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AGIMO archive > Publications (NOIE) > 2003 > October > Annual Report 2002-2003 > Part 4 - Management and Accountability

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Annual Report

National Office for the Information Economy 2002-2003

Part 4 - Management and Accountability

Overview

This section sets out the management and accountability measures in place to meet the National Office for the Information Economy's (NOIE) role and functions as a Prescribed Agency under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act).

During 2002-03 NOIE continued to access many of its corporate services through a service level agreement with the Department of Communications Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA) enabling both NOIE and DCITA to rationalise costs in specific corporate services. The corporate services delivered to NOIE under the service level agreement included Human Resources, Information Technology and Communications, Legal Services, Parliamentary Coordination, Facilities Management including Security, and Financial Services.

Corporate Governance

Senior Executives and their Responsibilities

The Executive's role is to provide active and strategic leadership to NOIE. This involves responsibility for implementing the Government's overall policy directions and for ensuring that the agency's structure, culture and resources were aligned to meet the Government's key priorities, outcome and outputs.

The Executive comprised:

Mr John Rimmer has held the position of CEO, NOIE since 5 February 2001. Mr Rimmer was appointed by, and is accountable to, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts.

Pursuant to the Public Service Act 1999, Mr Rimmer has all the powers and responsibilities of an agency head. He advises and assists the Minister to fulfil his obligations to Parliament, including accountability through the annual report process. He also provides overall leadership to the agency by determining priorities and resource allocation across NOIE, and by driving organisational performance and high priority initiatives.

The DCEO, Dr Rod Badger, carries out the role of Chief Operating Officer. Dr Badger has a particular responsibility with respect to corporate resources and governance issues. Dr Badger's role as DCEO is to assist the CEO with the overall operation of NOIE and he acts for the CEO when Mr Rimmer is absent. Dr Badger manages the key interface with DCITA, liaising on policy matters of common interest to both agencies and the Minister.

Three CGMs, Mr Keith Besgrove, Mr Patrick Callioni and Mr John Grant are responsible for managing the overall delivery of the agency's outputs through:

Senior Management Committees and their Roles

Executive Management Group

The Executive Management Group (EMG) is the chief governance committee in NOIE. It comprises:

EMG is chaired by the CEO and meets fortnightly. The secretariat function is provided by the Executive Officer to the CEO.

EMG provides the highest level of collegiate decision-making in the agency. It primarily addresses strategic and agency-wide issues and is responsible for advising the CEO on matters of corporate governance.

EMG is supplemented by meetings of all Senior Executive Service (SES) officers every second fortnight. These meetings provide a forum for an exchange of views on issues impacting across NOIE.

NOIE has adopted a corporate governance framework based on the Government's resource management framework. This provides the control and accountability environment needed to provide assurance to management and stakeholders that the agency is fulfilling its responsibilities with due diligence.

EMG is supported by the Fraud, Audit and Evaluation Committee (FAEC), the Information Management Committee (IMC), the Workplace Consultative Committee (WCC) and agency project teams, which are discussed separately below.

Fraud, Audit and Evaluation Committee

NOIE established its Fraud, Audit and Evaluation Committee (FAEC) with terms of reference according to the functions specified in the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act). The Committee met three times during the reporting year.

The FAEC comprises:

Observers representing KPMG (Internal Auditors) and the external auditors, the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO), attend each meeting. The Corporate and Governance Branch provides the secretariat function.

The committee assists with the oversight of the financial and management infrastructure of NOIE and is responsible for:

Information Management Committee

The Information Management Committee (IMC) provides strategic advice and direction in the management and development of NOIE's information and online services infrastructure. It provides advice on strategic information management issues including:

This committee comprised:

The Corporate and Governance Branch provides the secretariat function.

Workplace Consultative Committee

The Workplace Consultative Committee (WCC) oversees the implementation of the current Certified Agreement, gathers input for NOIE's successor agreement and provides a forum for management to consult staff.

During 2002-03 sub-committees created under the WCC to deal with a range of human resource related issues included the:

The WCC comprised:

The secretariat function is provided by the Empower Group, NOIE's human resource provider through the service level agreement with DCITA.

Agency Project Teams

The EMG has provision to establish project teams as required to address specific policy, program and organisational matters that are best dealt with outside of branch responsibilities.

Corporate and Operational Plans and Associated Performance Review

NOIE regularly reviews and refines the strategic direction of the agency in line with Ministerial priorities.

Approach Adopted to Identify Areas of Significant Financial or Operational Risk and Arrangements in place to Manage Risks

The FAEC (refer Senior Management Committees and their Roles above) assists NOIE to promote efficient, effective and ethical use of resources, by overseeing and providing guidance on audit, risk management, fraud control and evaluation activities.

Risk Management

NOIE continues to work with the high-level business risk assessment of its operations covering the period 2002-04. The business risk assessment was supplemented by a number of individual risk management plans covering a diverse range of programs and projects. Reports on the plans were provided to the EMG and FAEC.

