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Corporate Governance, Human Resources and Financial Management
Corporate Governance
The corporate governance practices in place for the office reflect its size and function. In addition to planning processes in relation to resource and personnel management, senior members of staff meet each week to review operational priorities. The office has the advantage of being readily able to hold an ‘all-staff’ meeting each month. This meeting includes general information exchange, consideration of office performance against the range of activities in which it is involved and forward planning.
Organisation structure
The small size of the office lends itself to a collegiate approach to dealing with the workload of the office and workplace issues more generally.
During the reporting period, positions were filled as follows:
- Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security
Mr Ian Carnell - Principal Investigation Officer
Mr Neville Bryan, PSM - Senior Investigation Officers
Mrs Jane Trevor
Ms Samantha Clark
Ms Sharon Dean (from 16 July 2007)
Mr Stoney Burke (from 7 January 2008) - Senior Review Officer
Ms Lisa Buckingham (to 16 October 2007) - Office Accountant
Ms Jackie McRae - Personal Assistant to the Inspector-General and Office Manager
Ms Jodie Williams - Office Manager and Monitoring Officer
Ms Robyn Kelly (to 9 August 2007) - Administration Officer
Mrs Jocelyn Yosef
Internal Audit
The office has an Audit Committee chaired by me and which also includes an external member from PMC. Staffing changes in PMC saw a new external member joining the committee during the reporting period. I anticipate that for the purposes of this committee, that transition will be seamless and would like to record my thanks to both members for their assistance during the period.
The committee meets on a periodic basis to consider corporate governance issues including financial compliance, internal and external audit findings, fraud and risk management, occupational health and safety, and significant financial issues.
Risk Management
The office’s Audit Committee has overall responsibility for the agency’s risk management function. The Committee reviews the Risk Management Plan on an annual basis and makes amendments if required. It also reviews the office’s risk performance over the previous twelve months.
The Risk Management Plan includes controls designed to mitigate risks including in the following risk categories:
- personnel related
- departure or absence (eg through injury) of key staff with little notice
- accidental or intentional loss of information
- segregation of duties
- failure or compromise of information technology systems
- physical security of the office and facilities
- corporate liability
- fraud prevention, detection and management, and
- corporate compliance requirements
Through its various mitigation strategies, the residual risk accepted by the office is maintained within the low-medium levels in each of the six categories listed above.
Fraud control
While the Risk Management Plan is comprehensive in that it covers fraud prevention, detection and management, the office also maintains a separate Fraud Control Plan which goes into greater detail on risks of that type and how they are dealt with.
I can certify that my office has undertaken a fraud risk assessment and has a Fraud Control Plan, both of which are reviewed periodically. I can further certify that appropriate fraud prevention, detection, investigation and reporting procedures are in place, and that the office has responded to the annual survey for fraud control data.
Disaster recovery plan/business continuity plan
The office has its own Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Plan to ensure its continued operation in the event of a disaster. This plan is closely integrated with the PMC plan and is reviewed periodically to ensure its currency.
Corporate and operational planning
Increased office size during the reporting period also gave rise to the opportunity to bring a greater level of structure and formality to the office’s corporate and operational planning activities. In particular, the office undertook planning activities which drew together the full range of activities undertaken by this office, and accorded each a relative priority. While not itself constituting a productivity gain, I anticipate that this planning will continue to provide a useful mechanism for optimising productivity across the many and varied activities of the office.
Further details of OIGIS forward plans are available in the “The year 2008–09 in Prospect”.
External scrutiny
The office has again received an unqualified audit report from the ANAO in relation to its financial statements.
Further details of OIGIS interaction with parliamentary committees are available in “The Year in Review” and the “Parliament, Legislation and Liaison” chapters of this report.
Support from PMC and DSD
As a very small portfolio agency, co-located with PMC, my office relies on assistance from PMC in handling a range of administration issues and in providing general support.
While an office of this size with a modest appropriation cannot readily cover the full array of costs ordinarily incurred, the office made a $46 000 (GST exclusive) payment to PMC in recognition of the increasing costs associated with the support provided to the office in 2007–08. This arrangement works well and I am very appreciative of PMC’s continued support.
The other major provider of continued support to my office is DSD, which maintains the internal secure computer and communication network systems within the office. I would like to record my thanks for DSD’s continued assistance.
Human resources
Background
At the end of 2000–01 (i.e. the last completed budgetary period before the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks), OIGIS comprised the Inspector-General and four staff.
