66Office expenses

66 Office expenses

(1) For the purposes of subsection 32(1) of the Act, expenses (the office expenses) for the following are prescribed for the conduct of a member’s parliamentary business: (a) printing on: (i) paper weighing no more than 700 grams per square metre; or (ii) flat magnetised material; (aa) print binding and finishing for printing covered by subparagraph (a)(i); (b) producing electronic material; (c) producing and maintaining audio posters; (d) creating matter for inclusion in printed or electronic material or an audio poster, including translation, design, artwork, photography and video and sound recordings; (e) communicating and distributing printed and electronic material and audio posters; (f) establishing and maintaining websites; (g) printing and distributing postal vote applications, including reply paid envelopes; (h) flags and documents related to nationhood, of kinds approved by the Minister, for presentation to constituents or organisations; (ha) wreaths; (i) office stationery and supplies; (j) minor office equipment, including accessories, consumables, repairs and maintenance; (k) accessories for information and communications technology (such as storage devices, portable power banks and camera lenses for mobile devices); (l) software, including associated servicing, training and backup services; (la) cloud‑based services, including storage and software; (m) purchasing publications (whether printed or electronic); (n) courier or other freight transfer costs for transferring documents and other small items between the member’s offices; (o) mobile office signage, and mobile office facilities and equipment; (p) conducting virtual town hall meetings by electronic communication; (pa) conducting interactive voice response phone surveys; (pb) short messaging service (SMS) broadcasting and survey services; (pc) information and communications technology and services provided by the Department of Parliamentary Services; (pd) with the approval of the Minister, other resources or expenses reasonably required for the conduct of the member’s parliamentary business; (q) incidental fees and charges associated with the provision of resources covered by paragraphs (a) to (pd), such as transaction, administration and delivery fees or charges.

Note 1: See also subsections (2B) and (2C).

Note 2: The restrictions in subsections (2) to (5) apply only in relation to the use of the office expenses prescribed by this subsection. This section does not operate to limit the way any other public resources may be used for conducting a member’s parliamentary business, the activities of the member or the meaning of parliamentary business in section 6 of the Act.

(2) Office expenses must not be used to pay for production or placement of content for broadcasting on television. (2A) Office expenses must not be used to pay for production or placement of content for broadcasting on radio unless: (a) the member is a member of the House of Representatives; and (b) the electorate which the member represents has a demographic rating of Provincial or Rural, as given by the Australian Electoral Commission; and (c) the office expenses are so used by the member in relation to broadcasting services (other than in the Australian Capital Territory) by the licensee of: (i) a regional commercial radio broadcasting licence; or (ii) a regional community radio broadcasting licence; or (iii) a class licence under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 for the provision of an open narrowcasting radio service (within the meaning of that Act); and (d) one of the following subparagraphs applies: (i) for a regional commercial radio broadcasting licence—the regional licence area of the regional commercial radio broadcasting licence is, in whole or in part, the same as the area of the electorate which the member represents; (ii) for a regional community radio broadcasting licence—the regional licence area of the regional community radio broadcasting licence is, in whole or in part, the same as the area of the electorate which the member represents; (iii) for a licence mentioned in subparagraph (c)(iii)—the coverage area of the open narrowcasting radio service is, in whole or in part, the same as the area of the electorate which the member represents; and (e) the total of the office expenses so used by the member during a financial year does not exceed one‑third of the maximum amount payable for office expenses for the member for the year.