Management of the Office

105. As a small agency, the Office relies on the assistance of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in handling staff and other administration issues and in providing general support. I would like to record my grateful thanks for the Department's continued assistance.

Staffing and Resources

106. The staff resources available to assist me with my work remained constant for most of the financial year, comprising five full time staff, including one Senior Executive Service Officer.

107. In the course of a portfolio funding review conducted in the lead up to the 1996-97 Budget, I agreed to make a contribution to the portfolio savings target by converting a full time position to a part time capacity in addition to a reduction in my Office's non-salary related administrative expenses.

108. Overall my baseline running costs are expected to reduce by about 8 to 9% in 1996-97.

109. I believe resources at this level are adequate to meet my responsibilities providing the workload demands on the Office remain at a normal level. However, being a very small Office if the complaint and inquiry workload during 1996-97 is substantially greater than expected, there may be the need to seek assistance if reasonable standards of responsiveness are to be maintained.

110. The installation of the secure Local Area Network (LAN) in the Office was completed in October 1995. This LAN has been provided on loan by the Department of Defence. It has improved the efficiency of the Office and has greatly enhanced the security of the electronic records held within the Office. Again we would like to record our gratitude to the Department of Defence and the Defence Signals Directorate for its assistance.

111. During 1995-96 a consultant was engaged to provide services in the area of archival records management. The Office is now almost ten years old and a local management plan for the on-going management of records was required. A Record Disposal Authority (RDA) covering the specialised records of the Office has been developed in association with Australian Archives and is awaiting formal approval by the Director-General of Australian Archives.

Internal and External Scrutiny

112. The Office continues to meet all requirements for internal and external scrutiny of its finances and administration.

113.The Office received an unqualified audit report from the Australian National Audit Office in relation to its financial statement.

114.During the year the Assistant Inspector-General represented the Office at hearings of the relevant Senate Legislation Committee, which considered the Office's estimates and additional estimates.

Composition of the Office

115. During 1995-96, staff of the Office comprised:

  • Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security
    (Statutory office-holder, Secretary equivalent)


    Mr Ron McLeod AM
  • Assistant Inspector-General
    (Senior Executive Band 1)
    Mr Philip Moss
  • Senior Investigation Officers
    (Senior Officer Grade C)
    Mr Matthew Collett (until 15 December 1995)
    Mr Rod Tier (until 29 March 1996)
    Ms Jane Trevor (from 1 February 1996)
    Mr Neville Bryan (from 1 April 1996)
  • Personal Assistant to the Inspector-General
    (Administrative Officer Class 5)
    Ms Sandy Thomas
  • Executive Officer
    (Administrative Officer Class 5)
    Ms Robyn Kelly (acting from 14 August 1995)
  • Administrative Assistant/Personal Assistant to the Assistant Inspector-General
    (Administrative Service Officer Class 3)
    Ms Robyn Kelly (vacant from 14 August 1995)

Performance Pay

116. During the 1995-96 financial year, two members of staff were paid performance pay.

Social Justice: Access and Equity

117. The Office continues to be committed to the Social Justice Strategy and to the concept of Access and Equity in service delivery.

Equal Employment Opportunity

118. Given the Office's small size and its co-location with the Department of PM&C, the Department's EEO Plan applies to this Office by agreement between the IGIS and the Secretary of PM&C.

Occupational Health and Safety

119. The Office is covered by PM&C's Occupational Health and Safety Plan.

Industrial Democracy

120. The Office has its own Industrial Democracy Plan, which continues to be implemented.

Training and Development

121. During the year staff attended courses covering investigative/interview techniques, writing skills, financial training, management training and APS-wide issues.

Consultancy Services

122. Ernst and Young provided assistance with the preparation of the financial statements in this report.

123. A consultant was also engaged by this Office to provide services in the area of archival records management.

Advertising and Market Research

124. The Office incurred no expenditure on general advertising during 1995-96.

125. No market research and no advertising campaigns were undertaken by the Office during the reporting period.

FOI Act 1982

126. This Office is an exempt agency for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act.