ICT equipment and telecommunications
Office ICT, telecommunications resources, and associated support and training are provided to you for the conduct of your parliamentary business. These resources are subject to your PBR obligations and must not be used for commercial purposes.
The Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) provides and manages the majority of ICT equipment and services provided to parliamentarians. DPS should be contacted in the first instance in relation to the provision and maintenance of ICT equipment via the DPS 2020 Service Desk. ICT provided by DPS is not subject to your annual budget for office expenses, other than additional ICT items as outlined below. Information on ICT equipment, support and services provided by DPS can be viewed below.
Your MaPS state or territory office provides fixed-line telephone systems and services in offices, and ergonomic ICT equipment.
Portfolio departments may provide Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries with additional ICT resources. These are provided outside the Parliamentary Business Resources Act 2017 (PBR Act) framework.
You may claim certain ICT and telecommunications resources as office expenses, subject to the limit of your annual budget for office expenses (office budget). In addition to the obligations that apply to all work expenses, s66 of the Parliamentary Business Resources Regulations 2017 prohibits office expenses being used to solicit a vote for a person or party other than yourself, or to solicit support or party memberships; and must not include an advertisement pursuing a commercial purpose. Please first contact DPS to ensure compatibility and seek their advice on alternative options prior to making a request.
Additional ICT items, accessories, software and services
Where your ICT requirements go beyond the items generally provided to you by DPS, additional ICT equipment and services may be sourced and provided by DPS as an office expense. DPS has a ParlICT catalogue that provides a range of ICT equipment, such as high specification ICT and laptops, that can be supported by the Australian Parliament House Network and serviced by DPS. The cost of these additional resources will be debited against your office budget. Additional ICT equipment and services not procured through DPS are not claimable as an office expense and will not be supported by DPS or APH Network.
You may also purchase ICT accessories (such as storage devices, portable power banks and camera lenses for mobile devices), software (including associated servicing, training and backup services) and cloud-based services (including storage and software) as an office expense. There is no requirement that these resources be sourced through DPS. It is recommended that you discuss proposed ICT purchases with:
- IPEA as some items which are available through COS may not be eligible for purchase as an office expense
- DPS to ensure the additional resources are compatible with the APH Network and resources they provide.
You may also purchase the following additional telecommunications resources as office expenses:
- virtual town hall meetings including commercial services that allow you to engage with your constituents via telephone in a town hall style discussion
- interactive voice response (IVR) phone surveys including inbound or outbound communication to fixed or mobile devices
- short messaging service (SMS) broadcasting and survey services including bulk SMS communication to individuals
- online survey tools (e.g. to gauge the views and opinions of constituents).
Claims for additional ICT office expenses should be sent through PEMS or by completing the Certification and request for payment - office expenses form. Claims must include:
- a tax invoice
- evidence of payment when claiming reimbursement
- in respect of software, details in writing of any servicing, backup and training which are included in the package.
Costs can only be claimed for the period you are a parliamentarian and will be reported expenditure reports.
Claims relating to constituent relationship management software will only be paid via reimbursement. If you are a member of the Government or of the Opposition, you may only claim constituent relationship management software provided by the service provider/s nominated by your party and approved by the Minister.
ICT and support provided by DPS
DPS provides hardware to connect each electorate, ministerial and office holder office and Commonwealth Parliament Offices to Parliament House through the Australian Parliament House (APH) Network (commonly referred to as the Extended Parliamentary Network).
Once you and your staff have completed a Parliamentary Computing Network (PCN) agreement (available from DPS), you will be given access to the ParlICT website to view the equipment and services available to you, including:
- desktop computers and peripherals, including high specification desktop computers
- portable computers (including laptops and tablets) and peripherals, including high specification laptop computers
- smartphones, mobile phones and mobile phone plans
- mobile broadband devices and plans
- printers (including label and copy printers), scanners and multi-function devices
- digital remote access tokens
- ICT training, including face-to-face and eLearning
- some video-conferencing equipment.
DPS and the PCN may not support devices that are not issued to you by DPS, particularly devices outside the ParlICT catalogue. The ParlICT catalogue is available from DPS.
DPS’ 2020 Service Desk provides advice and support on the APH Network, ICT equipment and services. For any requests of additional ICT equipment outside the ParlICT catalogue to be provided under the PBR Framework, please first contact DPS to ensure compatibility and seek their advice on alternative options prior to making a request.
Privately-owned ICT equipment
If you intend to use privately purchased ICT equipment or software at your office including items purchased using your electorate allowance, contact DPS to ensure compatibility and seek their approval prior to use.
