Chapter 13: Agency achievements

Involved in some of the largest ever detections of illicit drugs and prohibited and restricted goods in 2004–05.

Involved in the establishment of the Joint Offshore Protection Command with the Australian Defence Force—this was significant in its strengthening of Australia’s offshore maritime security.

Established a programme of regular armed patrols to protect Australia’s sovereign interests and valuable fish resources in the Southern Ocean (the May 2004 Budget allocated funds over two years to enable this). Since July 2004, there have been five armed Customs/Fisheries patrols to the Australian Fishing Zone surrounding the remote Heard Island and McDonald Islands.

Finalised the long-term contract for the Norwegian vessel, Oceanic Viking, following an exhaustive competitive tender process. This provided the Southern Ocean Maritime Patrol and Response programme with dedicated capability.

Successfully conducted a wide range of operational tasks, including our contributions in the Middle East, the Solomon Islands, East Timor and Sumatra Assist and our contribution to the tsunami relief effort.

Progressed in a timely manner a range of acquisition programmes for major capabilities.

Successfully implemented reforms flowing from the inquiry into Australia’s intelligence agencies (the ‘Flood report’)

Effectively responded to the changing international security environment by enhancing regional counter-terrorism cooperation and improving security at overseas posts.

Significantly strengthened the passports regime by coordinating passage of new passports legislation and introducing breakthrough technological enhancements to the Australian passport.

Commenced implementation of a suite of new initiatives aimed at addressing Australia’s skills shortages and ensuring that the vocational and technical education system is more responsive to the changing needs of industry. The significant changes being implemented include:

• a new National Training Framework
• a new multilateral Commonwealth-State Agreement for Skilling Australia’s Workforce, and supporting bilateral agreements with each state and territory
• implementation of a number of key 2004 vocational and technical education election commitments
• 24 Australian Technical Colleges to promote pride and excellence in the teaching and acquisition of trade skills at the secondary level.

Developed the Government’s workplace relations reform agenda for a productive and modern workplace relations system that is flexible, simple and fair.

Implementing the Government’s reform agenda will require significant amendment to the Workplace Relations Act 1996, including a change to the constitutional underpinnings of the Act.

Formed the Australian Energy Market Commission and the Australian Energy Regulator to produce a streamlined uniform national energy market structure.

Upgraded business.gov.au—which has delivered an estimated $50 million a year in time and cost savings to business and government resulting from the development of improved online access to government information and transactions.

Successfully managed the implementation of the $747 million post-2005 assistance package for the textile, clothing and footwear industry, including tariff reduction, strategic investment and structural adjustment programmes and a product diversification scheme.

Commenced Legislative Instruments Act 2003 which will enable public access to legislative instruments, parliamentary scrutiny and a sunsetting regime to assist in keeping the statute book up to date. A small range of exemptions were put in place through regulations made during 2004–05.

Developed ComLaw (including Federal Register of Legislative Instruments)— improving electronic access to Commonwealth legislation.

The Cargo Management Re-engineering project represents one of Australia’s largest ever public sector e-business projects, placing Customs at the forefront of systems design, development and implementation of a system of this magnitude. The new integrated system will increase Customs’ ability to assess the risks of individual cargo consignments; to quickly deliver those posing no risk; and to identify and examine suspect cargo.

Customs finalised delivery of the export component of the Integrated Cargo System (ICS) project in October 2004. Customs commenced testing of the imports component of the system with industry and a major industry education and communication programme.

Continued to implement and extend the reforms announced in Our Universities: Backing Australia’s Future. The package provides an integrated policy framework based on principles of sustainability, quality, equity and diversity.

Continued role as lead agency in overseeing and coordinating the implementation of the Backing Australia’s Ability—Building our Future through Science and Innovation package. The package aims to strengthen Australia’s ability to generate ideas and undertake research, accelerate the commercialisation of ideas, and develop and retain skills.

Implemented a range of initiatives announced in the May 2004 Government package, Backing Australia’s Ability—Building our Future through Science and Innovation— initiatives which included the introduction of a new programme called Commercial Ready that will deliver about $200 million a year in competitive grants.

Provided assistance to industry to start new Action Agendas for advanced manufacturing, medical devices, cement industries, science, marine, digital content, facilities management and mineral exploration industries.

