Output 3: Employment-related services and functions

People

At 30 June 2003, the Commission employed 186 staff of whom 159 were employed on an ongoing basis. These staff were divided between Canberra (73.5%) and regional offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Sixty-nine per cent of staff were women.

During 2002-03, the Commission staffing increased by 15.5% as work was initiated on a number of new strategic priorities.

Table 6: Commission Staff Numbers at 30 June 2001, 2002 and 2003

	June 2001	June 2002	June 2003
Ongoing	122	135	159
Non-ongoing	36	26	27
Total	158	161	186

The most common classification levels in the Commission were APS 3-4 at 19%; APS 5-6 at 24%; EL 1 at 38% and EL 2 at 10%. Twenty-two per cent of staff were employed on a part-time basis. An analysis of the Commission's staffing is provided at Appendix H.

Staff survey

During the first half of 2002—03, the Commission conducted a survey to obtain feedback from staff on the Commission’s culture, working arrangements and internal policies, and to assess the extent to which staff understand the APS Values. The survey identified issues of importance to staff and sought their views on strategies for addressing the issues identified. Dr Michael Young, a consultant in the survey field, assisted the Commission with the design and administration of the survey.

The survey identified many very positive results. Eighty-eight per cent of respondents agreed that the Commission is an organisation of which they are proud to be a member, 92% believed that there is a commitment to producing quality services, and 70% of staff agreed that the Commission’s culture encourages creativity and innovation.

Overall, 91% of staff believed that group members take initiative and are willing to take responsibility for getting things done, 74% of staff believe that Group Managers build a common sense of purpose and shared direction and 80% of staff believe that the Executive builds a common sense of purpose and shared direction. Fifty-six per cent of staff indicated that their performance rewards are fair in comparison with other staff within their Group, and 78% of staff agreed that they received recognition for doing a good job.

Virtually all staff believe that they have a good understanding of the APS Values, 88% believed that the people with whom they worked upheld the Values, 82% of staff agreed that the Executive set good examples of ethical behaviour and 79% of staff agreed that Group Managers set good examples of ethical behaviour.

The survey also pointed to some areas where further work is required. Twenty-six per cent of staff reported work-related pain, 12% of staff reported that they had experienced unacceptable behaviour by other Commission staff and 6% of staff reported that they had experienced what they considered to be discrimination by other Commission staff. Staff expressed strong confidence that appropriate and fair action would follow reporting of OH&S difficulties (92%) and unacceptable behaviour (71%).

The Executive and Group Managers have discussed these issues with staff and a number of actions are being taken to follow up the survey, including regular work station assessments, acquisition of some new furniture, stress prevention training, promotion of the Commission’s employee assistance program, and revision and promotion of the Commission’s Plan for a Harassment-Free Workplace. Staffing has also been increased in some of the areas identified in the Survey as being under pressure.

The Commission also continued to conduct a major health awareness program during 2002—03 and supplemented this with smaller scale activity through the year. Coverage of the health awareness program is included later in this section of the report.

The survey specifically included some questions from previous surveys to enable comparison with past findings. Overall comparisons with the findings of the Commission’s previous staff surveys indicate significant improvement on many of the issues surveyed.

There has been a noticeable decline in staff perceptions of people management and communication within the Commission. The Commission is responding to these perceptions through a strong focus on developing people management skills during 2003—04, through a more structured approach to learning and development and multisource feedback and through refinement of its internal communication strategies.

Table 7: A sample of issues identified in staff surveys

Issues	1997—98	2000—01	2002—03
The Commission’s team based environment leads to greater ownership of work	N/A	75%	82%
Team based environment leads to greater flexibility	65%	89%	82%
Current jobs make use of skills and abilities	70%	82%	81%
Group Managers (team leaders) are good managers of people	56%	75%	63%
Communication between teams is effective	50%	81%	65%
Proud to be a member of the Commission (PSMPC/APS Commission)	68%	88%	88%
Team environment leads to effective decision making	39%	64%	68%
The Commission’s culture encourages creativity and innovation	N/A	65%	70%

Workforce planning

Both the Commission’s Corporate Plan and the new certified agreement contain commitments to building the Commission’s strategic capability. The Commission has established a Strategic Capability Development Team (SCDT) to focus activity on functions related to all human resource, workforce planning, learning and development, information and communications within the Commission.

