to be filled, with penalties incurred by parliamentarians for non-compliance.

A Corporate Responsibility Allowance (CRA) is paid to each employee who is nominated for a WHS role, aside from that of Deputy Emergency Officer. An employee can be nominated for multiple roles. Details on how to nominate WHS roles in your office are available here.

Click here for further information on workplace health and safety, including instructions on incident and hazard reporting.