Established the Financial Literacy Foundation to improve the financial literacy of all Australians.

Developed further reforms to Australia’s international taxation arrangements to enhance Australia’s status as an attractive place for business and investment.

Implemented the Auslink white paper which has revolutionised the planning and funding of Australia’s national roads and railways by taking a long-term, strategic approach to the national transport task.

Developed community partnerships to assist in the management of the Sustainable Regions and Regional Partnership programmes.

Facilitated the new interstate and Hunter Valley leasing arrangements for the Australian Rail Track Corporation.

Contracted for the delivery of high-quality and culturally appropriate legal aid services for Indigenous Australians. Legal Service providers, selected through a competitive tendering arrangement, commenced operation in Victoria, Queensland and WA on 1 July 2005. Other states and the NT to follow in the next 12 months.

Worked with FaCS on Family law reforms to assist the Government in developing its response to the report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family and Community Affairs inquiry into child custody, Every picture tells a story.

Progressed the Australian Schools Agenda—firmly centred on the needs of parents and their children—and its priorities for schooling through the development of the Schools Assistance (Learning Together—Achievement Through Choice and Opportunity) Act 2004, and associated funding Agreements for 2005–08 which are linked to a set of funding conditions aimed at improving the educational outcomes for all Australian students.

Implemented the Australian Government’s reforms to the delivery of education to young Indigenous people through strategies targeted at:

• redirection of funding to initiatives that have been demonstrated to work
• increasing funding for the most disadvantaged Indigenous students—those in remote areas
• improving mainstream service provision for Indigenous students

Developed a new Welfare to Work policy and programme implementation framework that seeks to increase the workforce participation of all working age Australians on income support, who have a capacity to undertake paid employment. Increased participation in paid work and reduced reliance on income support will improve the well-being of individuals and their families, and improve the overall standard of living (income per capita) in Australia.

Reviewed the CDEP Program, involving consultations in over 40 communities across Australia. New funding agreements were introduced for CDEP organisations for 2005–06 which have a stronger emphasis on placing Indigenous people in ‘real’ jobs, and on developing a partnership between DEWR and CDEP organisations to meet community needs.

Released third triple bottom line report, and continued to take a leading role in the public sector in supporting the broader triple bottom line work of the Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnership.

Involved as the lead agency in Wadeye, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) trial site in the NT working to provide flexible programmes and services based on priorities identified by the community.

Developed a new Strategic Framework to assist in improving delivery of the Government’s social policy agenda. The Strategic Framework included new purpose, outcomes, values, leadership behaviours, core business processes, and governance arrangements.

Continued to develop and deliver all aspects of the Strengthening Medicare and 100% Medicare programmes which included delivery of the Medicare Safety Net; providing further incentives for GPs to bulk bill; expanding the number and role of practice nurses; developing new Medicare items to replace the existing Enhanced Primary Care items and finding better ways to work with state Governments to deliver out-patient and out of hours care.

Further expanded and enhanced primary health care services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Significant work has been done to improve the early detection and management of chronic disease, including the continuation and expansion of Continuous Improvement Projects focused on chronic disease.

Responded to the Review of Pricing Arrangements in Residential Aged Care in the 2004–05 Budget package, Investing in Australia’s Aged Care: More Places, Better Care. Twenty-seven of the 31 measures contained in the package have been implemented and strong progress has been made on the remaining four measures.

Increased dramatically the number of voluntary referrals from Centrelink to the Job Network.

Worked closely (along with DHS agencies) with DEWR on its pilot to identify improved approaches to work capacity assessment as part of the Welfare to Work reforms announced in the 2004–05 Budget.

Fully delivered Australia’s Humanitarian Program in 2004–05 with just over 13,000 visas granted—an increase of 1000 places over the previous year. The dramatic reduction in the number of illegal arrivals in recent years meant that in 2004–05, 92% of all visas granted went to refugees and others in need of humanitarian resettlement offshore— the highest number of offshore visas granted in nine years.

Achieved a significant increase in community participation in the 2005 Harmony Day campaign through a range of strategies, including an improved online event registration and product ordering system, extensive radio and television advertising, using Harmony Day media partners, and targeted marketing of specific sectors of the community to raise their awareness of Harmony Day.

