Office of the Clerk

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Date:
10 March 2010
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Role of the Office of the Clerk

The Office of the Clerk is the legislature’s secretariat. It provides specialist advice on parliamentary procedure and parliamentary law, and administrative services to the Speaker and members of the House of Representatives in the performance of their duties as members of the House. The Office of the Clerk exists to achieve the following:

‘The outcome of the Office of the Clerk is a functioning legislature in which members of Parliament are able to discharge their constitutional duties in respect of the consideration of legislation and other parliamentary business.

The Office achieves this outcome by delivering services in two output classes:

  • Secretariat services to the House of Representatives.
  • Secretariat services to promote inter-parliamentary relations.

Secretariat Services to the House of Representatives

  • Services to the House and committees of the whole House
  • Services to select committees
  • Reporting services
  • Specialist procedural and legal services

Secretariat services to promote inter-parliamentary relations

The scope of the Office of the Clerk’s activities includes supporting the fulfilment of New Zealand’s obligations as a member of the international parliamentary community, and the exchange of parliamentary information with overseas parliaments and members.

The Office provides advice on inter-parliamentary relations to the Speaker and members, establishes an annual programme of incoming and outgoing visits, develops and implements individual visit programmes, assists in building the capacity of the Pacific Island parliaments, supports the New Zealand Parliament’s contribution on global issues at international parliamentary organisations, and supports the hosting of international parliamentary conferences.