Certification of Fraud Measures in Place

Fraud Control and Fraud Risk Assessment Measures

NOIE has the following measures in place:

Internal Audit Arrangements

NOIE's internal auditor is KPMG and its external auditor is the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO).

NOIE's internal audit plan is overseen and appraised by the FAEC. The FAEC adopted an Internal Audit Plan 2001-03 and an Internal Audit Strategic Plan 2002-2005. The Internal Audit Plan was updated during 2002-03 to include management initiated organisational risk reviews.

The following audits were undertaken during 2002-03:

As a result of these audits NOIE reviewed its processed and restructured where appropriate.

Other audits completed during 2002-03 were:

These audits were undertaken with a specific project focus to provide assurance regarding the integrity of the processed adopted.

Ethical Standards

NOIE is strongly committed to supporting and promoting the Australian Public Service (APS) Values and Code of Conduct in accordance with the Public Service Act 1999.

Information about staff and managers' responsibilities under the APS Values and Code of Conduct was included as part of the induction package for new staff, provided through internal training processes and integrated into the performance management process.

Remuneration for Senior Executive Service Officers

The CEO determines the remuneration for Senior Executive Service (SES) officers' remuneration. In setting remuneration levels, consideration was given to NOIE, and individual, performance outcomes, market forces and the outcomes of the annual Department of Employment and Workplace Relations' SES Remuneration Survey.

External Scrutiny

Judicial or Administrative Tribunal Decisions

No judicial or administrative tribunal decisions had a significant impact on the operations of NOIE during the financial year.

Ombudsman

In 2002-03, the Ombudsman did not receive any complaints in relation to NOIE. The Ombudsman made no formal recommendations to NOIE or formal reports to the Minister under the provisions of the Ombudsman Act 1976. No recommendations for Acts of Grace payments were made.

Auditor-General Reports

The ANAO issued a number of reports in 2002-03 that NOIE participated in or had a specific interest in. These are listed at Appendix 3.

Parliamentary Committees

NOIE was involved with the following committees:

Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Inquiries:

Inquiry into the Role of Libraries in the Online Environment

In July 2002, NOIE provided a written submission to the Committee.

Inquiry into the Telecommunications Network

NOIE officers appeared before the Committee in November 2002.

Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit

Management and Integrity of Electronic Information in the Commonwealth

The Committee invited a submission from NOIE. NOIE provided a written submission in December 2002.

NOIE officials appeared before the Committee in April 2003. A number of questions were posed after the hearing. Responses to these questions have been provided.

NOIE in conjunction with the Defence Signal Directorate (DSD) also provided the Committee a briefing in a private hearing in June 2003.

Joint Committee on Publications

NOIE appeared before a private briefing of the Committee in June 2003.

House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications, Information Technology and the Arts

Inquiry into the Future Opportunities for Australia's Film, Animation, Special Effects and Electronic Games Industries

NOIE officials appeared at a private hearing in May 2003.

Management of Human Resources

Workforce Planning, Staff Retention and Turnover

During 2002-03, the Empower Group continued to provide human resource services to NOIE through the service level agreement with the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts.

Major activities in the human resource area for 2002-03 included the certification, on 14 October 2002, and subsequent implementation of a new NOIE Certified Agreement. This agreement will nominally expire on 30 June 2005.

During 2002-03, NOIE underwent a number of structural changes, including machinery of government changes that took effect on 1 July 2002. These changes resulted in the movement of several members of staff from the Information Industries Group in NOIE to DCITA and the gain of the Info Access Branch from DCITA.

Senior Executive Service Movements, 2002-03

The Senior Executive Service (SES) and their responsibilities, as at 30 June 2003, included:

Executive

Mr John Rimmer, CEO
Dr Rod Badger, DCEO

Government Services and Information Environment Group

Mr John Grant, CGM
Mr Steve Alford, GM, Business Strategies Branch
Ms Robyn Fleming, GM, Information Framework Branch
Mr James Shaw, GM, Channel Development Branch

Regulation and Analysis Group

Mr Keith Besgrove, CGM
Mr Tom Dale, GM, Regulation Branch
Mr David Kennedy, GM, Analysis Branch

Strategy and Programs Group

Mr Patrick Callioni, CGM
Mr Ashley Cross, GM, e-business Branch
Mr Tim Field, GM, Corporate and Governance Branch
Ms Anne-Marie Lansdown, GM, Access Branch
Mr Brian Stewart, inoperative at 30 June 2003.

During 2002-03, SES staff movements were minimal. Two SES officers either separated or were reassigned to another Agency while one officer was reassigned into the Agency. Details of SES staff movements are at Appendix 4.

Staffing Overview

As at 30 June 2003 NOIE had 159 ongoing and 16 non-ongoing staff. Details of employment category, gender and classification are detailed in Appendix 5.

Features of the New Certified Agreement

Main features of the new Certified Agreement which was certified on 14 October 2002 include:

Productivity Gains

One of the stated purposes of the new Certified Agreement is to provide working arrangements to improve productivity, by reducing costs per unit of output and to improve productive capacity by removing barriers to creativity and collaboration.