This figure was the same when I commenced as Inspector-General in March 2004, but not surprisingly there has been a need to expand the size of the office in a graduated manner. The AIC agencies have grown substantially in size and OIGIS was tasked with taking a specific interest in the assessment activities of ONA and DIO as a result of the Flood Inquiry.75
At the conclusion of 2007–08 OIGIS comprised myself and nine staff. My aim is to recruit two additional staff in 2008–09.
Additional resources allow OIGIS to keep pace with the increases in AIC activities, and also give me the opportunity to re-evaluate our range of inspection activities to ensure that they are still focussed and relevant, as well as providing flexibility to initiate new inspection activities and research projects, as appropriate.
It is also worth noting that I have recruited a dedicated, CPA accredited accountant, who works on a part time basis, as well as a full-time administration officer who does not have any inspection or review duties.
In addition to delivering a first rate service and providing me with significant reassurance that the OIGIS books are fully compliant with the reporting requirements of the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) and the Department of Finance and Deregulation, the recruitment of a dedicated and fully qualified accountant has freed up one of the existing members of staff to engage wholly on inspection and review activities.
Similarly, the engagement of a dedicated administration officer allows other members of staff to focus on inspection, complaint and inquiry work.
Organisation profile
As noted above, OIGIS is a very small agency comprising nine staff and the Inspector-General. Staff work in two teams, one responsible for assisting the Inspector-General with inspection, review and inquiry work in relation to ASIO, ASIS, DIGO and DSD, while the other is responsible for such activities in relation to ONA and DIO as well as the provision of corporate support to the office. In such a small workplace the background, skills, talents and viewpoints of each employee are recognised and highly valued.
The profile of the organisation is summarised in the following two graphs:
During the reporting period, OIGIS gained two staff. This gain was off-set by the loss of two officers, one who retired and another who transferred to a position located interstate. A recruitment activity was initiated late in the reporting period and I am hopeful of receiving three welcome additions to the office.
Training and development
During the reporting period staff attended a range of training courses including in administrative law, leadership and management skills, first aid and a range of areas specific to the AIC.
In a small office it is especially important to ensure that staff have the requisite skills and training to undertake an unusually broad range of duties. The breadth of each officer’s responsibilities is regarded as both an organisational strength and an opportunity to develop each officer’s skill-set beyond that ordinarily possible in larger organisations with more strictly delineated functional roles.
Performance management and pay
OIGIS has a formal performance management process which focuses specifically on expectations of staff, development opportunities and feedback on performance. This formal process is complemented by regular, though less formal, meetings to discuss team and individual priorities, work allocation and to monitor outcomes and outputs.
OIGIS does not have a performance based pay scheme.
Workplace agreements
All staff continued to be employed under individual Australian Workplace Agreements. These agreements are subject to periodic review and will cease to have effect on 30 June 2009. In the coming reporting period OIGIS will consider moving to a collective agreement in place of the current individual agreements.
Personnel guidelines
The increased size of the office provided the opportunity to review the existing human resource practices. A series of detailed guidelines relating to personnel management was produced. Further guidelines will be added to the series as and when the need arises.
Other information
Occupational health and safety
In accordance with the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1991 (OH&S Act), staff were consulted during the reporting period on the establishment of a Designated Work Group (DWG), the development of Health and Safety Management Arrangements (HSMA) and the selection of a Health and Safety Representative (HSR).
Due to the small size of the office, it was agreed not to establish a Health and Safety Committee at this point in time. Instead health and safety matters are regularly addressed within the office as standing items at our all-staff meetings and Audit Committee meetings and, as the need arises, directly with me through the team leaders and HSR.
During the year one health and safety hazard inspection and seven workstation assessments were conducted for the staff in the office. One First Aid Officer was appointed and received accredited training.
The office also gave particular consideration during the year to the potential health risks of staff interacting with difficult complainants. It is sometimes the case that a complainant can be dissatisfied with the level of assistance the office is able to provide them or the outcome of an inquiry. Although only a small proportion of these instances lead to persons exhibiting difficult behaviour, it is important to manage these situations well. I do not expect staff to tolerate significant abuse or aggression, or fear for their safety. New guidelines were issued to staff in respect of these issues.
No accidents or dangerous events occurred during the year that arose out of the conduct of undertakings by me that required the giving of notice under section 68 of the OH&S Act. No investigations were conducted relating to undertakings carried on by me and no notices were given to me under sections 29 or 47 (relating to provisional improvement notices and improvement notices respectively) of the OH&S Act.
