Senators continued to use the questions on notice process – written questions to ministers on the administration of public policy – as an important accountability mechanism. Throughout the year, 366 questions were asked on notice. These were processed and published to a searchable online database.

In 2017–18, the office processed and published all notices of motions received – 630 for this reporting period compared to 586 in the previous period. These notices of motion signal senators’ intentions to move particular motions on specified days. The office also processed 15 petitions (with 112,233 signatories) which senators had lodged for presentation to the Senate (compared to 13 petitions with 24,071 signatures in 2016–17).