During the year the Commission developed a workforce capability framework with six core capabilities. This framework is being used to identify the workforce skills and capabilities that will be required for the Commission to achieve its strategic priorities and provided the basis for all approaches to recruitment, and learning and development.

In support of this framework a series of initiatives is being implemented:

• improvement to the reporting capability of the Human Resource Information System
• implementation of a Commission-wide common multisource feedback process
• review and redesign of the Commission’s recruitment processes
• review and strengthening of the Commission’s graduate program
• design of a new induction process and review of the engagement and probation policy
• development of a structured corporate learning and development plan, which will link Commission, Group and individual capability to organisational performance improvements
• confirming support for formal study particularly in the field of public administration, human resource management, learning and development, and public policy and governance.

During the year priority was also given to reviewing some of the Commission's people management guidelines to ensure their currency:

• development of outside employment policy
• development of a conflict of interest/post-separation employment policy.

The Commission continued revision of its Workplace Diversity Program during 2002—03 and released its strategy for promoting the APS Values internally in January 2003.

New certified agreement

The Australian Industrial Relations Commission certified the Commission’s third certified agreement Building Our Capability: People and Performance on 11 June 2003.

This is a comprehensive agreement made directly with staff under section 170LK of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 and has a notional expiry date of 10 June 2006. It covers the employment arrangements and conditions for staff who have not entered into Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs).

Implementation of the Commission’s certified agreement 2003—06

Major initiatives in the new certified agreement include:

• move from salary ranges to salary points structure with the possibility of salary advancement
• increased focus on capability development through the performance appraisal scheme and commitment to a greater focus on learning and development
• adoption of a consistent approach to a multisource feedback process
• introduction of a workplace giving scheme.

Further information on coverage and provisions is at Appendixes I and J.

AWAs

Thirty-three Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) are in place covering all Senior Executives, Executive Level 2 staff and a small number of other staff and representing 15.6% of the Commission’s workforce. The majority of the Commission’s current AWAs nominally expired in May 2003 and are expected to be renegotiated in August and September 2003. Other AWAs are not due for renegotiation until 2004.

Further information on coverage and provisions is at Appendixes I and J.

Graduate recruitment

The Commission undertook a graduate recruitment campaign during 2002—03. The quality of applicants was not as strong as recent years. The Commission did, however, meet its goal of recruiting three suitable graduates, one of whom is of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. A similar campaign is underway for 2003—04 graduate recruits.

The Commission has in place a comprehensive training program that provides graduates with the opportunity to incorporate practical job rotations with formal off-the-job training. In 2003—04 the Commission will be considering the development of a second-year mentoring program to further support graduates beyond their initial year.

Managing performance

A significant feature of the Commission's certified agreements has been the adoption of a performance appraisal scheme that directly links an annual assessment of people's performance with their remuneration. The scheme operates as part of the Commission's overall approach to performance management and integrates corporate, group and individual performance planning and management. The scheme also provides the basis for planning individual development.

The Commission’s scheme provides for:

• annual increases in base pay
• the possibility of salary advancement
• the possibility of modest bonuses for high-performing staff.

Details of payments made to staff during 2002—03 are included in Appendix I. These payments relate to performance during the 2001—02 year as the Commission's appraisal cycle operates on a financial year basis with performance-linked increases in remuneration being made in July each year based on an assessment of performance in the preceding year.

The appraisal scheme also provides a basis for managing poor performance.

Australian Day awards

One of the features of Australia Day celebrations in the Commission is the presentation of Australia Day Medallions. The Medallions are awarded to non-SES members of the Commissions who have worked in the Commission for longer than 12 months and made an exceptional contribution to the performance, culture or identity of the Commission. Contributions from many areas and regions of the Commission were recognised in 2003.

Six staff received medallions in 2003:

• Martine Valentin (CSSG)
• Jenny Evans (OPVG)
• Richard Collis (PEG)
• Margaret Boylan (RSSWG)
• Natalie Modric (LLDG)
• Rasima Kecanovic (LLDG)

Some recepients of 2003 Australia Day Medallions - Martine Valentin (CSSG), Richard Collis (PEG), Margaret Boylan (RSSWG), Natalie Modric (LLDG), Rasima Kecanovic (LLDG)

Corporate learning and development

The Commission's Planning, Management and Accountability Framework links its Corporate Plan, business plans, individual performance agreements and individual development plans. In this way, individual performance planning and development are closely linked to the Commission's business needs.