Disability Strategy
The office is committed to meeting its responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Commonwealth Disability Strategy. While the performance indicators and strategies in the Commonwealth Disability Strategy are not applicable or applicable in a limited sense only to the work of this office, it is fully accepted that OIGIS must satisfy the principles which underpin the strategy wherever relevant.
Freedom of information
This office is an exempt agency for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Advertising and market research
OIGIS incurred no expenditure on general advertising or advertising campaigns during the reporting period.
Ecologically sustainable development and environmental performance
The office through its co-location with PMC continues to benefit from that Department’s commitment to energy saving measures. This includes the large number of energy and water saving measures, designed to reduce greenhouse emissions, which are incorporated into the building (One National Circuit). These measures include, but are not limited to energy efficient lighting, heating and cooling.
Due to the small size of my office, PMC does not separately measure the utilities used by OIGIS and provides these utilities free of charge. For this reason ecologically sustainable development and details of environmental performance are not specifically quantified in this report.
Nonetheless, the office is committed to ensuring that its activities are environmentally responsible. While the majority of the office’s infrastructure is provided and maintained by PMC, there are a number of areas for which I am directly responsible in which I take into account the environmental impact and act accordingly to minimise it. These include:
- recycled paper is used for 80 per cent of the office’s photocopying, facsimile report and document printing (20 per cent new/virgin paper)
- printers are configured to default to double- sided (that is, using both sides of the paper) printing
- all office paper and cardboard waste is recycled
- empty toner cartridges are recycled, except where security considerations apply, and
- where there is no operational impact, office equipment is ‘shut-down’ over night, rather than being placed on ‘stand-by’.
Financial management
Purchasing
All procurement and purchasing activities conducted by the office were in accordance with the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines.
Consultancy services
The office has only a small need for consultancies each year. Information on expenditure on consultancies is available on the AusTender website.
Generally a small number of consultants are engaged each year by the office on an as required basis. Consultants are used where short term resources are inadequate or specialist expertise is required.
The security requirements of the office and the specialist nature of the consultancy work often means that consultants are directly sourced. Where the work is more general in nature the office will, where possible, access consultants selected by PMC through an open tender or panel selection process.
During 2007–08 three new consultancy contracts were entered into involving total actual expenditure of $51 020 (GST inclusive). This figure includes the mandatory superannuation payments. There were no ongoing consultancy contracts from 2006–07 active during 2007–08.
A consultancy services table is at Annex 2.
Contract services
The office has only a small need for contracts each year. Information on expenditure on contracts is available on the AusTender website <http://www.tenders.gov.au>.
Legal services
Legal services are obtained from the Australian Government Solicitor (AGS). In 2007-08 OIGIS paid for five separate AGS legal advices at a combined cost of $114 056 GST inclusive (2005–06: $3 339). Expenditure on legal expenses fluctuates from year to year and is largely dependent upon the nature of the inquiries undertaken.
My office did not engage any other solicitors or any counsel direct during the reporting period, and there are no internal legal services.
Summary of the office’s financial performance and resources for outcomes
The office has one outcome and one output.
In 2007–08, the office received an operating appropriation of $1.746 million as shown in the table below. The major components of 2007–08 expenditure were:
- 72% employee expenses
- 27% supplier expenses, and
- 1% depreciation expense.
The 27% supplier expenses outlined above consist of:
- 63% other goods and services
- 26% resources received free of charge
- 10% payment to PMC, and
- 1% Comcare premium.
The office realised an operating surplus of $151 931 in 2007–08.
| 2007–08 |
2007–08 |
|---|---|---|
Revenue and Expenses |
$ |
$ |
Operating revenues |
|
|
Revenues from government |
1 746 000 |
1 746 000 |
Other income (Resources received free of charge) |
120 000 |
120 000 |
Total operating revenues |
1 866 000 |
1 866 000 |
Operating expenses |
|
|
Employees |
1 224 359 |
1 224 359 |
Suppliers |
465 964 |
465 964 |
Assets written-off |
7 196 |
7 196 |
Net losses from sale of assets |
|
|
Equipment depreciation |
16 550 |
16 550 |
Total operating expenses |
1 714 069 |
1 714 069 |
OPERATING RESULT |
151 931 |
151 931 |
Footnotes