Established the Australians at War Film Archive—a national resource for film-makers, researchers and the community—the largest of its kind in the world.

Signed a revised Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Defence and the Vietnam Veterans Counselling Service (VVCS) which extends the accessibility of the counselling service.

Played the key Australian Government role in the development and management of the Supplementary Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement process which the Prime Minister and the Premier of Tasmania jointly signed in May 2005—this delivers on major Government election commitments.

Provided leadership across a number of issues regarding water, one of the most significant being leadership in the establishment of a high-level intergovernmental working group to progress the NWI and to encourage actions to improve resource security and certainty for water users.

Implemented the Australian Government’s Climate Change Strategy, including setting up the Solar Cities trial.

Successfully delivered the Natural Heritage Trust and the National Action Plan on Salinity and Water Quality through a joint Natural Resource Management Team with DAFF.

Implemented the Australian Government’s major election commitments in relation to the environment and heritage including:

• better protection for old growth forests in Tasmania
• established the Commonwealth Environment Research Facilities
• established an Australia-Antarctica Airlink
• implemented a range of cultural heritage programmes.

Performed a critical strategic and operational and/or coordination role as part of the Australian Government’s response to the Indian Ocean tsunami through EMA. Operation Tsunami Assist was a significant challenge for EMA, testing the ability to coordinate a whole of government approach to assemble, deploy and recover urgently needed medical and public health teams into an offshore environment.

Achieved regional engagements on issues such as counter-terrorism, human rights, the Australia-Indonesia Working Group on Legal Cooperation, the Australian-Indonesian Government Sector Linkages Program (GSLP), and the South Pacific and Library Services.

Implemented changes to support the viability of the livestock export industry. MOU to better manage trade within the Middle East region were agreed with Eritrea, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Participated in the Interdepartmental Emergency Taskforce convened to manage Australia’s response to the Indian Ocean tsunami, and in the provision of supplementation to agencies.

Assisted in the development of the financial and administrative arrangements for the Australian-Indonesian Partnership for Reconstruction and Development (AIPRD) via the involvement of Budget Group and Financial Management Group.

Continued our support to the Pacific through:

• eight officers deployed to Papua New Guinea under the Enhanced Cooperation Programme
• continued support to the Solomon Islands
• deployment of an advisor to the Department of Finance in Nauru
• twinning Programme (staff exchange) developed with the Papua New Guinea Department of Finance
• initial contacts with the Ministry of Finance in Indonesia under the Australian Partnerships Programme.

Coordinated consular responses to the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster in Australia and across affected countries, in particular Indonesia and Thailand.

Achieved closer engagement with ASEAN and South Asia by supporting an unprecedented number of high-level visits in both directions.

Helped with the coordination of the Australian Government Agencies’ response to the Indian Ocean tsunami, including the development of the assistance package for affected Australians and supporting the Prime Minister in the establishment of AIPRD.

Commenced the organisation, including security requirements, of the 15 ministerial and senior officials’ meetings to be held across the country during APEC 2007. The APEC Taskforce is working in full cooperation with relevant Commonwealth and state agencies to prepare for Australia’s biggest ever international meetings programme.

Conducted an external review of ABS strategic directions which found we are highly respected for our credibility, impartiality, independence and the quality of our work and outputs, and that stakeholders do not want this to change. The challenge for us is to strengthen our external focus and improve our capacity to respond to new demands.

Continued work to improve the quantity and quality of its statistical outputs. Major achievements in relation to this goal include: developments in enhanced state account statistics; the establishment of a Centre of Environment and Energy Statistics; a review of the current Australia and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification; and the release of Innovation in Australian Business statistics.

Actively supported and participated in the development of ANZSOG, a professional school providing world-class education and development to emerging public sector leaders.

Developed Foundations of Governance—a groundbreaking information resource (a book and Internet presence at http://www.apsc.gov.au/foundations) for agency heads and senior managers that brings together comprehensive information on governance responsibilities and obligations, including accountability requirements, the financial management framework, employment and workplace relations frameworks and management of government information.

