Annual Report 2001-02: Corporate Governance

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Management framework

Role of the Executive
The senior leadership team
Internal policy framework for corporate governance
Client service charter and staff survey

The starting point for corporate governance is the mission of the department – namely, to provide support to the Prime Minister and to achieve a coordinated approach to the development and implementation of government policies.

The department’s goals are to provide:

quality advice and information on those matters requiring the Prime Minister’s attention as the Head of Government and the Chairman of Cabinet
efficient and coordinated government administration
effective administration of the programmes for which the Prime Minister has responsibility.

In support of these primary goals, the department promotes a corporate ethos which values the contribution of staff and the cost effective and professional management of our people and resources.

Role of the executive

The Secretary and three Executive Coordinators jointly comprise the Senior Executive. The First Assistant Secretary International, who reports directly to the Secretary, also participates in relevant decisions affecting the whole department. (See Organisational structure and Senior staffing respectively.)

During the year the Secretary, Mr Moore-Wilton, provided close direction on all major policy, governmental and corporate issues, and personally decided all Senior Executive Service (SES) staff placements.

A key mechanism for the department’s executive direction is the process of developing, refining and implementing work plans at divisional and group levels. The work plans, which are approved by the Secretary, set out the key achievement targets for the financial year. They also constitute a framework within which financial and human resources can be allocated to key tasks.

The Secretary chairs meetings of the senior leadership group, generally every fortnight. He also meets from time to time with the entire SES group. These senior meetings oversee corporate governance issues and provide strategic direction to the department and advice and support to the Executive.

The Secretary also chairs the Audit Committee, whose role includes guiding the department in meeting its corporate objectives and ensuring effective accountability of programme managers to stakeholders. The Audit Committee, which meets quarterly, is charged with:

oversight of the internal audit function, including ensuring appropriate action is taken in respect of recommendations
review of policies relating to internal controls and the management of risks
oversight of the development and implementation of the fraud risk assessment and fraud control strategy.

The major reports considered by the Audit Committee are noted later in this chapter.

The Executive Coordinator, Corporate and Government, chairs the Consultative Committee, the department’s principal staff consultative body. The committee meets quarterly, and is comprised of four elected staff representatives, two union representatives and three management representatives.

The major topic for the Consultative Committee during 2001–02 was the terms of a new certified agreement. The Committee also discussed salary packaging; arrangements for rewards and recognition; upward appraisal; a review of the Ministerial Correspondence Unit (MCU); car parking; performance management; and information technology support for home based work.

The senior leadership team

As at 30 June 2002 the department’s senior leadership team comprised three Executive Coordinators and seven First Assistant Secretaries.

The areas of responsibility of the three Executive Coordinators were as follows:

David Borthwick – the Economic Division and the Industry, Infrastructure and Environment Division (Output Group 1)
Jeff Whalan – the Social Policy Division and the Office of the Status of Women (Output Group 2)
Alan Henderson – the Cabinet Secretariat, the Government Division, the Government Communications Division, the Corporate Support Branch, the Ceremonial and Hospitality Unit and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) Task Force (Output Group Four). (Mr Henderson transferred to the Department of Defence on 28 June 2002.)[1]

The responsibilities of the seven First Assistant Secretaries, and their respective divisions, were as follows.

Michael Potts, as First Assistant Secretary International and head of the International Division (which constitutes Output Group Three), reports directly to the Secretary. The division’s role is to support the Prime Minister in his role in international affairs, to provide a whole-of-government perspective in advice on international issues coming before the Cabinet, and to coordinate advice to the Prime Minister on national security, defence, trade and aid policies.

Jenny Goddard, as head of the Economic Division, provides advice to the Prime Minister and his office on domestic and international economic conditions, developments in financial markets and the prospective economic outlook, financial sector policy, workplace relations and wages policy, fiscal policy and budget advice, taxation and superannuation policy, and Commonwealth–State financial relations.

James Horne, as head of the Industry, Infrastructure and Environment Division, provides advice to the Prime Minister and his office on industry policy, sustainable development, agriculture, fisheries and forestry, environment and heritage, regional services, transport policy, communications, information technology, sport, tourism, energy, and Commonwealth–State relations.

