Management of the office

Support from PM&C and DSD

353. As a very small agency, the office relies on the assistance of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) in handling staff and other administration issues and in providing general support. This support is provided on the basis that we are a portfolio agency and collocated with PM&C. The arrangement works well and I am grateful to PM&C for their continued support.

354. The other major provider of support is DSD which maintains the secure computer network systems within the office. I would like to record my thanks for DSD’s continued assistance.

Outputs and outcomes

355. The office is committed to maintaining the outcome for the office which is providing assurance that Australia’s intelligence agencies act legally, ethically and with propriety.

356. The agency outcome and outputs are an integral part of the accrual budgetary structure and are outlined in detail in the current portfolio budget statements.

Composition of the office

357. During the reporting year positions were filled as follows:

Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security
Mr Bill Blick PSM
Assistant Inspector-General
Vacant
Principal Investigation Officer
Mr Neville Bryan
Senior Investigation Officer
Ms Jane Trevor
Personal Assistant to the Inspector-General
Ms Sandy Thomas
Office Manager and Monitoring Officer
Ms Robyn Kelly.

Resources

358. The staffing budget has remained relatively static now for several years. The increased workload has resulted in a part time member of the office increasing the number of hours worked and the office temporarily engaging a former Inspector-General as a consultant to assist in monitoring. I believe, however, that resources at this level are adequate providing workload demands do not continue to increase.

Workplace agreements

359. All staff have entered into individual Australian Workplace Agreements as provided for by the Workplace Relations Act.

Performance pay

360. All staff have indicated that they do not wish to receive performance based pay. Accordingly, no staff members were allocated performance based pay during the reporting period.

Industrial democracy

361. The small size of the office lends itself to a collegiate approach to dealing with workplace issues. Whole of agency meetings are held frequently and all staff have direct access to me on a daily basis.

Social justice: access and equity

362. The Inspector-General oversees the activities of Australia’s intelligence community to ensure that each agency acts legally, with propriety, and with appropriate regard to human rights. Respect for these fundamental principles fosters an awareness and appreciation of social justice issues.

Workplace diversity

363. All agencies are responsible for developing a workplace diversity plan and reporting progress on workplace diversity issues to the Public Service Commissioner.

364. Given the small size of the office, we have adopted PM&C’s workplace diversity plan.

Occupational health and safety

365. The office is covered by the PM&C occupational health and safety plan. The office conducts an annual OH&S audit of the workplace and reports the findings to the office audit committee. There are no outstanding OH&S issues identified and no incidents occurred that needed to be reported.

Disaster recovery plan/business continuity plan

366. The office developed its own disaster recovery/business continuity plan in May 1997 to ensure the continued operation of the office in the event of a disaster. This plan is reviewed periodically to ensure its currency.

Communications strategy

367. The office has an Internet homepage, which is the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security website.

368. The site features information about the role and functions of the office, an archive of our annual reports, statements of public interest, links to relevant legislation, and links to other government sites of interest. This site is updated when necessary.

369. People may also communicate with the office by electronic mail. The address is info@igis.gov.au.

Fraud control

370. The office has adopted the fraud control plan of PM&C.

Training and development

371. Staff attend relevant courses and information sessions as necessary.

Internal and external scrutiny

372. The office has again received an unqualified audit report from the ANAO in relation to its financial statements.

373. I appeared before the Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee, which considered the office’s estimates, and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD.

Consultancy services

374. Della Vedova and Associates provided assistance with the preparation of the financial statements in this annual report at the cost of $11,000.

375. Mr Ron McLeod AM, a former Inspector-General, assisted with inspections of ASIS operational files at the cost of $3 300.

Advertising and market research

376. The office incurred no expenditure on general advertising or advertising campaigns during the reporting period.

Freedom of information

377. The office is an exempt agency for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

content