Australian Workplace Agreements

Twenty-six employees were covered by Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) in the financial year 2002-03. This included thirteen SES and thirteen non-SES staff. The salary ranges of employees under AWAs are provided in Appendix 6.

Non-salary Benefits

A range of non-salary benefits is available for employees covered by AWAs and vary from agreement to agreement, but cover items such as

Performance Pay

Salary advancement is accessible by staff under the provisions of the Performance Management Framework.

In addition, SES and some non-SES staff may have access to bonuses based on performances under their individual AWAs.

Fifty-eight members of staff received payments related to performance during the 2002-03 financial year. The aggregate cost of these payments totalled $130392.

Details of employee classifications, total paid for each classification level, the average bonus payment at each classification level and the range of those payments are at Appendix 6.

Training and Development Strategies

NOIE has had access to a range of training and development strategies through its service level agreement with the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. The training strategies include three series:

Details of these services can be found at Appendix 7.

Occupational Health and Safety

The Agency has procedures and programs to ensure the health and safety of the staff in the workplace.

NOIE has an Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) policy and agreement in place, in compliance with the legislative requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) Act 1991.

NOIE has OHS representatives in each office location that was operational in 2002-03, including Melbourne, Tasmania and Canberra.

All representatives have been trained by the National Safety Council of Australia (NSCA) in the principles and practice of OH&S risk management. Four occupational health and safety awareness-training sessions have taken place in 2002-03 to ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to deal with these issues.

The Employee Assistance Program is a free, confidential and professional counselling and advisory service available to employees and those in a close relationship with them. Assistance may be provided for:

The service is available as a resource for supervisors and managers in their people management roles, and as a potential resource for referral of employees who are experiencing difficulties at work or at home.

Issues such as return to work, rehabilitation and workstation assessments are managed by SRC Solutions under contract.

Commonwealth Disability Strategy

In accordance with advice from the Department of Family and Community Services concerning reporting requirements for the Commonwealth Disability Strategy (CDS), NOIE is reporting against the following roles:

NOIE acknowledges and is committed to its role in the CDS. NOIE aims to improve the accessibility for, and participation of, people with disabilities across its activities and provide equitable access to all its policies and programs refer (Appendix 8).

Purchasing Polices and Principles

Policy

Value for money is the core principle governing NOIE's procurement. It is supported by the underpinning principles of: efficiency and effectiveness, accountability and transparency, ethics and industry development.

NOIE advertises public tenders in the press, the Commonwealth Electronic Tendering System (CETS) and the Purchasing and Disposals Gazette. NOIE also publishes forward procurement plans to assist entry for new suppliers and small to medium enterprises (SMEs).

Performance

In 2002-03, under the service level agreement with DCITA, NOIE used DCITA to undertake certain procurement processing functions on its behalf.

DCITA maintains a centralised Contracts Unit, which ensures that:

NOIE staff were responsible for developing requirements, selecting and managing contractors and contracts to ensure that responsibility and accountability is maintained by the Agency.

NOIE's selection procedures are based on evaluation against published selection criteria. Contracts of any significant value are offered publicly and advertised in the press, the CETS website and the Purchasing and Disposals Gazette. Consultancies of a lower value are routinely arranged through restricted tender processes.

NOIE staff are provided with risk guidelines and advice on identifying high and low risk contracts. High-risk contracts received more input from the Contracts Unit, DCITA. The inclusion of a risk matrix in the procurement guidelines encourages adequate consideration of risk in contract management and provided a consistent framework for assessment of risk factors.

A checklist encourages effective contract management by focusing attention on matters of importance to NOIE, providing a formal reporting discipline for project officers and their managers and ensuring consistent provision of information to the DCITA Contracts Unit for monitoring purposes.

Competitive Tendering and Contracting

Competitive Tendering and Contracting (CTC) is the process of selecting the most preferred provider of goods or services from a range of bidders by seeking offers and evaluating these against pre-determined selection criteria. Appendix 9 lists details of contracts that were in place during 2002-03.

NOIE acknowledges the following key principles underpinning a sound CTC process:

Assets Management

NOIE's assets comprise leasehold improvements and various items of plant and equipment. These assets are managed to ensure that they are meeting operational needs. They are not strategically significant.

Client Service Charter

NOIE's service charter reflects the government's commitment for Australian Government agencies to deliver high quality services to customers.

The charter represents NOIE's commitment to delivering high quality services to clients. It explains what NOIE does, the services provided and NOIE's service commitments to clients who include:


It explains the standard of service delivery that clients can expect. These standards cover the full range of services provided by NOIE, including:

The establishment of service delivery standards enables NOIE's performance to be benchmarked and monitored for improvements in performance over time.

The charter outlines the entitlements of NOIE's clients, including steps to be taken if service standards are not met. Mechanisms are available to handle and investigate customer complaints. NOIE's website, the webmaster address, the client service manager and the feedback form are used to facilitate feedback.

The charter can be accessed on the agency's website at www.noie.gov.au/About

Legal Notices