4.30 AM
My alarm goes off. I’m someone who loves to start the day bright and early with a gym session. Not to mention a few other graduates and myself are undertaking Tough Mudder to push ourselves and enhance our teamwork! I find the gym clears the mind and blows away the cobwebs for a long day ahead. I put on the toast and take the pre-workout to get in the zone and head off to the gym.
7.00 AM
I’ve made it back from the gym and quickly shower and get dressed for work. I get going to catch my bus. Fortunately for me, my bus stop is a mere 5 minute walk from my apartment. I put in the earphones and get going. Once I’ve arrived in the city, I make my way with mates to Dobinson’s, easily the best bakery/café in Canberra, and get the Big Breakfast – it’s going to be a big day!
8.15 AM
I’ve arrived at the office and I log in, check my emails and prepare for the day ahead. It’s Senate Estimates today. It’s essentially the ‘Super bowl’ for my section, Ministerial and Parliamentary Support. This means the Department’s Executive are going to be answering Senator’s questions from the Foreign Affairs, Defence & Trade Committee, and I’ve got to do my best to make sure the Department is prepared!
9.00 AM
It’s confirmed that the Department won’t front the FADT Committee until 1900hrs so it looks like a normal day up until then! I, along with the Senior Parliamentary Officer, coordinate time-sensitive updates to Question Time Briefs and provide them to the Minister’s Office.
10.00 AM
I bring up the main news media outlets on one monitor and start sifting for news stories that may impact the Department or its interests. On the other monitor, I bring up the Hansards from the previous day and look for any key developments from the previous day I may have missed. One of my roles is ‘Today in the House’, essentially a daily bulletin for Senior Executive Service (SES) staff on what’s happening up at Australian Parliament House and of significant news stories. As a news junkie, I get a lot of satisfaction out of helping the SES stay abreast of what’s occurring each day!
11.30 AM
With lunch just around the corner and with such a busy day ahead, I squeeze in some time drafting several key project documents for the Cabinet Improvement Program. I’m assisting my team in rolling out a new whole-of-government approach to handling Cabinet documents.
12.00 PM
Its lunch time and I’m keen to get some fellow graduates together to check out a new barbecue/lunch joint that’s opened up down the road. We walk on over amidst some light banter and get stuck into Brisket and Mac n Cheese.
1.00 PM
With lunch over I get back onto the Cabinet Improvement Program work. I’m drafting all-staff emails from the Assistant Secretary (AS), Parliamentary & Executive – so I’m getting some practise at distilling complex ideas at a high level!
2.00 PM
It’s Question Time up at the House of Representatives and I settle in with my notepad and desktop ready to take notes on what’s taking place, issues of significance, and keeping a keen ear out for references to the work of the Department or from the Ministers themselves. I take this information and generate my Today at the House report, and send that through my Director off to the AS.
3.30 PM
My team and I duck into the AS’ office to have a pep-talk before Senate Estimates. We confirm that we’ve got a full inventory (including the oh-so-precious snacks) and discuss what we anticipate to be the items of interest that evening. We all grab our gear and jump in the AS’ car and head to The Hill.
5.00 PM
We’ve arrived at Australian Parliament House and are making our way to set up. We find the room and I find myself surrounded by significant brass from the Department of Defence, as they’ve just wrapped up their appearance before the Committee. We drop off our gear, set ourselves up, and head on down to the Australian Parliament House cafeteria (yum) for dinner. I see a few faces from Question Time whilst I eat and make conversation with my Director about what to expect.
7.00 PM
Senate Estimates kick off and we’ve just heard from the Australian War Memorial talk about its planned expansion – super interesting! I watch as our Executive staff approach the bench and settle in for the moment we’ve spent the last two months planning for. As Questions on Notice are taken, I jot them down. My role once this is all done will be coordinating the Department’s response to the Questions on Notice, so I don’t want to miss a beat.
9.00 PM
With Senate Estimates wrapped up, I help my team pack down. It was a very eventful Senate Estimates, and as usual, we got some curveball questions thrown at us. We start to digest and analyse how we will orchestrate the response to what will turn out to be 85 Questions on Notice on our way down to the taxi rank.
10.00 PM
I practically fall into a cab and let the driver get me back home with my eyes barely open – it’s been a long day for me, but I’m grateful I got to experience what I did. I slip into bed and start thinking about what tomorrow will bring.
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