Individual development needs are aggregated by Group Managers as the basis for establishing corporate learning and development priorities. These common priorities are met through a corporate program of development activities managed by the Corporate Strategy and Support Group. Satisfaction of learning and development needs that have more of an individual focus is the responsibility of individual staff members and their Group Managers.

One of the key features of the new certified agreement is commitment to a more structured approach to developing the capabilities of staff. Over the next year it is our intention to build progressively to a more structured system of skills development linked to both on-the-job and off-the-job training and experience, and linked to our overall workforce planning requirements. As part of this approach work is progressing on implementation of more rigorous individual learning and development plans.

Corporate priorities during 2002—03 have included the need for training in basic and more advanced IT applications which has been addressed through regular in-house training and individual training in the form of one-on-one sessions. Other significant areas of corporate training during the year have included training sessions to all Commission staff in relation to privacy and security awareness.

In addition to the corporate training program, groups funded training and development opportunities for staff that addressed individual career development needs.

Table 8 shows the Commission's overall participation rates in training and development activities for the last four years.

Table 8: Participation rates in training and development activities, 1999—2000 to 2002—03

Participation Rates	1999—2000	2000—01	2001—02	2002—03
Staff days	695	761	562	678
Days per staff member	5.0	4.8	3.5	3.7
Estimated cost	$178 000	$140 000	$145 000	$247 000
Cost per staff member	$1299	$886	$900	$1330

There are several factors that have contributed to the increase in cost for training and development activities in 2002—03. During the year several significant activities were undertaken on a Commission-wide basis including a privacy training program and a security awareness training program. Other significant activities were also undertaken including, for example, a staff member undertaking the Executive Leadership Development Program. Attendance by staff at conferences and seminars and overall staff participation rates in learning and development activities also increased in 2002—03, the latter particularly in the Commission's regional offices. The Commission also introduced an internal seminar program called 'Good Oil' which aims to brief staff on major projects being undertaken within the Commission.

These rates equate to participation in 3.7 days per staff member and expenditure of $1350 per staff member during 2002—03 aims to brief staff on major projects being undertaken within the Commission. compared with 3.5 days and expenditure of $900 per staff member in 2001—02.

In February 2003, one staff member successfully completed her participation in the Senior Women in Management program and another staff member commenced participation in the program.

Groups are responsible for assessing the relevance and effectiveness of training in which their staff participate and it is standard practice for regular group meetings to discuss the training that staff have undertaken.

Commission staff attending a 'Good Oil' seminar

Health awareness program

The Commission’s certified agreement continues to commit the Commission to undertake health promotion to its staff.

The major focus of the program is the Commission’s Health Week which was held from 28 October 2002 to 1 November 2002. Health Week activities were conducted in all Commission offices and included:

• lifestyle screenings
• bone density screenings
• respiratory function tests
• nutrition seminar
• organised walk in the Botanic Gardens
• back and neck management classes
• healthy lunch and debate
• Pilates sessions
• Nordic walking
• meditation
• men’s health seminar
• breast cancer awareness seminar
• massage for stress management
• library display including health-related books and pamphlets.

The Commission Health Week program is very popular with staff, many of whom participate in multiple events. There was a total of 390 attendances at organised health week activities that covered a total of more than 480 hours.

Workplace Diversity

The Commission’s Workplace Diversity Program contributes to ensuring that the Commission fosters an environment that positively values the diversity of backgrounds and ideas and achieves the creativity and performance that flow from diverse contributions.

The Commission's certified agreement continued to provide staff with flexible forms of employment and provided staff with increased access to personal leave. Almost 22% of Commission staff work part-time and about 6.6% of staff have made use of the purchased leave arrangements to increase their leave entitlements. Purchased leave is particularly popular as a means of caring for children during school holidays.

As discussed under Graduate Recruitment, the Commission undertook a graduate recruitment campaign during 2002—03 with some of the employment opportunities identified as being open to Aboriginals or Torres Strait Islanders within the meaning of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 and consistent with the Public Service Commissioner’s Directions 1999.