Joanna Davidson, as head of the Social Policy Division, provides advice to the Prime Minister and his office on education, employment, family policy and welfare, health and aged care, immigration, indigenous policy, and veterans affairs.

Rosemary Calder, as head of the Office of the Status of Women (OSW), provides advice to the Prime Minister and his office, and the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women and her office, on women’s issues, including economic security for women, women’s health and wellbeing, and measures to eliminate violence. OSW also administers the funding of specific programmes, notably the $50 million Partnerships Against Domestic Violence. (See Output 2.2 for more information.)

Barbara Belcher, as head of the Government Division, provides policy advice on public administration; parliamentary and electoral matters; legal policy issues; the establishment of royal commissions and the implications of court decisions for the Commonwealth; matters relating to the arts, national collecting institutions, the film industry and cultural heritage; and policy issues relating to Australian and foreign honours and the use of Australia’s national symbols.

Greg Williams, as head of the Government Communications Division, provides advice and support to the Ministerial Committee on Government Communications and management of the Central Advertising System. Mr Williams also oversees the work of the department’s internal information systems and support services, including the Library, the records management unit and the MCU.

The remuneration of senior executives is discussed elsewhere in this chapter.

Internal policy framework for corporate governance

As noted earlier, annual work plans were prepared at divisional and group levels. In that context, the day-to-day management of human and financial resources rested mainly with divisional managers.

To ensure that divisional managers had a good understanding of what was expected of them by way of corporate governance, the department maintained a range of high level and detailed internal policy documents covering financial management, human resource management and other topics.

The department’s intranet was used to disseminate a wide range of human resource management and other information to line managers and staff. The intranet site contained guidance on the Australian Public Service (APS) Values and Code of Conduct, workplace diversity, staff selection and workplace relations. The documents were regularly reviewed to reflect changes to operational requirements and to accommodate new policy initiatives. Outcomes of those reviews, and any developments in best practice, were promoted to staff.

In relation to financial management, the key corporate documents were: the Chief Executive Instructions (CEIs), the Risk Management Plan and the Fraud Control Plan. Those documents were made available to staff via the department’s intranet.

The Audit Committee oversaw the department’s risk management strategies. In 2001–02 an overarching risk management plan was introduced, providing a formal framework for managing and monitoring identified risks. In addition, the department’s Fraud Control Plan was updated to reflect the recently revised Commonwealth Fraud Control Guidelines.

Under the Commonwealth’s financial framework chief executive officers are responsible for developing an overall fraud control strategy. The strategy is required to be consistent with the Commonwealth Fraud Control Guidelines, recently revised and issued by the Minister for Justice and Customs.

In line with those guidelines, the department completed a further fraud risk assessment and updated its Fraud Control Plan. The new plan was formally approved at the meeting of the Audit Committee on 26 June 2002. The plan outlines the procedures and processes in place for fraud prevention, detection, investigation and reporting. Responsibility for the overall management of fraud risk is devolved to divisions. The controls and strategies to minimise risk are monitored through a programme of self-certification and reported six-monthly to the Audit Committee.

Information on fraud is recorded progressively throughout the year. The annual fraud questionnaire, covering incidence of fraud and fraud control measures in the department, was submitted to the Attorney-General’s Department in November 2001. We noted that administrative action had been taken as a result of a case, reported in last year’s annual report, of an employee dismissed from the department’s employ following a conviction on charges of theft. There were no incidents of fraudulent behaviour in 2001–02.

A further annual fraud report will be submitted to the Attorney-General’s Department in September 2002.

An updated departmental Security Plan was developed to reflect the mandatory minimum standards and requirements for protective security contained in the Commonwealth Protective Security Manual 2000.

Client service charter and staff survey

The department has an internal client service charter covering corporate support and information services. It sets standards of performance and offers staff across the department a guide to what they can expect by way of support from the central support branches (the Corporate Support Branch and the Information Services Branch).

A survey of clients’ satisfaction with the delivery of corporate services was conducted in October 2001. The survey focused on performance against standards detailed in the client service charter. The results of the client satisfaction survey were generally positive. Issues raised by clients will be addressed in the context of a review of the charter to be undertaken in 2002–03. Performance in 2001–02 against the quantitative service levels, in many cases, exceeded service targets.

[1] Mr Henderson's successor, Andrew Metcalfe, joined the department on 1 August 2002. [back to text]

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