Actively supported whole of government approaches to policy development and the delivery of Government programmes following the launch of the Management Advisory Committee report, Connecting Government in 2004, including taking a leading role in promoting Indigenous employment in the APS in support of the whole of government approach to administering services for Indigenous Australians.

Undertook a comprehensive programme of policy reviews across the broadcasting and online content regulatory environment.

Developed an online ‘Practical Guide to Program Administration’ to incorporate associated case study-based workshops as part of DCITA’s increased focus on programme implementation.

Implemented better practice monthly financial reporting and analysis covering both departmental and administered outcomes.

Established for the first time a core regional network as a result of the mainstreaming of Indigenous programmes.

Improved business processes and delivered substantial administrative savings (e.g. through the Program of Administrative Savings and the Business Improvement Project) while maintaining a high operational tempo.

Successfully positioned DMO for prescribed agency status, including de-merging DMO’s accounts from Defence’s; and implementing the Defence Procurement Review reforms, including the Two Pass Defence Capability Plan project approval process.

Employed solution brokers in ICCs or state and territory offices as key employees in the implementation of the whole of government approach to service delivery to Indigenous communities. DEWR solution brokers promote employment, training and economic development opportunities for Indigenous Australians through the ICC network.

Integrated former ATSIS, FaCS and NOHSC employees and functions. The programmes managed by DEWR increased from about $1.5 billion to $25 billion.

Improved services to the Minister through a sharpened focus on timeliness and quality of work, as well as a system to give early warning of issues and strategies implemented to manage them.

Provided structured learning and development activities, including work rotations and opportunities for state office placements through the Compass Program.

Successfully implemented the Uhrig Review recommendations ahead of time.

Delivered Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Outlook report in accordance with the requirements of the Charter of Budget Honesty after the 2004 election was called.

Costed (with Treasury) 143 Government and Opposition election commitments (of which 139 were costed by Finance and 4 were jointly costed) under the Charter of Budget Honesty, most within five days of receipt.

Developed and implemented a departmental capability framework for non-SES employees; implemented a new recruitment process responding in part to the high cost of recruitment through turnover and lack of employee confidence in the application of merit; and overall improvement in the Department’s financial statement and internal control audit performance and associated recognition of its management of risk.

Established the LLO program resulting in improved and better coordinated support to DHS agency customers when raising issues with their Federal Member or Senator. Almost all cases (99.7%) resolved within two working days.

Provided input into policy development in a range of areas so that service delivery issues are considered upfront.

Achieved considerable efficiencies through joint procurement initiatives between agencies.

Significantly progressed our global working strategy which makes best use of resources to manage growth in visa and citizenship applications and at the same time improves the quality of service to clients and the integrity of processes.

Significantly progressed the Government’s new arrangements for Indigenous affairs. These new arrangements have seen the successful transfer of ATSIC-ATSIS programmes and employees to mainstream agencies without interruption to service delivery, the establishment of OIPC within DIMIA, and the establishment of a ‘front-line’ of 30 multi-agency ICCs.

Restructured the portfolio to better deliver key Government programmes, with the Department absorbing the Australian Greenhouse Office and the National Oceans Office.

Reviewed our management performance through a major employee survey and the implementation of improved recruitment, performance management, workload management and change management practices.

Established the Cabinet Implementation Unit which celebrated its first anniversary in late 2004. The Unit has made important strides in working with other agencies to ensure effective planning, management, monitoring and delivery of key government decisions.

Supported the Prime Minister as Chair of COAG and worked with senior officials of all jurisdictions to drive continued reforms in productivity and service delivery in areas such as national competition policy, health, vocational education and training, infrastructure and Indigenous policies.

Continued to host a number of taskforces designed to ensure whole of government approaches to policy development, including on health, Welfare to Work, offshore maritime security and intelligence.

Implemented a major new regulatory regime for aviation and maritime security and inter-governmental agreement on surface transport security.

Actively led the COAG East Kimberley Indigenous Trial—a move to a more operational focus with increased local resources deployed and a forward action plan being settled.

Undertook an information technology (IT) transition project, involving the transfer of DVA’s electronic infrastructure to the MetaFrame environment.

Converted DVA’s National Office Library to an online information service for all employees across the country.

Implemented the Device Assessment and Migration Plan which upgraded the printer fleet and reduced printer devices by 43%.