The Commission succeeded in recruiting three graduate employees of whom one identified as being an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. The Commission employs about 186 staff, of which 68.3% of staff are women, with 3.8% Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, 15.1% born overseas, 7.5% born overseas and for whom English is not their first language and 5.4% identified as having a disability. Table 9 provides a comparison with recent years where the data is comparable.

Table 9: Representation of EEO groups as a percentage 2001—02 to 2002—03

	2000—01	2001—02	2002—03
Women	65.0	67.7	68.3
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders	1.9	3.7	3.8
People with disabilities	3.8	3.1	5.4
Born Overseas	13.1	16.1	15.1
Born overseas and English not first language	6.9	5.0	7.5

Further information on the Commission's staffing numbers and EEO statistics are included in Appendix H.

NAIDOC Week

The Commission and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry–Australia jointly hosted an event to celebrate NAIDOC Week on 11 July 2002. The celebration at the Edmund Barton Building included Aboriginal stories told by Pauline McLeod and a performance by Gerib Sik, a group of Torres Strait Islander dancers. A Ngunnawal Elder gave a Welcome to Country and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags were raised.

Harmony Day

On 27 March 2003 the Commission organised an event in which all staff were invited to celebrate Harmony Day and the cultures and diversity within our workplace and the wider community.

International Day of People with a Disability

A cooperative effort by agencies in the Edmund Barton Building resulted in a moving and inspiring function on 4 December to mark the International Day of People with a Disability.

Titled Celebrating Ability, the function featured a signing choir of deaf and hearing-impaired people who, with a conductor, performed a variety of items to recorded music. The principal speaker told of her journey through years of mental illness and of the poetic skills she uncovered and developed during those most difficult times. Two young athletes from the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) spoke of their experiences in the AIS’s program for athletes with disabilities and of their successes in the Paralympic Games in 2000.

Staff who attended thought Celebrating Ability was a positive way of taking time to focus on, and appreciate, the contribution people with a disability make to the community.

Occupational Health and Safety

The Occupational Health and Safety Committee is a joint management—union body established under the Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employees) Act 1991. The Committee, which met four times during 2002—03, administers the Occupational Health and Safety Agreement between the Commission and the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU). The current Agreement was developed and signed in December 2001 and runs to December 2003.

During the year there were no incidents that required reporting under section 68 of the OH&S legislation. The OH&S Committee also contributed to the development of a health awareness program conducted for staff in November 2002.

Prevention of harassment

The Commission's Plan for a Harassment-Free Workplace assists in eliminating harassment that might arise in the workplace. The plan establishes procedures to address harassment and sets out the rights and responsibilities of staff and managers, and the role of Harassment Contact Officers. The plan is accompanied by a bookmark which provides some key information including listing the current Harassment Contact Officers.

Harassment awareness and prevention training was undertaken during the year and harassment is discussed at induction sessions for new staff. There were no cases of harassment reported in the Commission during 2002—03; however, harassment awareness training will continue to be conducted during 2003—04.

Personnel services

The Commission receives its routine personnel services under contract from Rel Corp Management Services, jointly with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Commonwealth Ombudsman, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, and the Office of National Assessments. These services include processing of salaries and entitlements, administration of leave and some other conditions of service, and compensation and rehabilitation services.

A brief survey of staff about the quality of the services provided by Rel Corp was undertaken during the year. Staff indicated through the survey that they were satisfied with the service provided by Rel Corp.

A management committee, comprised of senior staff from each agency covered by the contract, monitors Rel Corp's performance against the specified contract requirements. Rel Corp continues to perform well against its key performance indicators and the option available to the agencies to extend the current contract with Rel Corp for a further three years was exercised, extending the contract to 25 August 2005.

Workplace Relations Committee

The Commission's certified agreement continues to provide for a tripartite Workplace Relations Committee (WRC) as an important consultative body in the Commission. The WRC is comprised of three management-nominated representatives, three employee-elected representatives and three union nominees.

The WRC met ten times during the year, due to the WRC being the major consultative forum for the negotiation of the Certified Agreement. The WRC continues to be a useful forum for obtaining the views of staff on issues relating to the management of the Commission. The WRC complements the fortnightly Group meetings which provide a regular forum through which staff may express their views on issues relevant to their work and the Commission and receive feedback from the Commission’s management fora.