Clerk of the Australian Senate

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The Clerk of the Australian Senate is the head of the Department of the Senate which is the parliamentary department supporting the work of the Australian Senate. The parliamentary head of the department is the President of the Senate.

The Department of the Senate provides the Senate, its committees, the President of the Senate and senators with a broad range of advisory and support services related to the exercise of the legislative power of the Commonwealth.

The Clerk's Office is directly responsible for:

provision of high quality procedural and constitutional advice to senators in respect of the operations of the Senate and its committees
provision of secretariat, advisory and administrative support to the Procedure Committee and the Committee of Privileges
production, amendment and updating of Odgers' Australian Senate Practice
production and dissemination of material relating to the work of the Senate and its committees to the widest possible audience
corporate leadership of the Department of the Senate
secretariat services for the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

In addition, the office exercises overall responsibility for, and quality control of, all procedural and administrative activities of the department.

[edit] Clerks of the Senate

Blackmore, Edwin Gordon, CMG	1 April 1901 – 30 June 1908
Boydell, Charles Broughton	1 July 1908 – 31 December 1916
Duffy, Charles Gavan, CMG, LLB	1 February 1917 – 27 August 1920
Monahan, George Henry, CMG	28 August 1920 – 31 December 1938
Broinowski, Robert Arthur	1 January 1939 – 30 November 1942
Edwards, John Ernest	1 December 1942 – 20 July 1955
Loof, Rupert Harry Colin, CBE, BComm	21 July 1955 – 14 August 1965
Odgers, James Rowland, CBE	16 August 1965 – 8 August 1979
Bullock, Roy Edwards, OBE	9 August 1979 – 15 July 1981
Bradshaw, Keith Oscar	29 October 1980 – 15 July 1982
Cumming Thom, Alan Ritchie, BA, LLB	16 July 1982 – 15 February 1988
Evans, Harry, BA, DipLib	17 February 1988 – present