CDI Professional Development Course for PNG Parliamentary Staff & Provincial Clerks

At the request of the Clerk of Parliament, Mr Don Pandan, CDI assisted the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea with a training course for officers of the Parliamentary Service. The workshop was held from 19 to 21 May at Parliament House in Port Moresby. Around 50 staff from the Parliamentary Service and twelve Provincial Assembly Clerks and staff (from East Sepik, Simbu, East New Britain, West New Britain, New Ireland, Manus, Madang, Morobe and Sandaun Provinces) participated in the three day course. Staff from all Divisions of the National Parliamentary Service participated including Human Resources, Security and the Tenders Board.

CDI Deputy Director, Mr Quinton Clements, convened the course together with

- Ms Helen Minnican, Committee Manager, Legislative Assembly, Parliament of New South Wales;

- Ms Beverly Duffy, Committee Manager, Legislative Council, Parliament of New South Wales;

- Mr Derk Swieringa, Australian Business Volunteers.

The purpose of the course was to enable PNG parliamentary officials from the different Divisions of the Parliamentary Service and the Provincial Assemblies to learn about different aspects of parliamentary work, further develop their professional skills and thereby raise the standards of service they provide to Members of the National Parliament and the Provincial Assemblies.

The course focused on developing staff capacity in the following core areas of parliamentary work:

- Understanding the Westminster Parliamentary Model;	- Planning and budgeting
- Parliamentary Privilege and contempt;	- Writing; and
- Research and analysis;	- Committee work.

The first day of the course was devoted to assessing participants' knowledge and understanding of the core functions of Parliament, the different roles MPs play, and the various ways parliamentary staff support MPs. Participants also completed a survey on their writing skills. This was followed by presentations and discussion on the basic principles of the Westminster model of parliamentary democracy and the concept of parliamentary privilege. Case studies from PNG were used to illustrate how privilege works in practice. The afternoon sessions involved an exercise on the skills needed to provide sound administrative and procedural support to MPs, a presentation on negotiation skills, and an introduction to researching and analysing procedural issues.

Professional Development Course for PNG Parliamentary Staff & Provincial Clerks:
	Full Report
	Workshop Program
	List of Participants
	PNG Press Coverage
	Photo Galleries
	Ongoing CDI assistance to the PNG Parliament 2007-08
	CDI assists PNG National Parliament with MP Induction Program | August 2007

The first part of Day Two focused on planning, preparing a budget and monitoring expenditure. These were practical sessions led by Mr Swieringa which involved participants planning and preparing budgets for several hypothetical committee inquiries. In the afternoon sessions, Ms Duffy focused on good writing skills. She began by looking at the elements of plain language writing and then examining various parliamentary documents. Participants completed a number of practical exercises including 'How to write a case study'. Participants were then given an assignment on report writing to complete overnight.

The third and final day of the course was devoted to the second part of the writing skills sessions. In this session Ms Duffy took participants through the process of committee report writing. The completed assignments were marked by the other presenters and then feedback was given to all participants. The final sessions were focused on preparing for and running a public hearing. Ms Minnican and Ms Duffy gave presentations on 'things to consider' and witness protection. Mr Lawrence Daveona, Director of the Committees Secretariat, then led the participants through the planning and preparing for a mock public hearing. The topic chosen was a hypothetical inquiry by the Parliamentary Committee on Education into the use of mobile phones in educational institutions. Participants were divided into three groups - Committee Members, witnesses, and Secretariat. Each group prepared for its part in the role play exercise. What followed was a very successful role play in which a number of useful administrative and procedural issues arose to challenge the participants.

Overall, participants were involved in a very practically oriented and highly interactive program that challenged them and stimulated their interest in improving their professional skills. The evaluation feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and strongly suggests that this type of course that addresses specific skills development is greatly needed in PNG at both the national and provincial levels. There were numerous requests to repeat the course later this year. The Provincial Assembly Clerks also requested that a similar but more intensive course be developed for provincial assembly staff in 2008-09.

This course is part of an ongoing series of CDI activities for Members and parliamentary staff of the 8th National Parliament that began with the induction program in August 2007.